February 6, 2024 Volume 70 Issue 21

A $5 million grant seeks to develop new, more efficient approaches to learn from the care delivered to patients across the University of Pennsylvania Health System and to train local scientists in the principles of “Learning Health System Science.” The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced the funding in January. Penn and 15 other research centers are part of this five-year investment in Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research Centers across the United States.

AHRQ defines a learning health system as a health system in which internal data and experience are systematically integrated with external evidence, and that knowledge is put into practice. Doing so requires having infrastructure in place to implement research findings and optimize care as quickly, broadly, and equitably as possible.

The principal investigators for the project are Scott D. Halpern, the John M. Eisenberg Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy and founding director of the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center (PAIR); Meghan Lane-Fall, the David E. Longnecker Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, an associate professor of biostatistics, epidemiology, and informatics, and the executive director of the Penn Implementation Science Center (PISCE); and M. Kit Delgado, an associate professor of emergency medicine and director of the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit.

“As electronic health records have become ubiquitous, and machine learning and other statistical methods have been developed to harness their potential, we now have enormous opportunity to use these data to rapidly find new ways to deliver care that fairly promotes the goals of all patients,” Dr. Halpern said. “This requires a different approach and scale than traditional clinical research, so we need to both expand training for this type of work and ensure that it’s integrated with clinical operations teams from the outset in order to realize this full potential.”

Learning health system studies often entail large-scale, randomized clinical trials, or carefully designed observational studies comparing different ways of delivering care. Because most studies either compare approaches that doctors already use or examine the extra benefits patients might experience if standard care practices were used more often or supplemented with new approaches, they are typically considered low-risk – which is different, for example, from Phase I clinical trials of new drugs, where the first goal is to establish safety.

Learning health system studies can also generate a lot of information in a relatively short period of time because they occur in the context of regular clinical care and use routinely collected data, such as information from electronic health records. These types of studies often focus on the quality, delivery, and/or equity of care. For example, recent projects led by Penn experts that follow a learning health system model have included:

• COVID Watch, a system designed to monitor COVID-19 outpatients using automated texts backed by a small team of nurses. Patients who enrolled in the program were 68 percent less likely to die from COVID. A follow-up trial found that adding home pulse oximetry did not improve outcomes further, challenging conventional intuitions and saving enormous resources. Both studies were also funded by PCORI.
• Heart Safe Motherhood, a remote postpartum blood pressure monitoring program that reduced readmission rates for postpartum hypertension and eliminated racial disparities in postpartum blood pressure assessment.
• The largest-ever study of palliative care, which found that “default orders” in the electronic medical record nearly tripled palliative care consultation rates for seriously ill patients in the hospital, and enabled patients to receive such care sooner.

“We look forward to building on our collective experience with integrating learning health system efforts at Penn Medicine and continuing to train more scientists and clinical leaders to carry out this type of work,” said Dr. Lane-Fall, who co-led a prior training program at Penn supported by AHRQ and PCORI.

With the new funding, the team will establish the Penn Patient-Oriented Research and Training to Accelerate Learning (Penn PORTAL), which will unite behavioral, data, and implementation scientists from across Penn, including experts from the Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Nursing, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Wharton School; leaders in the design, analysis, and ethics of randomized trials; clinical operations leaders; longstanding community partners; and Accelerate Health Equity, a city-wide initiative aimed at addressing health equity and racism that involves Philadelphia health systems and Independence Blue Cross. Penn PORTAL aims to train a diverse group of scientists, who will go on to become learning health systems leaders at Penn and elsewhere and to support the implementation of unbiased, patient-centered care delivery at hospitals throughout Philadelphia.

Penn PORTAL will test interventions that the project stakeholders have prioritized for their potential impact to the patient population in Philadelphia. Priority focus areas will include maternal morbidity, primary care, and care for patients with multiple chronic conditions.

“With Penn PORTAL, we’re tapping into the incredible range of expertise available both within the Penn community and across our city,” Dr. Delgado said. “Ultimately, we want to improve patient outcomes in Philadelphia—and the nation—no matter where those patients are treated. By partnering with a broad coalition of stakeholders and using disciplined, user-centered design and innovation methods from the beginning, we hope to quickly make an impact on patient outcomes far and wide.”

Taunita V. Stephenson, an experienced athletic administrator turned HR and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) professional, has been named the head of DEIB at Penn. The position is shared between the Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics and Wellness at Penn.

Ms. Stephenson has spent the past three years at the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, N.J., where she was most recently the people operations business partner. She has also served as the assistant director of DEIB strategic initiatives and also as associate athletic director. At Pingry, she was promoted twice into newly-created roles and served as a strategic partner with leadership to align employee experience and DEIB efforts with business goals.

