What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events - both in-person and virtual - taking place at the University this weekend and next week:
Performances
Penn State Altoona Ivyside Dance Ensemble - 7:30 p.m., March 25, via Zoom. Penn State Altoona's Ivyside Dance Ensemble will offer its spring 2021 performance. Free, but registration required.
Cantus - 7:30 p.m., March 31-April 7, via livestream. Vocal ensemble Cantus will give the virtual performance "One Giant Leap." Free.
Events
Cafe Laura Theme Dinner: "The Best Bites of Vegas: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" - March 31, Cafe Laura, Mateer Building, University Park campus. Students in HM 430 Advanced Food Production and Service Management prepare a series of themed dinners throughout the semester to be served in the student-run Cafe Laura restaurant. Reservations required.
Lectures
Pockrass Memorial Lecture Series: Vivian Chen - 9 a.m., March 25, via livestream. Vivian Chen, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, will present "Gamers' Behaviors and Gaming for Social Good." Free.
Penn State Behrend Holocaust Academic Speaker Series: Marion Kaplan - 12:30 p.m., March 25, via Zoom. Marion Kaplan, professor of history at New York University, will present "Women's History and the Holocaust: A Journey." Free.
2021 Charles W. Mann Jr. Lecture in the Book Arts: Brooke Palmieri - 3 p.m., March 25, via Zoom. Brooke Palmieri, founder of Camp Books, will present "The Regenerative Text: Ecologies of Printed Matter." Free.
"Energy Resilience in a Time of Change - Lessons from the Texas Energy Crisis" - 4 p.m., March 25, via Zoom. A panel of energy experts from Penn State and industry will discuss the meaning of energy resilience and how decisions on how resilient our energy networks should be are made. Free, but registration required.
Srdja Popovic - 4 p.m., March 25, via livestream. Srdja Popovic will receive the McCourtney Institute for Democracy's Brown Democracy Medal and will present a public lecture. He co-authored "Pranksters vs. Autocrats: Why Dilemma Actions Advance Nonviolent Activism." Free.
Fisher Family Writer-in-Residence: Cary Holladay - 7:30 p.m., March 25, via Zoom. Cary Holladay will give a reading of her works. Free.
Women in Leadership Seminar Series: Hari Osofsky - 1 p.m., March 29, via Zoom. The College of Arts and Architecture's Center for Pedagogy in Arts and Design will present Hari Osofsky, dean of Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs. Free, but registration required.
Penn State Alumni Association Virtual Speaker Session: "Friedman Observatory: A Window to the Universe" - Noon, March 30, via Facebook. Violet Mager, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Penn State Wilkes-Barre and director of the Friedman Observatory will be featured in this Penn State Alumni Association event. Free, but registration required.
Penn State Harrisburg Women in STEAM Symposium: Mayim Bailik - 5 p.m., March 30, via YouTube Live. Mayim Bailik, neuroscientist and actor on the television show "The Big Bang Theory," will present "The Big Bang Theory: Making Science Cool (& Funny)." Free.
2021 Expanding Empathy series: Jay Van Bavel - 2 p.m., March 31, via livestream. Jay Van Bavel, associate professor of psychology at New York University, will present "For Better or Worse: The Role of Social Identity in the Pandemic." Free, but registration required.
"What's the 'and' in COVID-19?" - 3:35 p.m., March 31, via livestream. Penn State alumnus Bill Warren, vice president and leader of a biotech unit in Sanofi, will be featured. Free, but registration required.
Penn State Behrend Smith Creative Writers Reading Series: Behrend Reads - 6 p.m., April 1, via Zoom. Faculty and staff from across Penn State Behrend will read selections from their poetry, fiction and nonfiction work. Free.
2021 Colloquium on the Environment: Robert Bullard - 7 p.m., April 1, via livestream. Robert Bullard, known as the "father of environmental justice," will present "The Quest for Environmental and Climate Justice in the U.S." Free, but registration required.
Exhibits
"Field Language: The Painting and Poetry of Warren and Jane Rohrer" - Through June 6, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. This major loan exhibition examines the art of Warren Rohrer as it evolved in conversation with poet Jane Turner Rohrer, his partner of nearly 50 years. Free.
"The Wit and Whimsy of Lucille Corcos" - Through May 9, Palmer Museum of Art, University Park campus. A prolific painter and illustrator, Lucille Corcos depicted American life with an incomparable verve during the mid-20h century. Free.
THON logo exhibition - Online. The THON website is featuring a virtual gallery showcasing logos from previous events, as well as profiles of each student designer. Free.
"Celebrating the ADA: The Legacy and Evolution of Disability Rights and Lived Experience at Penn State" - Online. The University Libraries virtual exhibit explores the first 100 years of national disability rights legislation and the movement's impact on the Penn State community. Free.
"African Brilliance: A Diplomat's Sixty Years of Collecting" Online Catalog - Online. A digital catalog of African works collected by retired U.S. ambassador Allen C. Davis, including text entries, high-resolution 360-degree images and contextual videos at the Palmer Museum of Art. Free.
"African Brilliance" Virtual Tour - Online. Explore an interactive tour created with teachers, students and families in mind. The tour includes installation images, pictures of selected works, videos for guided viewing and related art-making activity suggestions. Free.
"Drawing on a Legacy: Highlights from the John Driscoll American Drawings Collection" - Online. High-resolution images, text selections and a photo gallery of works on paper donated by Penn State alumnus John P. Driscoll, including early landscape views and botanical sketches, animal scenes and still lives, and portraits and preparatory figure studies. The works include a number of well-known 19th-century American artists. Free.
"Photography=Abstraction" - Online. The Palmer Museum of Art's virtual pop-up exhibition is an interactive gallery with images, text and informational videos for selected works. Free, Google Chrome browser recommended.
Snowiss Gallery of American Art - Online. Tour the Palmer Museum of Art's first-floor Snowiss Gallery. Free.
"Women in Art: Activism and Resistance" virtual tour - Online. This self-directed, interactive online tour features a selection of objects by female artists in the Palmer Museum of Art's collection. In celebration of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, this tour highlights artists working in a variety of media during the 20th and 21st centuries who have contributed to political, social and cultural change. Free.
"Human Expectations II" - Through June 20, Display Cases, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus, and online. The work of five artists embody a search for expression and experience through material. Free.
"When the Bough Breaks" - Through April 30, Art Alley, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. Nine different artists address the issue of climate change through a unique representation of trees. Free.
"Something Means Something Else" - Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, HUB-Robeson Center, University Park campus. This three-part mural by artist Tamara Gayer focuses on the intricacies of the current moment in sexual and gender identity. Free.
"Small Planet" - Through January 2022, HUB-Robeson Galleries, University Park campus. The HUB-Robeson Center has commissioned a site-specific wall painting located in the first-floor eateries by artist Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann titled "Small Planet." Free.
