Penn Reading Project

Event Description

The Penn Reading Project (PRP) was conceived in 1990 as a shared experience that introduces students to Penn’s vigorous intellectual life. This year, rather than a single book, our focus is Revolution at Penn?, an immersive exhibit in Penn’s Van Pelt Library that examines the formation of the University; the debates that divided the school during the American Revolution; and the compromises that reorganized it as the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.

All first-year students were introduced to PRP through a preview module in Thrive at Penn (TAP). On campus, they are expected to experience the exhibit in person, including through our special celebration, An Evening at Penn Libraries on Thursday, August 21. There, visitors can view political pamphlets, broadsides, maps, prints, manuscripts, and a full-scale replica of a colonial coffee house!

Concluding the PRP will be the mandatory session in Irvine Auditorium, where Penn faculty and students will discuss the exhibit and the themes it centers: the sometimes-contentious formation of American history, and the ongoing questions about the place of universities in America, then and now.

Session Times

PHINS Groups 1-60: 2pm-3:30pm
PHINS Groups 61-120: 10am-11:30am

For more details, visit www.mymandatoryevents.com