The 2011-12 school year at Penn will be all about gaming.
The Provost’s theme year, a project that involves multidisciplinary inquiry across Penn’s 12 schools and many resource centers, will be the Year of Games: Body & Mind. In conjunction with the theme, the Year of Games Grants Program will offer opportunities to create, participate in and learn about games. Penn faculty, staff and students can apply, either individually or in groups, for grants up to $750. There will be additional funding at a higher level available for special projects, such as larger conferences, speakers and special symposia co-sponsored by several Penn schools or centers.
The Provost, Council of Undergraduate Deans and Office of College Houses and Academic Services have also announced the text for the2011-12 Penn Reading Project (PRP): Jane McGonigal’s “Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World.” This book, which focuses on the major role that video and computer games play in our lives, will serve as the kickoff for the Provost’s theme year. On Sept. 4, 2011, first-year students and faculty members from all schools will come together to discuss the book as part of New Student Orientation for the Class of 2015. Past PRPs have included Ben Franklin’s “Autobiography,” Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and Thomas Eakins’ painting, “The Gross Clinic.” For more information, go tohttps://secure.www.upenn.edu/themeyear/games/.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
