Festival for International Students at the Penn Museum

Students and Scholars Welcomed to Philadelphia
Friday, October 14 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm

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Mayor Kenney Among Host of Dignitaries to Offer Welcome

FALL, 2016 — As the nation’s first World Heritage City, Philadelphia has a rich history, international roots, and wide-reaching global connections. Nowhere is Philadelphia’s global reach and diversity more evident than through the international students and scholars who come to the city and region to further their higher education, and in the process, to enrich the communities where they reside.

On Friday, October 14, from 5 to 7 pm, the Penn Museum continues its 47-year tradition of hosting a free, museum-wide special reception for the region’s international students and scholars, at the Festival of International Students. Participating colleges range from nearby Temple and University of the Sciences to Arcadia, Philadelphia University, and St. Joseph’s University.

Global Philadelphia Association and Campus Philly, the Penn Language Center, and Penn Global at the University of Pennsylvania, are the major sponsors of the event, which annually draws hundreds of international students from all over the world.

A Warm Welcome from the City

Jim Kenney, Philadelphia’s new Mayor, joins in the festivities, offering remarks about Philadelphia’s growing role as a global city. Dr. Julian Siggers, Penn Museum Director, and Peter Longstreth, President, Consular Corps Association of Philadelphia, are among the other speakers offering welcoming remarks at 6:00 pm.

Diverse Cultures in the Spotlight

The Festival of International Students features music and dance by a range of international student groups, as well as opportunities to meet and mingle throughout the international galleries of the Penn Museum. The Penn Lions lead a Chinese lion dance parade into the third floor galleries at 5:15. Guests can enjoy Middle Eastern dance and drumming (Penn Yalla), Latino dance routines (Temple Esencia Latina), a fusion of modern and African Music (University of the Sciences’ Culture Shock), Tir na nÓg, Penn’s Irish Dance Troupe, and traditional Chinese dance (Penn Chinese Dance Club).

Guests can play Global Passport Interactive Bingo, take a mini Salsa dance lesson, and express themselves with a temporary language or ancient symbol tattoo.

Students can find other guests from their native country at a large scale map of the world, where everyone has a chance to mark their home and look for others from the same country or region at the global meet up.

Penn Museum’s International Classroom, Penn, and City Connections

During the reception, guests can learn more about how they might become involved in the Penn Museum’s International Classroom program. Since its creation in 1961, International Classroom has helped students, teachers, and families learn first-hand about other cultures by providing World Culture workshops at the Museum or in schools. An outreach component includes sending speakers to libraries and retirement communities, while a virtual option features workshops through the Museum’s distance learning studio. Currently, International Classroom presenters hail from countries near and far, including China, Greece, India, Japan, Brazil, Morocco and Kenya.

“International Classroom is an open invitation for international students to help promote intercultural understanding, whether they’re here for a semester or 20 years,” said Hitomi Yoshida, Diversity Programs Manager at the Penn Museum, and a principal coordinator of the event. “We meet many interested students at this annual program.”

Cultural organizations, performing arts groups and businesses around the city welcome the students and share information at tables in the Museum’s Chinese Rotunda.

For more information about the event, or to learn more about the International Classroom Program at the Penn Museum, call the Penn Museum’s Learning Programs department at 215.898.4066.

More about the Penn Museum

The Penn Museum (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) is dedicated to the study and understanding of human history and diversity. Founded in 1887, the Museum has sent more than 300 archaeological and anthropological expeditions to all the inhabited continents of the world. With an active exhibition schedule and educational programming for children and adults, the Museum offers the public an opportunity to share in the ongoing discovery of humankind's collective heritage.

The Penn Museum is located at 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (on Penn's campus, across from Franklin Field). Public transportation to the Museum is available via SEPTA's Regional Rail Line at University City Station; the Market-Frankford Subway Line at 34th Street Station; trolley routes 11, 13, 34, and 36; and bus routes 21, 30, 40, and 42. Regular Museum hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and first Wednesdays of each month until 8:00 pm. Museum admission donation is $15 for adults; $13 for senior citizens (65 and above); free for U.S. Military; $10 for children and full-time students with ID; free to Penn Museum Members, PennCard holders, and children 5 and younger.

Penn Museum can be found on the web at www.penn.museum. For general information call 215.898.4000. For group tour information call 215.746.8183.