Academic Theme for 2011-2012—Games: Body and Mind	Print Issue
October 5, 2010, Volume 57, No. 06

Provost Vincent Price and Vice Provost for Education Andrew Binns are pleased to announce “Games: Body and Mind” as the academic theme for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The Year of Games will explore the roles played by games in the lives of individuals and communities, across the perspectives of a wide range of disciplines.  Topics could include (but are not limited to): computer game design, robotics, game theory and mathematics, sports in history, sports and the economy, neuroscientific research on the links between body and mind, games and cultural identity, gender and equality in athletics, and competition in all spheres of our lives.

Academic theme years are designed to provide common intellectual and academic experiences that integrate knowledge across Penn’s diverse schools, programs, centers, and institutes. They begin with the Penn Reading Project, in which all entering undergraduate students read and discuss a common text, and continue throughout the year with a variety of programs, courses, events, initiatives, and symposia.  Games will be the fifth academic theme year developed by the Office of the Provost, the Council of Undergraduate Deans, and the Office of College Houses and Academic Services, after years devoted to Water, Arts & the City, Evolution, and Food.

The Provost and Vice Provost for Education welcome ideas from the Penn community for Year of Games programs and future academic theme years. Please contact David Fox, director of Academic Initiatives, at dfox@upenn.edu with your suggestions.