Ms. Stephenson advanced diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging as core organizational values through cultural change, anti-racism and non-discriminatory practices, and was a leader in the talent acquisition process to ensure inclusive hiring, onboarding, and management practices. She also served as the Pingry School’s assistant varsity girls basketball coach for the entire duration of her tenure.

“We are so excited to bring Taunita on board in this shared position with Wellness at Penn,” Alanna W. Shanahan, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation, said. “Taunita’s hiring continues our development of a culture that embraces different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. She brings an impressive résumé, both within and outside of athletics, and we can’t wait to see what she helps us accomplish moving forward.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Taunita to our team at Penn,” said Benoit Dubé, asssociate provost and chief wellness officer. “This new role will further our mission of infusing wellness throughout the Penn experience through inclusive, innovative, and impactful initiatives. We are excited and energized by the opportunity to expand our ongoing partnership with our colleagues in Penn Athletics, and with her incredible experience, Taunita will surely help us to enhance that collaboration to better serve our students.”

“I am absolutely thrilled to join the extraordinary team at the University of Pennsylvania,” Ms. Stephenson said. “I am grateful and inspired to contribute to athletic director Alanna W. Shanahan’s dynamic vision, which is defined by strategic commitments to foster a safe and inclusive culture with purposeful diversity, belonging, social justice, and antiracism activations and interventions. The opportunity to collaborate with and learn from esteemed leaders such as Benoit Dubé and [associate vice provost] Ufuoma Pela, with the aim of making a meaningful impact on both the employee and student experiences, energizes me. I am eager to contribute to the ongoing success of the University of Pennsylvania as an esteemed member of the Ivy League.”

Ms. Stephenson previously served as a director for the City of Birmingham, Alabama, appointed by its mayor Randall L. Woodfin. In the role, she advised the mayor and his executive team regarding the Birmingham Crossplex, a facility that has an annual economic impact of $100 million to the City of Birmingham and hosts more than 200 events per year, including seven Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships. By building relationships in Birmingham’s Five Points West and Ensley neighborhoods, as well as around the greater Birmingham community, Ms. Stephenson made significant contributions to the employee, participant, spectator and community experiences, which contributed to the success of Birmingham as a growing sports and entertainment destination.

Marie Harf is the new executive director of Perry World House (PWH) at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Harf comes to Penn from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she served as the executive director of external relations and marketing. Previously, she worked as a senior advisor and deputy spokesperson for Secretary John Kerry at the U.S. Department of State, as the foreign policy director for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, as the executive director of political organization Serve America, and as a Middle East analyst at the CIA. Since 2017, Ms. Harf has been an on-air commentator for Fox News. She also previously co-taught a class on religion and global affairs with Steven Weitzman at Penn in 2019.

“I am delighted that Marie will be joining Perry World House as the executive director and thrilled to welcome her back to campus,” said Perry World House interim director Michael Weisberg. “Marie brings to this invaluable role a deep experience in foreign policy analysis, strategic communications, and higher education that is crucial for our continued upward trajectory. In addition, we will look to Marie for her steady leadership and strong guidance, drawing on her impressive background in government and academia, as we approach Perry World House’s tenth anniversary. Her remarkable background and depth of knowledge will be critical as Perry World House cements our reputation as a policy-relevant center for global affairs.”

In her new role, Ms. Harf has a broad set of responsibilities, including programmatic leadership, administrative oversight, and financial and operational management of PWH. She will partner with the faculty director to advance PWH’s thematic research agenda, including a broad range of programmatic activities. Ms. Harf will also strengthen PWH’s global impact, catalyzing its impacts in policy communities around the globe.

“I am honored to join the Perry World House family and to work alongside its extraordinary staff, affiliated faculty, and fellows,” said Ms. Harf. “In this period of global upheaval, Perry World House plays a crucial role operating at the intersection of academic rigor and policy impact. I look forward to helping the University community navigate this unsettling global moment in thoughtful, constructive ways through PWH’s programming and research. I am also excited to connect the exceptional work of Penn’s faculty on international issues—across schools and disciplines—to the policymaking process and public conversation. Finally, I am thrilled to return to Penn in this role and to once again have the privilege of working with Penn’s impressive students.”  

“Marie emerged from an extremely talented pool of candidates, standing out for her deep experience in Washington, DC, her thorough knowledge of religion and international relations, and her strong record of leading teams in government and academic settings,” said Penn’s vice provost for global initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel. “Marie demonstrated great enthusiasm for PWH and Penn throughout the interview process and we are confident that she will be a strong and effective leader.”

Ms. Harf formally assumed the executive director role on February 5, 2024.

Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. has announced the appointment of Lynn Smith Dolby as director of the Penn Art Collection, beginning February 1.

