Film historian Karen Redrobe has stepped up to lead the Wolf Humanities Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Redrobe replaces James English, who led the center for eight years. She previously temporarily replaced English during his sabbatical in 2013. Redrobe, who also serves as chair of UPenn’s Department of Art History, will oversee the Wolf Center’s public programing and research projects. She stated in an interview with Penn Today that she plans to improve diversity and inclusion as well as to expand the center’s programming during her tenure.
The Wolf Center was founded in 1999 as the Penn Humanities Forum. It moved into new facilities earlier in 2018. The Fall 2018 programming at the center revolves around the theme “stuff,” which they define as “the things that define us and remind us.” Over two dozen events have been planned exploring facets of this theme. Under Redrobe’s promise of inclusion, the programs will all feature live interpretation in American Sign Language and will be broadcast online with closed captioning for the first time in the center’s history.