Integrating Knowledge

The Penn Compact, which was launched at the inauguration of President Amy Gutmann in October 2004, has become the vision that expresses the Penn community's commitment to propel the University of Pennsylvania "From Excellence to Eminence."

The problems of our times—from fighting global epidemics and terrorism to preparing for natural disasters, from mediating ethnopolitical conflict to preventing wars, from revitalizing cities to revolutionizing medicine—cannot be understood or solved by insulated thinking. Students and faculty need the tools of multiple disciplines to understand these challenging issues and to contribute to their resolution.

With outstanding faculty and 12 schools located on one campus, Penn excels in interdisciplinary teaching and research. Under the Penn Compact, the University has built on these strengths to launch major initiatives that will foster more effective integration of knowledge and expertise across multiple professions and academic disciplines.

• The Role Of Eminent Faculty

• Integrating Cutting-Edge Research

• Integrating Teaching And Learning

• Integrating Knowledge In The Public Square

• Integrating Knowledge Among Global Partners

 

The Role Of Eminent Faculty

• Penn Integrates Knowledge Initiative

Faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional achievement across disciplines are central to the Penn Compact's vision.

President Gutmann conceived Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK), an initiative to recruit scholars whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge. These scholars hold endowed professorships and joint appointments between Penn's schools.

The first six PIK Professors are:

• John L. Jackson Jr., a cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker, the Richard Perry University Professor with appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication and School of Arts and Sciences, with affiliation to the Center for Africana Studies. Jackson comes to Penn with his wife, Deborah A. Thomas, an associate professor of anthropology with expertise in Africana studies and cultural politics.
• Jonathan Moreno, the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor, a biomedical ethicist who holds appointments in medical ethics in the School of Medicine and in the history and sociology of science in SAS.
• Christopher B. Murray, the Richard Perry University Professor, a nanoscale researcher who holds appointments in chemistry in SAS and materials science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Murray is joined here at Penn by his spouse, Cherie R. Kagan, an associate professor of electrical and systems engineering.
• Adrian Raine, the Richard Perry University Professor, a psychologist and neuroscientist known for integrating varied perspectives to predict violent behavior. He holds appointments in the Department of Criminology of SAS and in the Department of Psychiatry of the School of Medicine. Raine’s wife, Jianghong Liu, an assistant professor in Penn’s School of Nursing, studies how early risk factors predispose children to behavioral problems.
• Philippe Bourgois, the Richard Perry University Professor, a medical anthropologist. He holds appointments in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine.
• Sarah Tishkoff, the David and Lyn Silfen University Associate Professor, a leading global expert in human genetics, will share appointments between the Department of Genetics in the School of Medicine and the Department of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences.

 

Integrating Cutting-Edge Research

• Nano/Bio Interface Center
• Center for Molecular Discovery
• Penn Institute for Urban Research

Advances in genomics and nanoscience have laid the groundwork for potentially lifesaving collaboration across health sciences, engineering, and the arts and sciences.

In the fall of 2004, Penn opened the only national center that combines work in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, the Nano/Bio Interface Center. Representing a collaboration among Penn's Schools of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Medicine, this center leverages Penn's faculty strength in materials science and other fields of engineering, chemistry, condensed-matter physics, molecular biology, medicine, and bioethics.

In 2005, Penn was chosen by the National Institutes of Health to develop a massive molecular database accessible to biomedical scientists worldwide. As a result, Penn launched the Center for Molecular Discovery. Penn engineers with skills in robotics, chemists from Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, and biomedical researchers from Penn Medicine will produce discoveries that enhance our understanding of living organisms.

In 2006, the School of Medicine received a $68 million grant through the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards program. The gift, received jointly by Penn and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will enhance Penn’s capacity to convert new scientific breakthroughs into real-world applications.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (PIUR) is an exciting effort to help the University become a global leader in urban scholarship, teaching, and practice. Convening faculty from all 12 schools, the PIUR integrates scholarship from the sciences, the humanities, business, law, education policy, and design to help shape more effective urban policies.
 

 

Integrating Teaching And Learning

• Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management
• Revised College Curriculum and Integrated Majors
• Graduate Interdisciplinary Fellowships

Fluency in multiple academic disciplines will be the mark of successful future leaders. Great engineers must also be great managers. Successful investors and entrepreneurs must be able to navigate global politics and economics. All effective leaders must grasp the essentials of the sciences.