Ms. Dolby has served as assistant curator and collections manager of the Penn Art Collection since 2017. In this role, she has been a key leader and partner in the collection, conservation, registration, and display of all University-owned art, both indoors and outdoors across campus. During her tenure, she has twice served as interim university curator, launched the podcast Big Art Energy to spotlight the stories of art at Penn, curated the exhibition From Studio to Doorstep: Associated American Artists Prints 1934-2000 at the Arthur Ross Gallery, which drew from the Penn Art Collection, and received a fellowship from the Knight Foundation to participate in the Association of Art Museum Curators’ national curatorial leadership program, among other accomplishments.

Ms. Dolby succeeds Lynn Marsden-Atlass, who retired from Penn as the collection’s curator at the end of 2023. Before coming to Penn, Ms. Dolby served as senior director of Atelier Fine Art Services and registrar at the National Constitution Center, in addition to earlier positions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Germantown Historical Society. She received an MA in art history from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and a BA in art history from Chestnut Hill College.

Nancy W. Bauer, founding director of the organizational dynamics program in what is today the College of Liberal and Professional Studies and a longtime lecturer in the program, died on December 9, 2023. She was 94.

Dr. Bauer received her PhD in learning theory from Michigan State University. In 1978, she joined Penn’s faculty as an adjunct associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and as an academician in the College of General Studies in the School of Arts & Sciences (the precursor to today’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies). Also in the late 1970s, she founded the organization dynamics program in CGS. As related in an article celebrating the program’s 40th anniversary, the National Science Foundation contacted her about funding a program that connected adults to a research institution. With support from Penn’s provost, Dr. Bauer set about creating an innovative program, the first at Penn to offer courses for working professionals.

“The global aspect of the program is crucial for the future,” said Dr. Bauer in 2017. “People in organizational dynamics are going to make a huge impact on what this world is going to be. Penn is growing, and growing internationally all the time. There seems to be no limit to its scope. And that’s exciting.”

Dr. Bauer directed the organizational dynamics program until 1987, when she became CEO and editor-in-chief of WomenMatter, Inc., a non-profit, non-partisan web-centric organization that provided women with the information and quick access they needed to participate in the political process. During the 1990s, Dr. Bauer also became president of Bauer Associates Inc., a consulting firm specializing in innovation development and the use of information in changing behavior. She still remained at Penn as a lecturer in the organizational dynamics program, and also took a secondary position as a lecturer in city planning in the School of Design. She retired from Penn in 2018.

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The following is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of Senate Executive Committee (SEC) actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu.

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda

Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 3-5 p.m. EDT

1. Finalize SEC meeting minutes of January 24, 2024
2. Tri-Chairs’ Report
3. Update from the Office of the Provost
   • Discussion with Provost John Jackson, Jr.
4. Antisemitism Task Force
   • Discussion with Task Force Chair Mark Wolff
5. New Business

The January 2024 University Council meeting took place on Wednesday, January 31, in the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall. Interim President J. Larry Jameson introduced himself and stated that he had “a lot to learn” about the “vast enterprise” that is Penn. He thanked the members of Council for their leadership and service.

Moderator Melissa Wilde, professor and chair of sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences, joined Interim President Jameson in thanking the members of Council for their service and reminded those present to remain respectful while making remarks.

Lizann Boyle Rode, associate vice president in the Office of the University Secretary, addressed topics raised by the 23 speakers at the November 29, 2023, open forum meeting. She described improvements to the distribution of menstrual products on campus (including installing new dispensers and transitioning extant ones to not require payment), resources in the Weingarten Center available to disabled students with building accessibility issues, and ways faculty members can participate more actively in University governance; and stated that, while pro-Palestine rallies on campus are not prohibited because of their content, concerned parties may submit concerns regarding potentially controversial events to the Committee on Open Expression, which decides whether the guidelines would be violated. In response to open forum speakers’ thoughts on Penn’s response to the Israel-Hamas War, Ms. Rode reiterated Penn’s commitment to the rights to safety and open expression of every member of its community and described the work of the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community, which will address these broad challenges.

Sigal Ben-Porath, MRMJJ Presidential Professor in the Graduate School of Education, and Dawn Maglicco Deitch, executive director of the Office of Government and Community Affairs (OGCA), gave the third focus issue presentation of the academic year, Democracy and Civic Engagement. Ms. Deitch described the work of Penn Leads the Vote (PLTV), a long-standing student-led voter engagement organization housed in the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. PLTV and OGCA implement a data-driven plan to increase civic engagement on Penn’s campus. Thanks to their efforts, Penn has been named to national lists of the most engaged college campuses.

Dr. Ben-Porath, the executive director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, provided an overview of the program. Established in 2019 with a $6 million grant from the foundation, Paideia seeks to cultivate a culture of community engagement in its students. Each year, a class of 25 sophomore students is admitted into the program. These students take interdisciplinary, Paideia-specific courses taught by faculty from across Penn’s schools and participate in civic-oriented events that bring to campus speakers representing a variety of ideologies.

