University Libraries News

Mridula Sharma, a master's student in English literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, has been named the 2023 recipient of the Linda Stein Upstander Award administered by Penn State University Libraries. Sharma will offer a presentation, “Feminist Metamodernism: New Upstander Visions of Visuality Across Genres,” Feb. 21 on Penn State’s University Park campus and via Zoom. Applications for the 2024 award are due Feb. 1.

During the University Libraries’ “Mystery Date with a Book,” happening through February, shelves in Pattee Library's Franklin Atrium will be filled with wrapped fiction and nonfiction books in a variety of genres available for students to check out for a reading date.

Penn State University Libraries’ 2024 Library Discovery Hours provide in-depth perspectives of today’s academic research library and its student-centered and research-supporting priorities. This year’s special events include travels with exclusive access to several prominent Penn State alumni whose papers have been donated to the University Libraries’ special collections.

Undergraduate students who access Penn State University Libraries’ resources or services and with financial need are encouraged to apply for 2024-25 academic year University Libraries scholarships, which are intended to help with current school costs. Awards start at $500 and range up to $3,000, and a student who completes a scholarship application by the May 3 deadline will be considered for all available scholarships, as appropriate.  

John Urschel, mathematician, former NFL offensive lineman, and Penn State alumnus, will be the keynote speaker for Penn State’s 2024 Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium on March 23.

An upcoming exhibition, “’Where Beauty’s At’: Expressions of Black Visual Culture,” runs from Feb. 1 through Sept. 9 in the Special Collections exhibition space at 104 Paterno Library on the University Park campus. An opening reception will take place on Feb. 1 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library, and is free and open to the public.

Auditions for Political Song-a-Palooza, a musical showcase of political and protest music performed by Penn State students, faculty, staff and alumni, is extending video and audio auditions through Sunday, Feb. 4.   

Students new to the University Park campus are encouraged to join Penn State University Libraries' spring Open House, to be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, in Pattee Library and Paterno Library at University Park.;

Instructors who need fresh and innovative ideas to design a new and authentic course assignment, or who have an old assignment that needs a revamp, are invited to apply to the Classroom-to-Community program, sponsored by Teaching and Learning with Technology.

Thanks to a $225,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a group of Penn State scholars led by Scott Burnett will hold a two-year Sawyer Seminar examining the roles gender, sex and reproduction have played in global fascist and ethnonationalist movements from the early 20th century through today.

Penn State and the Centre County Historical Society on Jan. 11 officially unveiled a new historical marker — “Birthplace of Penn State” — on the grounds of Centre Furnace Mansion in State College. The mansion is the home of the society and the location of the 1855 agreement that sited "The Farmers’ High School" on 200 acres in Centre County.

Penn State University Libraries invites submissions for the 13th annual competition for the Robert F. Guentter Jr. Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Award. The University-wide competition aims to find the best research by a Penn State undergraduate student in consultation with their adviser.