Wolf Humanities Center
@wolfhumanities.bsky.social
Penn's gateway to the humanities, where the public and academy celebrate their common stake in the thinking arts. Programs for students, faculty, and community. – wolfhumanities.upenn.edu
Image 1: portrait of Samuel Driver.
Image 2: a 1990 artwork by Andrei Chegin (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 3: one of the pieces from Boris Mikhailov's 1982 series "Viscidity," (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 2: a 1990 artwork by Andrei Chegin (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 3: one of the pieces from Boris Mikhailov's 1982 series "Viscidity," (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Image 1: portrait of Samuel Driver.
Image 2: a 1990 artwork by Andrei Chegin (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 3: one of the pieces from Boris Mikhailov's 1982 series "Viscidity," (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 2: a 1990 artwork by Andrei Chegin (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Image 3: one of the pieces from Boris Mikhailov's 1982 series "Viscidity," (photo and edits by Samuel Proffitt Driver).
Drawing from research on photography’s role in knowledge formation and world-building under Stalin, Driver's project focuses on contemporary Russian information warfare, examining manipulated images not merely as propaganda but as active agents in reality construction.
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Drawing from research on photography’s role in knowledge formation and world-building under Stalin, Driver's project focuses on contemporary Russian information warfare, examining manipulated images not merely as propaganda but as active agents in reality construction.
Driver poses key questions: are these truth-destabilizing effects and their resulting discourse genuinely novel, or do they represent continuities with historical approaches to and discourse surrounding visual manipulation?
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Driver poses key questions: are these truth-destabilizing effects and their resulting discourse genuinely novel, or do they represent continuities with historical approaches to and discourse surrounding visual manipulation?
Prevailing narratives often frame contemporary visual manipulation as an unprecedented technological phenomenon requiring technological remediation, this project examines its historical precedents and enduring philosophical implications.
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Prevailing narratives often frame contemporary visual manipulation as an unprecedented technological phenomenon requiring technological remediation, this project examines its historical precedents and enduring philosophical implications.
For the Wolf Humanities Center’s Truth Seminar, Driver is working on a project titled, "Rethinking the 'Lie': Image Manipulation and Truth Claims from Stalin to Putin." From AI to deepfakes, the intersection of image, truth, and deception has become a focal point of contemporary discourse.
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
For the Wolf Humanities Center’s Truth Seminar, Driver is working on a project titled, "Rethinking the 'Lie': Image Manipulation and Truth Claims from Stalin to Putin." From AI to deepfakes, the intersection of image, truth, and deception has become a focal point of contemporary discourse.
Beyond academia, Driver works with organizations focused on nuclear nonproliferation and Euro-Atlantic security, connecting his scholarly research with policy engagement.
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Beyond academia, Driver works with organizations focused on nuclear nonproliferation and Euro-Atlantic security, connecting his scholarly research with policy engagement.
Driver has held numerous prestigious fellowships including a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship. He served as a Visiting Scholar at Charles University(Prague), the Open Society Archives(Budapest), the Museum of Modern Art(Thessaloniki), the Museum of Fine Arts(Houston).
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Driver has held numerous prestigious fellowships including a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship. He served as a Visiting Scholar at Charles University(Prague), the Open Society Archives(Budapest), the Museum of Modern Art(Thessaloniki), the Museum of Fine Arts(Houston).
Driver’s research examines the intersection of photography, perceived truth, and identity formation in Soviet and post-Soviet visual culture. He completed his Ph.D. in Slavic Studies at Brown University in 2024.
November 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Driver’s research examines the intersection of photography, perceived truth, and identity formation in Soviet and post-Soviet visual culture. He completed his Ph.D. in Slavic Studies at Brown University in 2024.
November 15 • 5:30–6:30pm
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
Sculpture: VIII San Pedro. Wari. From the series Corpus, 2014
wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/ncaaa...
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
Sculpture: VIII San Pedro. Wari. From the series Corpus, 2014
wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/ncaaa...
NCAAAE Keynote Lecture
Kukuli Velarde is a Peruvian-American artist based in Philadelphia. Her work, which revolves around the consequences of colonization in Latin American contemporary culture, is a visual investigation a...
wolfhumanities.upenn.edu
November 12, 2025 at 7:11 PM
November 15 • 5:30–6:30pm
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
Sculpture: VIII San Pedro. Wari. From the series Corpus, 2014
wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/ncaaa...
Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street
Free and open to the public. Registration required.
Sculpture: VIII San Pedro. Wari. From the series Corpus, 2014
wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/events/ncaaa...