In the new business portion of the meeting, speakers raised topics that included:

• A call for transparency during Penn’s search for its next president.
• The need to make graduate education at Penn more accessible across the University.
• A request for Penn to make alumni privileges available to postdoctoral trainees.
• Concern about the housing difficulties of graduate students living off campus.
• A request for Penn to install gender-neutral bathrooms as part of renovations in the Quad.
• On-campus housing shortages for rising juniors and seniors.
• Concern regarding a perceived lack of empathy and support for Muslim members of the community.
• An announcement that the 2024 Take Back the Night march will include a resource fair to connect survivors of sexual assault with support.

The next University Council meeting will be held on February 21, 2024, and will include an open forum.

Penn’s School of Social Policy &Practice (SP2) associate professor Tamara J. Cadet has been welcomed to the 2024 class of fellows of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR).

SSWR fellows are members who have served with distinction to advance the mission of the society — to advance, disseminate, and translate research that addresses issues of social work practice and policy and promotes a diverse, equitable and just society. The SSWR fellowship honors and recognizes individual accomplishments, leadership, and contributions to the SSWR as a scientific society. It is anticipated that SSWR fellows will serve as role models and mentors for individuals pursuing careers in social work research and will continue to actively advance the mission of the society.

Dr. Cadet is a public health social work researcher who advances health equity by conducting conceptually-grounded research to promote health interventions and translate research to practice. In addition to being a member of SP2’s faculty, Dr. Cadet is co-director of SP2’s PhD in social welfare program and holds an appointment at Penn Dental Medicine. She is also a senior fellow of both Penn’s Leonard Davis Institute and Penn’s Center for Public Health, as well as the associate director of Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation (PC3I) and director of PC3I’s Program in Community Engagement Innovation.

Dr. Cadet’s work focuses on health disparities among the elderly, particularly around cancer screening and cancer care. Her work is at the intersection of health and social work, spanning the areas of evidence-based health promotion interventions, facilitators, barriers to reducing disparities in preventative health behaviors, and health care service use among vulnerable populations.

Dr. Cadet’s work has a continuing focus on issues of health among the under-resourced, underserved, and underrepresented, which has earned her a place as a leading scholar in the arena of social work and public health. She has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Minority and Health Disparities. She is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging for a project that aims to modify and evaluate a colorectal cancer screening decision aid for older adults at risk for low health literacy.

The 2024 fellows were announced by SSWR president Sean Joe during the 2024 annual conference on January 13 in Washington, DC.

The European Corporate Governance Institute (EGGI) has announced that Jill E. Fisch, the Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law in the Carey Law School, has been appointed a fellow. Ms. Fisch also serves as co-director of the Institute for Law & Economics.

The institute awards the title of fellow to individuals who have demonstrated scientific excellence or other outstanding achievements in the area of corporate governance and stewardship. ECGI fellows are drawn from academia in Europe and the United States and are elected by existing fellows of ECGI.

“The ECGI is one of the leading academic institutions on corporate governance in the world,” said Ms. Fisch. “I am honored to be recognized as a fellow.”

Ms. Fisch’s work focuses on the intersection of business and law including the role of regulation and litigation in addressing limitations in the disciplinary power of the capital markets. Her scholarship has appeared in the top law reviews including the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Texas Law Review, and University of Pennsylvania Law Review. Her current research focuses on the role of institutional investors in corporate governance, particularly shareholder voting. Other projects include analysis of shareholder proposals, ESG disclosure, and the participation of retail investors in the capital markets.

“ECGI has a tradition of recognizing the top academics around the world for their work on corporate governance and stewardship,” said Julian Franks, a professor of finance at the London Business School, who chaired the committee responsible for the election process. “The award of fellow of the institute is a significant honor collectively bestowed by the most recognized and accomplished scholars in the field. This year’s appointees are long-deserving and representative of the best-in-class scholarship that ECGI is renowned for.”

R. Jisung Park, an assistant professor in Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) with a secondary appointment at the Wharton School, has been selected by the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) as one of 17 visiting scholars for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Visiting scholars work in residence at the RSF to pursue research and writing projects that reflect the foundation’s commitment to strengthening the social sciences and conducting research “for the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.”

As an incoming scholar, Dr. Park will work with collaborator Anna Stansbury, the Class of 1948 Career Development Assistant Professor and an assistant professor of work and organization studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management. They will investigate the extent to which the availability and quality of workers’ outside labor market options affect their health and safety in the workplace.

Dr. Park is an environmental and labor economist interested broadly in how environmental factors shape economic opportunity. Before joining Penn, he was a member of the faculty at UCLA and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard.

