University of Pennsylvania College of Arts & Sciences

Last updated
University of Pennsylvania College of Arts & Sciences
Penn College of Arts and Sciences.png
Type Private undergraduate college
Established1740;283 years ago (1740)
Parent institution
University of Pennsylvania
Dean Paul D. Sniegowski
Undergraduates 6,400 (Fall 2018)
Location, ,
United States
Website www.college.upenn.edu

The University of Pennsylvania College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) is the oldest undergraduate college at the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League university, situated on the university's main campus in University City, Philadelphia. [1] The college traces its roots to the establishment of a secondary school known as Unnamed Charity School in 1740. In 1749, Benjamin Franklin and twenty-one leading citizens of Philadelphia officially founded a secondary school named Academy of Philadelphia. [2] In 1755, the secondary school was expanded to include a collegiate division known as College of Philadelphia. The secondary and collegiate institutions were known collectively as The academy and College of Philadelphia. The college received its charter from Thomas Penn and Richard Penn. [1] Penn CAS is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-oldest chartered college in the United States.

Contents

Penn is distinctive for its comprehensive "One University Policy," which allows students to enroll in classes in any of Penn's twelve schools, including the law school and the Wharton School. [3] The college is the 13th most selective undergraduate school in the United States and 6th most selective in the Ivy League having accepted only 8.39% of its applicants for the Class of 2022. [4] [5]

History

The College of Arts & Sciences was preceded by two schools, the Charity School and the Academy of Philadelphia. Initially organized by the founder of Methodism, George Whitefield, as "Charity School," a secondary school known as "Academy of Philadelphia" was eventually founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, and was expanded to include a collegiate division known as "College of Philadelphia" in 1755 when it obtained a charter from Thomas Penn and Richard Penn in 1755. [1] Due in part to the influence of early Methodism's religious leaders, the college was based in George Whitfield's "New Building", on Ninth Street in Center City, Philadelphia. [1]

Charter of the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) in 1755 Charter of the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) 1755.jpg
Charter of the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) in 1755

Benjamin Franklin served as the institution's first president until 1755, and continued to serve as a trustee until his death in 1790. Unlike other Colonial American colleges at the time, which educated young men for the Christian Ministry, the college was innovative in that it was founded as a nonsectarian institution meant to train students for leadership in business, government and public service. [6] However, Penn's first Provost, William Smith, turned the curriculum back to religious channels after succeeding Franklin. The first class graduated in 1757. [1]

In 1765, John Morgan, a graduate of the Class of 1757, established a medical college at the school, now known as the Perelman School of Medicine, which was the first medical school in the United States.

President's House on Ninth Street House intended for the President Birch's Views Plate 13 (cropped).jpg
President's House on Ninth Street

By the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, the college had already educated some of the nation's foremost political leaders, including James Wilson, Founding Father and the first Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; Francis Hopkinson, Founding Father and the first judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under General George Washington; and Hugh Williamson, Founding Father, and author of several of the 'Letters of Sylvia. [1]

With the successful Treaty of Paris in 1783, the domestic situation was stable enough for the college to resume classes. The college was briefly chartered as a state institution and earned its current name, the University of Pennsylvania, when the university was made private in 1791. [1]

College Hall c.1930 College Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa (65081).jpg
College Hall c.1930

Having been home to the Continental Congress in College Hall since 1778, the college moved to the President's House on Ninth and Chestnut Streets in 1802. [1]

Under the leadership of Provost Charles Janeway Stille in 1872, Penn relocated a second time to Almshouse farm west of Philadelphia's Schulykill River, its present site. Over the next two decades, the university began re-orienteering itself to Benjamin Franklin's original aims of discovery and invention, with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences being founded in 1882, and the first Ph.D. in Physics award in 1889 under the provostship of William Pepper. [2]

Penn Commons Wynncommon.jpg
Penn Commons

Transforming itself into a modern research institution, the university established a number of professional schools, including the Law School in 1850, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1852, and the School of Dentistry in 1878. The world's first, collegiate school of business, the Wharton School was founded in 1881 by an endowment from Joseph Wharton. The School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Design were subsequently founded in 1884 and 1890, respectively.

