The Asian/Asian American Program Community aims to bring together both students that identify as part of the Asian and/or Asian American community, or who have an interest in learning more about the needs and concerns of this community. Through connections with academic and co-curricular resources, this Program Community focuses on community building through personal and group reflection, programming, and connection to both campus and off campus opportunities.

Program Goals:

• To open an additional space aside from academic coursework or involvement in student groups to explore Asian and Asian American topics
• To promote deeper reflection on Asian and Asian American identity, especially the diversity of experiences that the community tries to encompass
• To connect students to other resources on campus for exploring Asian and Asian American identity, as well as the field of Asian American studies
• To support opportunities for students to participate in events on campus and in Philadelphia together

Participation Expectations:

Participants will be expected to participate in programs organized by the PC RA and to take a leadership role in developing programs throughout the year.

Sample Events and Traditions:

Drawing from the former East Asia Program Community, this will be the first year for the Asian/Asian American Program Community, so residents can expect to be heavily involved with shaping the direction of this residential experience and involved in the development of new traditions. We will attend programs on campus, connect with the rich Asian and Asian American communities in Philadelphia through festivals, community service opportunities, academic resources, and more.

“It seems to me, Govinda, that love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to desire it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect.”

                                —Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha

How do we regard the world with all its complexities and nuances, as well as the multitude of cultures found throughout the globe? The International Residential Program (IP) creates a dynamic space where residents can learn about other cultures and ways of living. Resident Advisors and Graduate Associates (RAGAs) and residents alike facilitate cooperative learning through dinner and discussions, participation in the annual Coffeehouse & Food Festival, and creation of cultural displays that are shown on the floors. Residents have also attended museum exhibition tours and special events in the Philadelphia area. As part of the Harnwell Cultures Collective, residents will showcase the integrated experience and interconnectedness of cultural commonality in scholarly and creative presentations at the annual Harnwell Symposium.

IP events and activities are shaped by residents’ interests each year and encompass exploration of international cultures, policies, cuisine, theater, music, etc. This program is well-suited for the student who takes initiative, is dedicated to the mission of the Cultures Collective, and is seeking intellectual and personal growth.

Program Goals: The Program invites residents to expand their understanding of other cultures and foster an appreciation for living in an intercultural community. At the conclusion of the academic year, residents will have developed their critical thinking skills, taken on leadership roles, and engaged with these topics through an interdisciplinary model. 

Participant Expectations: The Program RAGAs will review details and activities at the beginning of the academic year, where residents will receive their IP Compact. Residents will be expected to participate in the following, as decided by the RAGAs:

• 1 major event per month
• 1 minor event per month
• Implement 1 minor floor event as determined by the RAGAs
• Host 1 House program per semester

Members will assist in the production of Front Row’s productions including the company’s NSO, Fall, Winter, and Spring productions.   Members will also coordinate community service projects planned in connection with Front Row’s performances.  In addition, members of the program will collaborate in readings of plays and the creation of original dramatic and artistic works to be presented in Harrison College House.  In partnership with the Penn Art Club members of the program will meet local artists and alumni (playwrights, visual artists, and performers) to gain different perspectives about the arts community. Find out more on the Front Row Theatre website, and check out the Penn Art Club website.

Goals: Harrison’s Front Row Theatre Company Program provides its participants with the opportunity to encounter and study a broad range of artistic media and expression; to learn from other program residents, who come from diverse academic and artistic backgrounds; to take artistic risks within a supportive community.

Expectations: Members of the program will be expected to participate in Harrison’s Front Row Theatre; organize and participate in Harrison’s regular Art-In programs; organize and attend Harrison’s Art Speakers Series; develop Harrison’s original art series through collaborations in playwriting, filmmaking, or other forms of expressive arts.

Location: Harrison’s Front Row and the Arts Community Program in Harrison will be located on the 7th and 8th floors of Harrison College House.  

Perspectives in the Humanities is a community focused on the elevated appreciation of the arts and the humanities through shared experiences. Members of Perspectives in the Humanities come from diverse backgrounds, but are united by a common passion for the humanities. One need not study the humanities to apply—the program merely calls for a genuine interest and desire to spend time with fellow humanists. PiH is dedicated to fostering an appreciation and the discussion of the humanities at Penn: in the arts and music, literature, languages, theater, history, philosophy, anthropology, religion, jurisprudence, ethics, and beyond.  Signature events include the Penn Author Forum, speakeasy events, theater and museum outings in Philadelphia, and notable cultural events within the city.

