News & Events
FEBRUARY 2, 2025
The Abayudaya Communities of Uganda: Pop-Up Photography Exhibit + Film Screening
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 6:00pm ET
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
‘Easing patient fears of radiation treatment, via virtual reality’
Before their first dose of radiation, cancer patients can shadow another patient’s treatment and get a private behind-the-scenes tour with the team members via virtual reality.
JULY 29, 2024
‘Decherney-Directed Film Honored at Festivals’
Is It Because I’m a Girl, a short film directed by Peter Decherney, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor in the Humanities, has won Best Documentary at the Venice Shorts Festival and the Industry Choice Award at the Dances with Films Festival, both held in Los Angeles in June.
MARCH 27, 2024
‘Q&A: Author of ‘Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African’ on Coke’s surprising history’
Author-historian Sara Byala had an epiphany about Coca-Cola’s role in African life and culture in 2003. She and a group of fellow graduate students had found their way across Mali’s Saharan Desert via an arduous journey that involved a broken-down jeep followed by bouts of hiking and hitchhiking.
JANUARY 9, 2024
Global Discovery Series: Film, Photography, and Virtual Reality
Virtual, 12:00pm ET
OCTOBER 27, 2023
‘Coca-Cola in Africa’
A new book by Sara Byala of the School of Arts & Sciences examines the century-long history of the soft drink manufacturer and its local impact in Africa.
MAY 22, 2023
‘Virtual reality in an ancient world’
Students create films to document the reimagining of the Penn Museum’s Ancient Egypt and Nubia galleries.
JULY 20, 2021
‘Dreaming of Jerusalem’
Penn’s Peter Decherney and Sosena Solomon make a documentary film about a Jewish community in Ethiopia waiting to emigrate to Israel.
NOVEMBER 2020
The Heart of Puerto Rico at 2020 New Orleans Film Festival
A multi-part virtual reality docuseries, The Heart of Puerto Rico features fifteen Puerto Rican artists and explores colonialism, the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and the power of the Puerto Rican people through painting, dance, music, sculpture, skateboarding, puppetry, and voguing. Episodes featured: Anomalia, Poncili, Jose, Mariaen
JUNE 9, 2020
‘Reality replaces virtual reality’
What was supposed to be a cinema and media studies course to create virtual reality films on the Philadelphia Museum of Art collections became individual films by the students about the realities and connections to the pieces they researched.
MAY 27, 2019
‘Virtual Reality Comes to the Classroom’
The possibilities for creating new ways of learning are wide-ranging, but so are the challenges.
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
‘From devastation, stories of hope and resilience’
On a summer field trip, students assisted in the filming of virtual reality videos of artists in Puerto Rico reacting to Hurricane Maria.
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
‘Making a difference in Puerto Rico through VR filmmaking’
Students film virtual reality videos of artists reacting to Hurricane Maria in summer abroad program funded by a Making a Difference in Diverse Communities grant.
AUGUST 23, 2018
‘Film for Social Change’
Penn students from a variety of disciplines are learning the essentials of film storytelling and production while helping to give a voice to marginalized people and communities.
OCTOBER 11, 2017
‘A Journey of Discovery in Kenya’
SEPTEMBER 19, 2016
‘Penn Student Returns Home to Study Energy Innovation in Africa’