Penn was also a leader in educational accessibility, and embraced the diversity of America during this period. Among the Ivy League Universities, it was one of the first to admit students of color in 1879. Women were admitted to the graduate school since 1882, and the first women undergraduates at Penn were enrolled with the establishment of the School of Education in 1914. [2]

Academics

Curriculum

The College of Arts and Sciences is known for its rigorous liberal arts curriculum, a series of mandatory classes and distribution requirements that form the heart of the college students' academic experience. The General Education Curriculum is based on the following: [7]

CourseSemesters Required
Foundational Approach - Writing
A year-long intensive seminar that develops students' writing skills, taken in the freshman year.
1
Foundational Approach - Foreign Language
A distribution requirement intended to instill at least an intermediate level of a foreign language.
4
Foundational Approach - Quantitative Data Analysis
A course in mathematical or statistical analysis of quantitative data.
1
Foundational Approach - Formal Reasoning and Analysis
A course that focuses on deductive reasoning and the formal structure of human thought.
1
Foundational Approach - Cross-Cultural Analysis
A course that inculcates in the students the ability to understand and interpret the cultures of peoples with histories different from their own.
1
Foundational Approach - Cultural Diversity in the U.S.
A course that develops students' ability to examine issue of diversity with a focus on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class and religion.
1
Sector of Knowledge - I. Society
A distributional requirement designed to instill structure and norms of contemporary human society.
1
'Sector of Knowledge - II. History and Tradition
A distribution requirement focusing on studies of continuity and change in human thought, belief and action.
1
Sector of Knowledge - III. Arts and Letters
A distribution requirement encompassing the means and meaning of visual arts, literature and music.
1
Sector of Knowledge - IV. Humanities and Social Sciences
A distribution requirement combining methods and approaches of works in the humanities and the social sciences.
1
Sector of Knowledge - V. Living World
A distribution requirement dealing with the evolution, development, structure and function of living systems.
1
Sector of Knowledge - VI. Physical World
A distribution requirement focusing on the methodology and concepts of physical science.
1
Sector of Knowledge - VII. Natural Sciences and Mathematics
A distributional requirement focusing on diverse approaches to the natural sciences and mathematics.
1

The foreign language requirement, however, may be skipped if the student passes a placement exam or demonstrates an acceptance standard of proficiency. Most students graduate within four years with a Bachelor of Arts degree, although 20% of students enroll in one of Penn's most selective dual degree programs with The Wharton School (B.A - B.S. in economics), Penn Law (B.A. - J.D.), The School of Nursing (B.A. - B.S.N.) or the Engineering School (B.A. - B.S.).

Campus

Fisher-Bennett Hall, home to the faculties of English, Music and Cinema Studies Fisher-Bennett Hall.JPG
Fisher-Bennett Hall, home to the faculties of English, Music and Cinema Studies

The college's facilities are located on the University of Pennsylvania's University City campus, especially in College Hall, which houses its administrative and admissions offices. [8]

Van Pelt Library, the University of Pennsylvania's main library, is home to more than 2,481,000 volumes, 13,000 current serial subscriptions, and approximately 1.5 million microforms. The collection of the University of Pennsylvania Library System consists of more than 6.19 million volumes held in 15 specialized libraries as well as a digital library. [9]

Students at the Penn College of Arts & Sciences are guaranteed campus housing for four years. Residence halls, which also house undergraduate students of Penn's Wharton School, Nursing School and Engineering School are either located on the University City Campus. Freshmen are housed on the historic main quad, which was built in 1894.

All first-year students, including transfer students, are required to enroll in a residential dining plan, which offers all-you-can-eat meals in Penn's five dining halls: the 1920 Commons, Hill House Commons, English House Commons, Mcclelland Express, and New College House Commons.

Governance

The college is a school within the Penn School of Arts & Sciences. As of Spring 2018, Professor Steven J. Fluharty is the Dean of the School. Professor Dennis DeTurck stepped down as Dean of the college in Hall 2017 and was succeeded by Professor Paul D. Sniegowski. The college student body elects representatives to the undergraduate council, which comprises members from each of the four undergraduate schools at the University of Pennsylvania.

Noted people

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison.jpg
William Henry Harrison

Many eminent individuals have attended or taught at the College of Arts & Sciences or the academy and College of Philadelphia, its predecessor. Among prominent College people were Founding Fathers of the United States Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Benjamin Rush, George Clymer, Robert Morris, Francis Hopkinson and Thomas McKean. Other important figures include Presidents William Henry Harrison and Donald Trump, Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts, Academy Award Winner John Legend, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell and Tesla Founder Elon Musk.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy League</span> Athletic conference of eight elite American universities

The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference, which comprises eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The conference's headquarters is located in Princeton, New Jersey. The term Ivy League is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools as a group of elite colleges with connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. Its members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Pennsylvania</span> Private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of nine colonial colleges chartered prior to the U.S. Declaration of Independence when Benjamin Franklin, the university's founder and first president, advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service. Penn identifies as the fourth oldest institution of higher education in the United States, though this representation is challenged by other universities, as Franklin first convened the Board of Trustees in 1749, arguably making it the fifth oldest institution of higher education in the U.S.

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn Carey Law offers the degrees of Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Master of Comparative Laws (LL.C.M.), Master in Law (M.L.), and Doctor of the Science of Law (S.J.D.).