Goals: The goal of PiH is to create an environment conducive to studying and enjoying the humanities beyond the classroom, where students feel comfortable discussing their creative thoughts with others, both formally and socially.

KC3 houses the community of the dual-degree Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. The program integrates a liberal arts and business education, as well as advanced foreign language training. The program fosters global awareness and understanding of economic, cultural, social, linguistic, and technological issues in the international arena. Huntsman students select one of the eleven official target languages: Arabic, Mandarin, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. All first-year students accepted into the program live together in Kings Court English College House during their freshman year. This allows Huntsman students to learn from a wide variety of languages and nationalities. Moreover, Huntsman students create lifelong friendship bonds between each other.

Extending beyond Kings Court English House, the Science and Technology Wing (STWing) is a network of over two hundred undergraduates, graduate students, professors, and alumni from the University of Pennsylvania whose members share a strong interest in the science and technologies that permeate everyday life. While its reach is campus-wide, however, STWing’s simultaneous status as a residential program helps maintain a flourishing intellectual and social community foundation both for the College House and the larger society. A great synergetic learning community, STWingers are always getting together to build something – from blimps to space cameras – relying on their collective knowledge of physics, engineering, computer science, as well as art and sense of humor to do so. In addition to these inventive pursuits, the pioneering residents of STWing have for years owned and maintained their own timesharing servers, raised money to fund a research fellowship, and helped produce a science journal of undergraduate research. Throughout the year the program hosts a dinner-discussion series to which University faculty, staff, and interesting non-Penn guests are invited, as well as purely social events planned by students. The program is entirely student run by its Continuum (Student Governance), though students often work closely with faculty on their projects and with House staff in planning their social activities. 

Goals: STWing sets out to provide its members with the connections, structure, and resources (financial and otherwise) necessary to pursue projects of their own interests. The network of faculty and alumni associated with the program provides a personalized mentoring experience within this community context. The program teaches students to dare, but also to have fun and be collaborative in the process.

For more information: E-mail info@stwing.upenn.edu.

Chinese House welcomes any Gregorian interested in exploring Chinese language and culture. While some proficiency in Mandarin is preferred, all are encouraged to participate. Besides language, we will also enjoy films (with English subtitles), calligraphy, games and, yes, authentic Chinese food.

Chinese House is the Mandarin Chinese Language component of the Modern Languages Program, based in Class of 1925. TThis program is staffed by Graduate Resident Advisors (GRAs) who are accomplished graduate students (and often native Mandarin speakers) chosen to promote the goals of language immersion and cultural exposure. Each group meets weekly for meals, chats, media screenings and excursions. This close-knit community has members from all four class years, with some returning Gregorians taking on a leadership role; many participants are interested in international business, law, or careers in diplomacy, and often plan to study abroad while at Penn. Both beginners and those with considerable Mandarin Chinese fluency are welcome; dedicated residents often show great improvement in their speaking skills.

Program Goals: The program aims to provide students with regular Chinese language practice and diverse cultural experiences.

The Film Culture Program (FCP) is devoted to movie lovers interested in expanding their knowledge of the art form beyond just summer blockbusters and Oscar winners (though we like those too).

Our intimate, newly-renovated cinema lounge hosts a packed schedule of screenings and discussions (often more than 150 per year) covering  the medium’s history and the scope of world cinema today. (We post the trailers for the films we screen on our Facebook page— check out our current lineup!) This low-pressure program also sponsors a student-made film festival, takes regular trips to Philadelphia-area theaters (sometimes for advanced screenings), and encourages participants to write screenplays and try their hand at film-making. Even better, FCP members can choose to enroll in the program for academic credit and receive a grade for their active participation.

Program Goals: The program aims to introduce students to a wide range of films and to provide considerable practice discussing the art form.

Requirements: Although we hope all participants will participate in screenings and discussions from time to time, there is no formal expectation except for those residents who opt to enroll for credit.  For enrolled students, requirements include attendance at in-House screenings and excursions, along with active engagement in discussions.  Detailed requirements will be outlined in the course syllabus for students participating for credit.

The Music and Social Change program explores the many ways in which individuals use music in their everyday lives to develop who they are and, often subconsciously, to advance their own social and economic position. Through an academic course, volunteering in music classrooms in West Philadelphia, and attending concerts together, participants will investigate how music is used to construct larger social and economic networks that we call culture. The ongoing interdisciplinary debate about the value of popular, Western “classical,” and transnational music in the education and everyday lives of young people will be a focus.
 
