Summer fun

The 40th Street Field—that green space between Walnut and Locust streets near the Highrises—will be transformed this summer into a lively outdoor arts venue, with a family friendly program taking place each month: music on June 10, arts and crafts on July 8 and dance on Aug. 12. Performers on June 10 include Celtic musicians Ouliette, youth hip-hop from The Thuro-Kidz, West African a cappella from Voices of Africa and folk-rock from Steph Hayes and the Good Problems. On July 8 local, unknown and independent artists will display and sell their work. The program on Aug. 12 includes performances by Ann-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers, breakdancer Leah “Keturah” Caesar and Monique Legare International Dance Company, as well an Argentine Tango demonstration by Lesley Mitchell and belly dancing from Tribal Spirit. For more information go to The Rotunda’s web site: www.foundationarts.org.

Penn nano tops list

The latest issue of Small Times magazine ranks Penn #1 in nanotechnology research. Centers and labs around the campus collaborating on this important research, include the Nano/Bio Interface Center, the Nanotechnology Institute and the Penn Regional Nanotechnology Facility, to name just a few. Small Times magazine is a business publication covering the fast-emerging nanotechnology, micro-electro-mechanical systems and microsystems fields.

Free read

This year’s Penn Reading Project (PRP) book will be “Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity” by Lawrence Lessig. Described by The New Yorker as “the most important thinker on intellectual property in the internet era,” Lessig is a Penn alum and Stanford law professor. On Sunday, Sept. 3, groups of first-year students and faculty leaders will join together to discuss the book as part of New Student Orientation. Faculty in all 12 schools are invited to take part as PRP discussion leaders. For more information, or to volunteer as a leader, contact PRP Director David Fox at 215-573-5636 or dfox@sas.upenn.edu.