Joint-degree programs long have been a Penn trademark: International Studies and Business, Management and Technology, Media and Computer Science are eminent examples. More recently, the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management created a partnership between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School to give students the scientific and entrepreneurial background necessary for success in the complex world of biotechnology.

By 2006 more than half of undergraduate majors in the School of Arts and Sciences were integrated. In the fall of 2006, the College introduced a 21st-century general education curriculum that engages students in a variety of fields across the arts and sciences. The new curriculum includes two interdisciplinary requirements: one course that integrates the humanities and social sciences across the sectors of society, history and tradition, and arts and letters; and one course that blends the natural sciences and mathematics spanning the living and physical worlds.  Penn’s emphasis on interdisciplinary learning has led to the development of truly unique academic programs. SAS’ Visual Studies program, for example, offers a challenging curriculum connecting the theory, practice and culture of “seeing.” The program encompasses a broad diversity of subjects including philosophy, cognitive science, art history, and psychology.

In 2007 Penn introduced the Award for Interdisciplinary Innovation, which encourages collaboration of student scholars from different University departments and includes a summer fellowship.

 

Integrating Knowledge In The Public Square

• Hurricane Katrina Conference
• Penn Conference on Civility and American Politics
• Penn Humanities Forum / Justice Talking
• Founder’s Day Symposium

After Hurricane Katrina, Penn organized a Symposium in Washington, D.C., that brought together policymakers, public and private-sector leaders, and scholars to develop more effective strategies for saving lives and speeding recovery when disaster strikes. The lessons drawn from those discussions were published in On Risk and Disaster. Lessons drawn from a second Katrina conference, organized by the Penn Institute for Urban Research, were published in Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster.

Many programs at Penn foster lively conversations and engage the broader public. The Penn Conference on Civility and American Politics convened elected officials and scholars to discuss how the increasingly polarized political discourse of Washington, D.C. might shape the 2008 presidential election. The Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism sponsors workshops and conferences, funds fellowships and research, and will produce a special series of books through Penn Press.

The Penn Humanities Forum unites the humanities, sciences, and the professions. Among its programs are an interdisciplinary research center for Mellon post-doctoral fellows, faculty, and students, and a popular lecture series addressing such themes as "Human Nature,” “Time,” and “Word & Image.” Justice Talking, National Public Radio's award-winning show about law and American life, is produced by Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center and airs on nearly 100 NPR stations and 140 countries. The show’s success led to the establishment of "Justice Learning," a multimedia collaboration with The New York Times to teach students about the importance of civil dialogue and democratic institutions.

In 2007 Penn established a Founder’s Day Symposium to explore multiple perspectives of issues by bringing together faculty from several disciplines.  The first program, “Changing the World? Penn Confronts Global Challenges,” explored the prospects, challenges, rewards, and obligations of the University to reach beyond its borders in these complex times.

 

Integrating Knowledge Among Global Partners

• The Penn Summit on Global Issues in Women’s Health
• Global Colloquium of University Presidents on Academic Freedom
• Penn Tsinghua T.C. Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies

A resolve to improve the status of women who are victims of violence, political oppression, and discrimination led Penn Nursing and Medicine to host "The Penn Summit on Global Issues in Women's Health: Safe Womanhood in an Unsafe World" in April 2005. During the two-day conference, experts reassessed existing models for health promotion and illness prevention for women while proposing new strategies for empowering girls and women. Currently, in the AIDS-ravaged nation of Botswana, Penn Medicine faculty and students are providing care to HIV patients and training local doctors and nurses on how to do the same. The School of Nursing, Wharton School, School of Social Policy and Practice and Annenberg School for Communication have also contributed to the Botswana effort. 

In 2005 President Gutmann was one of 25 University presidents to participate in the first Global Colloquium of University Presidents. Launched by Columbia University, New York University, Penn, Princeton, and Yale in response to the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for the academic community to bring its expertise to bear on pressing international issues, the Colloquium produced a statement on academic freedom (for which Dr. Gutmann was the principal author) and an examination of the need to promote international cooperation on migration. The 2006 colloquium focused on the societal benefits of universities and how to communicate them more effectively, as well as on innovative funding mechanisms to alleviate poverty and promote economic development.

In 2006 Penn launched a partnership with Beijing’s Tsinghua University to create a Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies. This innovative center is developing energy-efficient strategies that lead to high-performance buildings and sustainable environments. The T.C. Chan Center conducts research, organizes symposia, and consults on building design projects worldwide.