This residential program is special in two ways- first, it requires that residents donate 3 hours per week to volunteering in a West Philadelphia music class for the entire academic year and second, all residents take a Freshman Seminar together spread across the first-year (as a .5cu course in Fall and Spring terms). In addition, the program includes attending concerts together across Philadelphia in a wide range of genres and styles, exploring the history of West Philadelphia's educational and musical institutions, and having dinner discussions with academics whose work specializes in the ties between music, social class, race, and economic mobility.
 
The volunteer component of the residential program will take students either to The Workshop School to work with choir or general music classes or to Henry C. Lea Elementary School to work with an after school music program with band, orchestra, choir or homework help.  In past years, participants have been able to work around their own academic schedules but our typical volunteer options are Mon-Tues-Wed between 3-6pm at the Elementary School or Fridays between noon-3pm at the High School.  The program will work around students' schedules as best we can, and some students have been able to assist school-day teachers at alternate times as well.
 
The residential program is also supported by a very knowledgeable residential associate, who will either be a graduate student in Music or an undergraduate who has been through the course or residential program before.  The residential associate lives with all participants and plays a crucial role in helping to organize concert outings, leading group activities, and providing ongoing support to students in the program.
 
Students in the Music and Social Change program are not required to read music or to be accomplished performing musicians, although participants must have a passion for music, an interest in working with youth in our community, and the willingness and flexibility to try new things.  Participants who have musical skills and are interested in taking on leadership positions, such as more hands-on teaching, will be encouraged to do so.

HarrisonQ is a safe and celebratory place to explore LGBTQ+ identities, community, history, and advocacy both at Penn and around the world. 

Co-sponsored by Harrison College House and the LGBT Center, students who live in HarrisonQ will:

• Engage in programming that centers LGBT people and culture
• Participate in programs such as National Coming Out Date, Philadelphia LGBT Excursions, International Transgender Day of Visibility,
• Gain an understanding of LGBT history and advocacy both in Philadelphia and throughout the US 
• Identify ways in which they can contribute to building community in Harrison and in the LGBT Center 

The Muslim Life Residential Program provides residents with an experiential living and learning space focused on the appreciation of Islamic culture, food, history, and practice, providing students of any background a chance to learn about the local effect of Islam and the daily experiences of Muslims. Islam is deeply integrated in the culture of Philadelphia particularly, so this program offers students across Penn a way to appreciate how Islam influences daily life in the home of one of the largest Muslim communities in North America.

The program will offer regular opportunities for lectures and academic programs about Islamic perspectives on student life, including explorations of Islam’s rich history in Philadelphia, spiritual perspectives on mental health, and the ways Islamic/faith-based ethics manifest in fields like healthcare and business.  Social activities will be a big part of the program as well, exploring the Philadelphia halal restaurant scene, touring historic sites in the city, and performing community service with the West Philadelphia Muslims Serve project.  

Additionally, this program floor offers a space where Muslim students on campus can comfortably explore their own faith identity. Opportunities and space for communal prayer will be provided.

Participants in the Riepe Mentors Program form a unique team dedicated to serving children in West Philadelphia public schools and community-based programs. Under the direction of senior faculty at Penn's Graduate School of Education and with the support of the Netter Center, participants mentor children in elementary, middle, and high schools, devoting at least two hours a week to such activities, as well as attending monthly dinners with faculty to discuss their experiences. Participation in the Mentors Program is available to all residents of Riepe College House.

Goals: The Mentors program aims to familiarize its residents with West Philadelphia by connecting them with children who live and attend West Philadelphia schools. In the process, mentors learn about the challenges facing kids in Philadelphia’s educational system, while also learning about the talents and great potential of these students. Throughout the year, mentors have the opportunity to develop their own leadership skills, gain exceptional pre-career experience, and discover the rewards of community service.

Residents are encouraged to assess their present leadership abilities, actively pursue personal leadership development and build meaningful relationships with other floor members through events, dinners, workshops, and social activities. Additionally, each year the Rodin Leadership Program will focus on a specific theme around leadership. The theme for 2018-2019 is "Leadership and Community Engagement".

Program Objectives:

• Identify individual strengths and pursue leadership opportunities that will help to build upon and capitalize on those strengths.

• Analyze and apply a variety of leadership theories to current projects and opportunities on campus.

• Observe and learn from leaders in a variety of capacities.

• Engage in social entrepreneurship and servant leadership.

• Develop relationships and network.

• Identify ways in which they contributed to building a floor and a House community.

Expectations and Participation: Members of the Rodin Leadership Program should expect to attend floor meetings, participate in the annual Rodin Showcase, and generally be active members of their floor and House communities.