Dr. Park’s research combines data, quasi-experimental methods, and economic analysis to better understand the implications of environmental change for human life, as well as how effective policy responses may be designed.

Three-time alum Fritz Steiner, MRP’77, MA’86, PhD’86, who returned to his alma mater to serve as dean and Paley Professor at the Weitzman School in 2016, is the recipient of the 2024 LAF Medal. The medal is one of only two awards given annually by the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) and one of the highest honors in the landscape architecture profession.

According to the LAF, the medal is awarded to a landscape architect for “distinguished work over a career in applying the principles of sustainability to landscapes.” Honorees are said to exemplify the values of LAF and have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the landscape architecture discipline. The honor was launched in 2016 in conjunction with LAF’s 50th anniversary, along with the Founders’ Award, also given annually.

In the LAF’s announcement, Dean Steiner is described as “a compassionate and visionary leader who celebrates the potential of landscape architecture to make cities and regions more ecologically productive and sustainable.”

Previous LAF Medal recipients include Weitzman alum and founding principal of Andropogon Associates, Ltd. Carol Franklin, MLA’65, and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

Internationally revered for articulating and disseminating the principles of ecological design, Dean Steiner serves as co-executive director of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, which he co-founded with Richard Weller in 2019. He has written, edited, or co-edited 21 books, including The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape Planning; Urban Ecological Design: A Process for Regenerative Places; Nature and Cities: The Ecological Imperative in Urban Design and Planning; and Design with Nature Now.

Before coming to Penn, Dean Steiner helped establish the Sustainable SITES Initiative, the first program of its kind to offer a systematic, comprehensive rating system designed to define sustainable land development and management, and holds the SITES Professional (SITES AP) credential.

The LAF Medal will be presented at the 2024 LAF Symposium and Dinner this summer.

Hilaria Supa Huamán, director of Mosoq Pakari Sumaq Kawsay (New Dawn for Good Living) Healing Center, is a Peruvian politician and human rights activist. She will receive the 2024 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for her lifelong dedication in advocating for the rights and well-being of Indigenous women in Peru, most notably in her fierce work against the forced sterilization that took place there in the late 20th century. The award ceremony will be held on March 13, 2024. 

“Hilaria Supa Huamán embodies the true spirit of the Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Health,” said Penn Nursing dean Antonia M. Villarruel. “Her advocacy and activism with and for poor and Indigenous women in Peru have advanced the fight against forced sterilization—and she provides care to those affected. She has worked tirelessly to elevate the education rights and culture of the communities. Penn Nursing is proud to recognize and honor Hilaria’s quest for justice.”

“This award recognizes the fight of sterilized Quechua women for justice and respect,” said Ms. Supa Huamán. “We women in Anta [Cusco] have been fighting for our rights for forty years. This fight became more important after the forced sterilizations. With this award, we will continue to help affected women heal, and to pass on knowledge about medicine, midwifery, and rights that will keep our people safe for generations to come. We are honored to receive the Renfield Foundation Award.”

Ms. Supa Huamán is a beacon of light for the rights of Indigenous women in Peru. She has been successful in creating dialogues both at a grassroots level, among the communities affected by these issues, and at the policy level, pushing for reform as a Peruvian congresswoman. Ms. Supa Huamán’s work has not only shone a light on the history of forced sterilizations, but also ensured that victims receive the support they need in terms of healing and justice. A significant embodiment of Ms. Supa Huamán’s work is the Mosoq Pakari Sumaq Kawsay (New Dawn for Good Living) Healing Center.

Children’s Activities

Penn Museum

Online webinars. Info and to register: https://www.penn.museum/calendar.

13        K-12 Archaeology Talk with Dr. Steve: The Sphinx That Moved to Philadelphia; l earn how the largest sphinx in the Western Hemisphere came to Philadelphia and hear from a real archaeologist about its history and importance; 11 a.m.; Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum.

Exhibits

10        Dominique White and Alberta Whittle: Sargasso Sea; takes its name from the only body of water that is defined solely by oceanic currents rather than shorelines; upends the colonization, trafficking, and trade that have taken place on this body of water with counter images of shipwreck, salvage, reciprocity and Black feminist led-revolution; Institute of Contemporary Art. Through June 2.

            Tomashi Jackson: Across the Universe; is the first solo exhibition to bring together paintings, video, prints, and sculpture from different bodies of work Ms. Jackson has created over the past eight years, providing an overview of the threads in her practice and her use of materials; presents examples of videos in dialogue with paintings and sculpture; Institute of Contemporary Art. Through June 2.

            Entryways: Nontsikelelo Mutiti; the inaugural project for a new series that commissions artists to activate the façade of ICA’s building in partnership with Maharam, North America’s leading creator of textiles for commercial and residential interiors; features the work of Nontsikelelo Mutiti, a Zimbabwean-born visual artist and educator, who decorated the windows with African hair braiding patterns and hair clips; Institute of Contemporary Art. Through December 2024.

