2006 Penn Events>

February 2006 Events

If Ben Had Had His Way
A Symposium in Honor of the 300th Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's Birth
Presented by the Penn Humanities Forum and the Marvin and Sybil Weiner Fund of Van Pelt Library 4:00-6:00 pm, Friday, February 24th
Class of 55 Room, 2nd floor
Van Pelt Library, 3420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia

To pre-register (required):
Click here to Register or call 215.573.8280.

Free. Public, including secondary school students, invited.

Near the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin concluded that the Academy he helped found, which became the University of Pennsylvania, had consistently violated its charter. That charter advanced a controversial view of the university's relation to tradition, class, citizenship, and speculative knowledge. Where does the academy stand on these matters today? Where would Ben Franklin have liked the academy to stand?

Join us for this special symposium organized to mark the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth. Distinguished panelists will include Rebecca Bushnell, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences; Peter Conn, Professor of English; Peter Stallybrass, Annenberg Professor in the Humanities; Michael Zuckerman, Professor of History; and the first-prize winner, to be named in February 2006, of the Forum's undergraduate student essay contest, "If Ben Had Had His Way."