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. It is the world's oldest collegiate business school, having been established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the Sciences</span>

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, previously Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (PCPS), was a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 1, 2022, it officially merged into Saint Joseph's University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial colleges</span> Nine oldest institutions of higher education in the United States

The colonial colleges are nine institutions of higher education chartered in the Thirteen Colonies before the United States of America became a sovereign nation after the American Revolution. These nine have long been considered together, notably since the survey of their origins in the 1907 The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy and College of Philadelphia</span>

The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania</span> Medical school of the University of Pennsylvania

The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1765, the Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest medical school in the United States and one of the seven Ivy League medical schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin & Marshall College</span> Private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1853 on the merger of Franklin College and Marshall College, F&M is named for Benjamin Franklin, who gave the college its first endowment, and John Marshall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Rodin</span> American philanthropist, academic and psychologist

Judith Rodin is a philanthropist with a long history in U.S. higher education. She was the president of the Rockefeller Foundation from 2005 until 2017. From 1994 to 2004, Rodin served as the 7th permanent president of the University of Pennsylvania, and the first permanent female president of an Ivy League university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First university in the United States</span> First University in the United States

First university in the United States is a status asserted by more than one U.S. university. When the Philippines was still a United States territory, the University of Santo Tomas, which was established in 1611, was considered the oldest university under the American flag. Presently in the United States, there is no official nationwide definition of what entitles an institution to be considered a university versus a college while differing official definitions are used at the state level, and the common understanding of university has evolved over time. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica describes the gradual emergence of U.S. universities as follows:

In the United States the word university has been applied to institutions of the most diverse character, and it is only since 1880 or thereabouts that an effort has been seriously made to distinguish between collegiate and university instruction; nor has that effort yet completely succeeded. Harvard, William and Mary, and Yale. .. were organized. .. on the plans of the English colleges which constitute the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Graduates of Harvard and Yale carried these British traditions to other places, and similar colleges grew up in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.... Around or near these nuclei, during the course of the 19th century, one or more professional schools were frequently attached, and so the word university was naturally applied to a group of schools associated more or less closely with a central school or college. Harvard, for example, most comprehensive of all, has seventeen distinct departments, and Yale has almost as many. Columbia and Penn have a similar scope. In the latter part of the 19th century Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Brown, in recognition of their enlargement, formally changed their titles from colleges to universities.

Students at the University of Pennsylvania enjoy many different events at social gatherings around campus, with some sponsored by the college.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science</span> Engineering school of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science is the undergraduate and graduate engineering school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia. The school offers programs that emphasize hands-on study of engineering fundamentals while encouraging students to leverage the educational offerings of the broader University. Engineering students can also take advantage of research opportunities through interactions with Penn’s School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School.

The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, commonly known as Penn GSE, is an Ivy League top-ranked educational research school in the United States. Formally established as a department in 1893 and a school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1915, Penn GSE has historically had research strengths in teaching and learning, the cultural contexts of education, language education, quantitative research methods, and practitioner inquiry. Pam Grossman is the current dean of Penn GSE; she succeeded Andrew C. Porter in 2015.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences is the academic institution encompassing the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn Quakers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Pennsylvania

The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing.

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is an undergraduate and graduate institution at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia. According to U.S. News & World Report, the School of Nursing at Penn is among the top-ranked undergraduate and graduate nursing schools in the United States. The School of Nursing receives approximately $480 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, making it among the most highly funded nursing schools in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadrangle Dormitories (University of Pennsylvania)</span> United States historic place

The Quadrangle Dormitories are a complex of 39 conjoined residence houses at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The architectural firm of Cope and Stewardson designed the houses in an exuberant Neo-Jacobean version of the Collegiate Gothic style, and completed most of them between 1894 and 1912. The dormitories stretch from 36th to 38th Streets and from Spruce Street to Hamilton Walk. West of the Memorial Tower at 37th Street, the houses on the north side follow the diagonal of Woodland Avenue and form a long triangle with the houses on the south side. From 1895 to 1971, the dormitories housed only male students.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Penn in the 18th Century, University Archives, University of Pennsylvania University Archives". www.archives.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  2. 1 2 3 "A Brief History of the University, University of Pennsylvania University Archives". www.archives.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  3. Meyerson, Martin (January 29, 1973). "Report of the University Development Commission" (PDF). upenn.com. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  4. "Penn admits a record-low 8.39 percent of applicants to the Class of 2022". thedp.com.
  5. "Top 100 - Lowest Acceptance Rates".
  6. "Penn's Heritage | University of Pennsylvania". www.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  7. "General Education Curriculum | College of Arts & Sciences - University of Pennsylvania". www.college.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  8. "College Hall". University of Pennsylvania Facilities and Real Estate Services. 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
  9. FACTS2017mar2018.pdf - Penn Libraries Selected Facts (PDF). University of Pennsylvania. 2017. p. 6.

39°57′N75°11′W / 39.95°N 75.19°W / 39.95; -75.19