This event is sponsored by Penn’s Department of Anthropology, Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Wolf Humanities Center.
November 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM
This event is sponsored by Penn’s Department of Anthropology, Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies, Native American & Indigenous Studies, and Wolf Humanities Center.
Founded in 1982 at Cornell University by Dan Sandweiss, the NCAAAE was intended to provide a more accessible venue for sharing current research and works-in-progress, at a time when Andeanist meetings were located mainly on the West Coast and Midwest.
November 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Founded in 1982 at Cornell University by Dan Sandweiss, the NCAAAE was intended to provide a more accessible venue for sharing current research and works-in-progress, at a time when Andeanist meetings were located mainly on the West Coast and Midwest.
Her work, which revolves around the consequences of colonization in Latin American contemporary culture, is a visual investigation about aesthetics, cultural survival, and inheritance.
November 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Her work, which revolves around the consequences of colonization in Latin American contemporary culture, is a visual investigation about aesthetics, cultural survival, and inheritance.
Prior to the film, be sure to join Cinema & Media Studies in Fisher-Bennet Hall from 12 - 1:30pm for “‘The Truth Is…’ Feminist Documentary and the Real” presented by Shilyh Warren. For more information on this Colloquium, visit cinemastudies.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...
November 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Prior to the film, be sure to join Cinema & Media Studies in Fisher-Bennet Hall from 12 - 1:30pm for “‘The Truth Is…’ Feminist Documentary and the Real” presented by Shilyh Warren. For more information on this Colloquium, visit cinemastudies.sas.upenn.edu/events/2025/...
November 11 • 5pm–7pm
Stiteler Hall 261, 208 S 37th St
Free and open to the public. Registration required: form.jotform.com/252654816404...
Stiteler Hall 261, 208 S 37th St
Free and open to the public. Registration required: form.jotform.com/252654816404...
Event RSVP Form
Please click the link to complete this form.
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November 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
November 11 • 5pm–7pm
Stiteler Hall 261, 208 S 37th St
Free and open to the public. Registration required: form.jotform.com/252654816404...
Stiteler Hall 261, 208 S 37th St
Free and open to the public. Registration required: form.jotform.com/252654816404...
This event is supported by Penn’s Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication; The Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania; Program in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies; and Wolf Humanities Center; Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture; and La La Lil Jidar.
November 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
This event is supported by Penn’s Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication; The Middle East Center at the University of Pennsylvania; Program in Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies; and Wolf Humanities Center; Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture; and La La Lil Jidar.
Fire in Every Direction is a memoir of political and queer awakening, both a love story and a coming-of-age tale that spans countries and continents.
November 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Fire in Every Direction is a memoir of political and queer awakening, both a love story and a coming-of-age tale that spans countries and continents.
Yumusak writes, "I'd like to think that these artichokes are an open invitation to the philosopher to dig in—they are objects of everyday conflict, framed by historical, political, and economic forces."
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Yumusak writes, "I'd like to think that these artichokes are an open invitation to the philosopher to dig in—they are objects of everyday conflict, framed by historical, political, and economic forces."
Image 3: A proto-surrealist still-life by Giorgio de Chirico, which puts a pair of estranged artichokes on an off-center pedestal. © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome.
www.artic.edu/artworks/308...
www.artic.edu/artworks/308...
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Image 3: A proto-surrealist still-life by Giorgio de Chirico, which puts a pair of estranged artichokes on an off-center pedestal. © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome.
www.artic.edu/artworks/308...
www.artic.edu/artworks/308...
Yumusak is inspired by Halaby's subversion of the role of the artist in her work as a theorist of 'everyday conflict'.
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Yumusak is inspired by Halaby's subversion of the role of the artist in her work as a theorist of 'everyday conflict'.
Image 2: A recent painting titled “Organize, Reorganize, Build, Win” by Samia Halaby, which she exhibited at the Havana Biennial in 2024. Halaby describes that the working class brings their art to her through their political movements. www.instagram.com/p/DAgtKlHJE8...
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samiahalabyOrganize Reorganize Build Win
www.instagram.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Image 2: A recent painting titled “Organize, Reorganize, Build, Win” by Samia Halaby, which she exhibited at the Havana Biennial in 2024. Halaby describes that the working class brings their art to her through their political movements. www.instagram.com/p/DAgtKlHJE8...
Image 1: Portrait of Ege Yumusak by Jason Varney.
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Image 1: Portrait of Ege Yumusak by Jason Varney.