13        Outside Images: Student Photography Show; features a diverse body of photographs where the focal points are rarely humans; primarily landscapes, this show contrasts urban with rural, congestion with emptiness, and asks the viewer to find the tensions between space; 6 p.m.; Brodsky Gallery, Kelly Writers House.

Films

7          It’s Basic; a documentary that explores the power of cash, the importance of dignity, and the ongoing work of providing an income floor through the eyes of guaranteed income recipients who have witnessed firsthand the life-altering effects of financial stability; features panel discussion; 6 p.m.; room 109, Annenberg School; register: http://tinyurl.com/annenberg-film-feb-7 (Annenberg School for Communication).

Fitness & Learning

6          Summer Humanities Internship Program (SHIP) Info Session; learn about a 10-week paid program in which undergraduate students work in arts, cultural, or historic organizations throughout Philadelphia; noon; room 242, Van Pelt Library (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships).

12        Stress & Self-Care Workshop; interactive, discussion-based workshop that will cover the impacts of stress on the mind and body, stress management, and the importance of self-care; 4 p.m.; room 1301, BRB; RSVP: https://forms.gle/q22E9Ep6JJTQWNMU7 (PSOM Inclusion Diversity Equity and Learner Research).

College of Liberal & Professional Studies

Online webinars. Info and to register: http://www.upenn.edu/lps-events.

7          Master of Applied Positive Psychology Virtual Q&A Session; 5:30 p.m.

Penn Libraries

Info and to register: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/.

9          Making [and Remaking] Texts: Past, Present, and Future; come and look at some of the manuscripts held at Penn that have been cut up, remixed, rewritten, and rebound, and hear Penn experts discuss these manuscripts; 3-5 p.m.; room 626, Van Pelt Library.

Readings & Signings

Kelly Writers House

In-person events at Arts Café, Kelly Writers House. Info and to register: https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/0224.php/.

6          But Company; Michelle Taransky, English; 6 p.m.

13        Heled Travel and Research Grant Presentations; Irma Kiss Barath and Miriam Shah, English; 12:30 p.m.

Special Events

7          Pan Asian Graduate Student Association Lunar New Year 2024 Celebration; celebration that brings together traditions and cultures across the Asian diaspora to welcome in the Year of the Dragon; 5-8 p.m.; Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall; tickets: $5; register: http://tinyurl.com/pagsa-lny-feb-7 (Pan-Asian Graduate Student Association).

Talks

6          The State of Human Rights in 2024; Philip Alston, New York University; noon; Perry World House; register: http://tinyurl.com/talk-alston-feb-6 (Perry World House).

            London and the Postmodern Occult; Saree Makdisi, University of California, Los Angeles; 5 p.m.; room 401, Fisher-Bennett Hall (English).

7          Depleting Tregs Using Anti-CCR4 or Anti-CD25 Targeted CAR T Cells; Caitlin Tilsed, immunology; noon; room 213, Stemmler Hall (Penn-CHOP Lung Biology Institute).

            Methods for Rapid and Ultra-Rapid Electrophilic Cysteine Arylation; Jake Goldberg, Colgate University; noon; Carolyn Hoff Lynch Lecture Hall, Chemistry Complex (Chemistry).

            State Ninth Amendments and Unenumerated Rights; Anthony Sanders, Institute for Justice; noon; room 214, Gittis Hall; RSVP: https://forms.gle/cnLfbbTQn1WBNBPc7 (Federalist Society).

            Muon Trigger System and Search for Supersymmetry; Kaito Sugisaki, University of Tokyo; 3:30 p.m.; room 3W2, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            Topological Defects in Computational Meshing; David Palmer, Harvard University; 3:30 p.m.; room A8, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            Eating in Public: Race, Caste, and Food Practices Across Differences; Psyche Williams-Forson, University of Maryland, College Park; 4:30 p.m.; Dunning Coaches Center (Africana Studies).

8          Affirmative Action: Where Do We Go From Here? Adam K. Mortara, University of Chicago; noon; room 214, Gittis Hall; RSVP: https://forms.gle/LAwM24Nr5h2zxkVq9 (Federalist Society).

9          Wall-Models of Turbulent Flows via Scientific Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning; Jane Bae, California Institute of Technology; 2 p.m.; room 534, 3401 Walnut Street (Penn Institute for Computational Science).

13        Interspecies Communication: Sound and Music Beyond Humanity; Gavin Steingo, Princeton University; 5:15 p.m.; room 101, Lerner Center (Music).

Center for the Study of Contemporary China

Info: https://cscc.sas.upenn.edu/events.

