Founded in 1995 as a living-learning program in residence on the 4th floor of Kings Court, Perspectives in Humanities is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and discussion of the humanities at Penn: the arts, literature, languages and linguistics, history, philosophy, archeology, religion, jurisprudence, ethics, and beyond. PiH is open to all (undergraduate) members of the Penn community – we welcome members who don’t live with us, but attend our events and activities, which include a wide variety of academic, public service and recreational activities outside the classroom.
What We’ve Done
- The Penn Author Forum – we discuss the latest Penn publications with the authors themselves.
- Faculty-led tours of the Philadelphia Museum of Art,the University Museum, and other institutions.
- Trips outside the city to New York City, Washington D.C., and Philly’s suburbs.
- Poetry readings, coffee houses, and collaborative events with the Kelly Writers House.
- Special presentations, talks and dinner discussions with humanities scholars.
- Orchestra concerts, theater and special events in center city.
- Special workshops with poets, scholars, and musicians.
- Movie premieres and eclectic movie nights
Joining Our Community
We warmly welcome every Penn student with an interest in the humanities, whether your major is humanities-related or not . We encourage you to live with us on KC4 and contribute to the diversity that is PIH. Beyond our activities, you’ll enjoy numerous study breaks and floor/house events. To find out more about your housing options, visit Penn’s College Houses and Academic Services.
To Apply to this Program: Submit an online housing application and list this program as one of your top two choices. You're required to submit an essay as part of the Program Community application process. Follow the essay prompt as indicated in the application. You can also visit the Program Community page for additional information.
PiH Executive Board
The executive board is an opportunity to be more involved in the process of planning PiH events. Available roles include Co-Presidents of Programming (2), VP of Outreach, and Treasurer-Secretary respectively, and are reserved for residents in the program only. General Body Members (GBMs) are open to anyone who is interested, and positions will be decided during the first PiH GBM at the beginning of the fall semester.
Vox Humanna
In 2024, we started the PiH publication Vox Humanna, which means human voice in Latin. We hope this publication allows us to maintain a sense of close community by sharing our academic and artistic endeavors with one another. The publication also accepts submissions from outside people as well in order to reach greater audiences. From short essays to poetry and photography, we hope to give members of the PiH community the opportunity to share it with each other and other residents.