7          Hostage Diplomacy and U.S.-China Relations: The Legacy of The Peking Express; James Zimmerman, Perkins Coie LLP; 5 p.m.; room 200, PCPSE.

Economics

In-person events. Info: https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/events.

6          Urban Highway Removal: Evidence from Rochester's Inner Loop; Sherrie Cheng, economics; noon; room 100, PCPSE.

Mathematics

In-person events. Info: https://www.math.upenn.edu/events.

7          Rationality Problems for Simple Varieties; Brendan Hassett, Brown University; 3:45 p.m.; room A2, DRL.

9          Geometric Langlands and Examples; Emmet Lennen, mathematics; 10 a.m.; room 4E9, DRL.

            Admissibility over Number Fields; Deependra Singh, mathematics; 3:30 p.m.; room 4N30, DRL.

This is an update to the February AT PENN calendar. The deadline to submit events for the March AT PENN calendar is Monday, February 12. To submit an event for a future calendar or weekly update, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Division of Public Safety

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for January 22-28, 2024. The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes. Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of January 22-28, 2024. The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police.

In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website.

Penn Police Patrol Zone

Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District

Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 4 incidents with 0 arrests were reported for January 22-28, 2024 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at specialservices@publicsafety.upenn.edu
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania will provide grants to initiate promising new cancer research projects. Support for these pilot grants comes from an American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG). Projects that have relevance across multiple types of cancer are encouraged. Proposals that span basic, translational, clinical, or population science research are welcome. The objective of these grants is to facilitate the collection of preliminary data, which will enable the successful competition for national, peer-reviewed research grants.

Four ACS IRG pilots will be awarded in the amount of $60,000 each to junior faculty members (within six years of their initial faculty appointment). All ACS IRG pilot applicants must identify a mentor at the time the application is submitted and provide the mentor’s NIH biosketch and a brief statement describing the mentor’s supervisory experience.

Covered costs include direct costs only, such as laboratory personnel costs (non-faculty), data management or research nursing support, laboratory supplies, animals, and small equipment; no travel or patient costs are allowed.

Eligibility

• Junior-level faculty members (assistant professor or equivalent within six years of initial faculty appointment) who do not currently hold nationally peer-reviewed funding are eligible.
  • Career development/mentored grants, such as NIH K awards, are allowed.
  • Smaller foundation grants are allowed as long as they are not a result of a national peer-reviewed competition and do not have overlapping aims with the proposed pilot.
• Citizens, non-citizen nationals, and permanent residents of the United States and its possessions or territories are eligible.
• CHOP-based faculty members are eligible.
• Faculty on tenure, clinician-educator, and research tracks are eligible.
• Non-faculty (e.g., residents, fellows, instructors) are not eligible.
• Past recipients of an ACS IRG Pilot Project are not eligible.

The ACS reserves one of the four pilots for junior faculty who identify as being part of a group that is under-represented in science. Per the ACS, it is to be awarded to “specific populations that are underrepresented in science, including grant funding, such as certain racial and ethnic groups, first-generation college graduates, or those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Applicants are asked to review these ACS criteria and let the ACC know if they fall into the group as defined.

Funding Level: $60,000 per project, direct costs only
Project Period: July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025
Application Deadline: April 1, 2024

The completed application must be submitted to the Abramson Cancer Center via an online application site: https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/pgacc/users/sign_in (you must create a user account in order to log into the system).

Please note that the online application interface contains an option for adding a Co-PI; this function is not applicable to this pilot program. Please leave blank.

The online interface also requires a separate upload of your NIH biosketch. Please upload it here in addition to including it in your application package.

For more information, contact Cecilia Scavelli at cecilia2@upenn.edu.

Rebecca Stein and Bruce Lenthall

Education at Penn – how and what we want to teach, how and what we want our students to learn, who our students are – is constantly changing. In just the span of our current seniors’ undergraduate experiences, those of us who teach and support learning have had to repeatedly think anew about how we educate our students amidst a pandemic, Zoom classes and remote teaching, the reminder of the need for racial inclusion and equity in our courses, difficulties re-engaging students in person, the emergence of generative AI, and struggles to support open inquiry in our classes. These past four years have been a dramatic reminder of the new challenges and opportunities in education.

To better meet those continually changing challenges and opportunities, now and in the future, Penn is also changing some of the ways we support teaching and learning. This year, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Online Learning Initiative (OLI) have merged to form the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation (CETLI).

For instructors – from senior faculty to new graduate students – staff, programs, and offices across Penn, CETLI is a resource to help promote teaching excellence and innovation. The center does this by:

• Supporting all instructors in realizing their teaching aims and developing as teachers
• Bolstering the people, processes and technological infrastructure needed to make possible outstanding teaching on, and beyond, Penn’s campus
• Helping to lead Penn through an evolving educational landscape, and advancing teaching initiatives informed by changes to our student body, technology and pedagogy
• Fostering a culture of inclusive and excellent teaching

That mission, of course, builds on the overlapping as well as distinct aims of its precursors, CTL and OLI. Nothing either center did will go away. By merging the two groups, though, CETLI can do more than either did alone. It can better respond to the reality that pedagogy and technology, while not always, are often entwined. The combined center will offer improved support for connecting the pedagogical and the digital, working both with instructors and with school-based staff  to help make sure Penn’s instructional technology systems best meet our needs and aspirations. As a single organization, CETLI will also more seamlessly center considerations of teaching in discussions of new digital initiatives, with instructional design support for those initiatives.

We have already begun implementing this enhanced support. For instructors, CETLI offers regular workshops and individual consultations on teaching with technology – everything from teaching with Canvas, to polling, to using generative AI in teaching. CETLI supports instructional design projects and instructional designers across campus. And CETLI is actively partnering with the many instructional technology professionals around Penn to review, improve, and make legible for instructors the various instructional technologies available at Penn. As we take on the opportunities and challenges of teaching and learning, we need to consider where pedagogy and technology may connect.

The goal in creating CETLI, however, is not to suggest all of teaching and learning is about instructional technology. Excellent teaching may be cutting edge – or make outstanding use of practices as old as a seminar discussions or problem sets.

The combined center will provide all Penn instructors, staff and schools with better access to supports for their teaching, whether they seek to use technology or not. CETLI offers a wealth of web resources for instructors looking to develop their teaching or address specific questions and for staff supporting online programs. CETLI can provide workshops upon request, for faculty, lecturers, graduate students and staff in all 12 Penn schools. These sessions run the gamut from inclusive and equitable teaching to teaching for active learning, from effective mentorship to discussions across difference, from teaching with generative AI to curricular mapping on a program level.

CETLI continues to support faculty and lecturers across Penn, helping instructors pursue their own aims and creating space for them to come together to reflect on and discuss their common teaching concerns and interests. CETLI discussions and workshops bring instructors together to learn from one another and to explore both new and long-standing teaching concerns. Many of these sessions are one-time discussions, but some – such as CETLI’s several year-long seminars, multi-day Course Design Institute and Introduction to Teaching at Penn for new faculty – allow instructors to hold sustained conversations on particular topics. And instructors with large or small teaching questions can consult with CETLI staff confidentially; if desired, CETLI can observe classes and provide feedback.

For graduate students and teaching assistants, CETLI offers programs to prepare them for teaching at Penn and to launch them into future careers teaching on the college or university level. All schools or departments may have their doctoral students new to TAing participate in our 3-day TA Training program. For undergraduate or master’s students acting at TAs or learning assistants, CETLI offers a much-abridged orientation. For graduate students interested in further development, we offer over a hundred workshops a year, including both single-session discussions and multi-session mini-courses. Many of these programs are open to postdocs as well. These groups are also welcome to consult with CETLI regarding teaching and CETLI staff and graduate fellows are available for class observations.

With CETLI’s digital innovation team, the center continues to support schools and programs in experimenting with, developing and offering online programs. These may include degree programs, for-credit classes, non-credit offerings, and exploring other educational modes. In this, CETLI consults with and connects school teams to share best practices at Penn, again fostering a culture of shared reflection. CETLI supports the infrastructure, both technological and procedural, needed for such programmatic experimentation. This includes providing guidance related to strategy, state and federal compliance requirements, and marketing, as well as supporting external partnerships, managing related data, and coordinating with campus partners around services for online students. Further, CETLI provides the Online Learning Platform: an externally facing system that enables non-credit, online Penn programs and courses to collect payment and registration, and create and review custom applications while also providing detailed enrollment reporting and learner support. And for instructors and program teams considering creative approaches to teaching and learning–whether in the digital space or not–CETLI also provides support through its Spark Grants program.

It isn’t only the past four years that have challenged us to think differently about teaching and learning. Regardless of circumstances, all of us regularly consider how to bolster all of our students’ learning experiences. CETLI represents a new organization, designed to be nimble in supporting teaching and learning amidst changing circumstances. But it also represents a long-standing ideal: that when we come together and learn from one another, we can improve education for all.

More information about CETLI can be found at https://cetli.upenn.edu. To find out how to make use of any of CETLI’s resources, to consult with CETLI staff, or to be added to the listserv of events, write to CETLI-info@upenn.edu. To join the celebration of CETLI’s opening, February 12, from 4:30-6 p.m., register online.

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Rebecca Stein and Bruce Lenthall are co-executive directors of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Innovation (CETLI).

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This essay continues the series that began in the fall of 1994 as the joint creation of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Lindback Society for Distinguished Teaching.

See https://almanac.upenn.edu/talk-about-teaching-and-learning-archive for previous essays.