WEEKLY
Monday Quarterback Luncheon – 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Innmates lead vibrant talks on topics of their choosing. Discussion points are sent to members on Sundays to prepare for comments and questions.
Thursday Roundtable Luncheon – 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Invited guests speak on a wide range of topics. Past Roundtable speakers include Pulitzer Prize winner Benjamin Nathans, Diane D. Turner, curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection of the Temple Libraries, and James Timberlake, founding principal of internationally renowned architecture firm KieranTimberlake.
On the third week of the month, Thursday Roundtable Luncheon is replaced by Friday Club Dinner.
SEPTEMBER PROGRAMS
Tuesday Quarterback Luncheon
September 8 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Franklyn Rodgers is our Quarterback.
Thursday Roundtable Luncheon
September 10 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Speaker is Innmate Jonathan Barnett. Topic ‒ Optimism for Urbanism in Philadelphia and Beyond.
Jonathan’s six-decade career in urban planning has placed him at the forefront of his field. He discusses his new book Redesigning Urban Centers: Adapting to Changing Real Estate Markets (Routledge, 2025), based largely on case studies in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. His analyses of urban development and redevelopment projects here and elsewhere in the country provide ample reason for optimism alongside realistic recognition of the need for zoning adaptations and wise management to support these efforts.
Jonathan Barnett, an emeritus professor of practice in city and regional planning is former director of the Urban Design Program at Penn. He is an architect, urban planner, educator, and author of an array of books and articles on the theory and practice of urban design. His local, national, and international projects in urban development and redevelopment have ranged from reuse plans for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to a transit-oriented design plan for Xiamen, China. Clients include many U.S. cities and suburbs and several federal government agencies. He holds undergraduate and MA in Architecture degrees from Yale, an MA from Cambridge, and is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Monday Quarterback Luncheon
September 14 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Roberta Kangilaski is our Quarterback.
Friday Club Dinner
September 18 with Member Mixer at 5:30pm, presentation at 6:15pm, followed by dinner.
Speaker is David Rudovsky. Topic ‒ Civil Rights and Civil Liberties: Challenges Past and Present.
David brings insight from five decades of practice in civil rights and constitutional litigation to his views on cases past and present involving police and governmental misconduct, wrongful conviction, prisoner rights, race discrimination, and first amendment freedoms. In general, he’ll discuss litigation in Pennsylvania and more specifically, its bearing on the rights of persons subjected to unconstitutional actions by state and federal officials. He offers perspective on the current challenges to civil rights and civil liberties posed by the Trump administration, including voting rights, free speech, rights of immigrants, and attacks on law firms, the press, and universities.
David Rudovsky is a founding partner of the public-interest law firm Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing, Feinberg & Lin, LLP and is a senior fellow at Penn’s Carey Law School teaching courses in constitutional criminal procedure, criminal law, and evidence. He argued two civil rights cases in the United States Supreme Court ‒ Mitchell v. Forsyth in 1985 (immunity of Attorney General for illegal electronic surveillance) and City of Canton, OH v. Harris in 1989 (liability of municipalities for civil rights violations by police). He also prepared numerous amicus briefs in civil rights cases before the Supreme Court and argued scores of civil rights and criminal law cases in federal and state courts.
The author of several books on practice in civil rights and criminal cases and writer of numerous law review articles on civil rights and criminal justice, David is a past board president of the Defender Association of Philadelphia and past vice president of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. In 1986, he received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship aka Genius Grant, for his work in criminal justice. Awards also include the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Judge Gerald F. Flood Award for Public Interest Accomplishments, the Pennsylvania ACLU Keystone of Civil Liberties Award, and the Cesare Beccaria Award for Contributions to Criminal Justice.
Monday Quarterback Luncheon
September 21 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Richard Pasquier is our Quarterback.
Thursday Roundtable Luncheon
September 24 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Speaker is Julie Nelson Davis. Topic ‒ Ukiyo-e Painting at the Boundary of Authenticity and Desire: The Shunpōan Forgery Scandal.
On April 26, 1934, the morning edition of the Asahi Shinbun announced the “world’s greatest discovery” ‒ a private collection of ukiyo-e paintings (a school of Japanese art depicting subjects from everyday life dominant in the 17th–19th centuries), valued at a fortune with two works by the elusive Sharaku. Weeks later, the collection was exposed as an elaborate fraud. Julie reviews this forgery scandal, now known as the Shunpōan Incident and considered one of the most notorious in the history of the iconic ukiyo-e genre known as “pictures of the floating world.” Her presentation draws from the forthcoming The Ghost in the Brush: Invention and Authenticity in Ukiyo-e (University of Hawai’i Press, date TBA).
Drawing on newspaper coverage, trial records, and the auction catalogue for the collection, she shows how a family of skilled painters, complicit dealers, and a prominent scholar-connoisseur colluded to manufacture, authenticate, and sell dozens of fabricated paintings under the names of celebrated Edo-period artists ‒ and how the scheme ultimately unraveled. This case raises enduring questions about market desire, connoisseurship, and the fragile boundary between authenticity and desire for masterpieces.
Julie Nelson Davis is professor and chair of Penn’s History of Art Department. She is the author of many essays, books and catalogues, and was guest curator for several exhibitions. Her primary area of research is ukiyo-e and illustrated books from early modern Japan. She received a BA from Reed College, an MA and PhD from the University of Washington and studied at Gakushūin University in Tokyo and was elected as a Guggenheim Fellow in 2021.
Monday Quarterback Luncheon
September 28 from 12:30pm to 2pm
Alina Macneal is our Quarterback.
Tuesday Movie Night
September 29 at 6pm; feature at 6:15pm
With snacks and drinks including light fare, popcorn, chips, nuts, soda, beera nd wine.
Come from Away
Filmed live on stage at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater in New York City, Come from Away is a 2021 live stage recording of Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s 2017 musical. This true story follows 7,000 airline passengers who were stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The people of Gander welcomed the passengers, offering them shelter, food, solace and empathy. Come from Away reveals a deeply uplifting and heartwarming celebration of humanity’s capacity for kindness during tragedy.
Director Christopher Ashley, US, 2021, 1 hour 46 minutes
Monthly
Friday Club Dinner: Dinners are held on the third Friday of the month. Guest Speakers present a wide range of topics including time for member discussion afterward. Member mixer at 5:30pm, followed by Guest presentation, culminating with dinner at 7:00pm.
New Initiatives: Events for members to gather beyond the Inn’s traditional weekly programming utilizing the Club’s spaces in new ways while also expanding outreach to a broader community. Programs are held in the evenings and range from social gatherings such as Happy Hour to the New Initiatives Salon. For the intellectually curious and aesthetically attuned, with an emphasis on immediacy and shared experience, the New Initiatives Salon is a curated gathering where writers, performers, artists and creative thinkers, including Club members present their work, exchange ideas, and cultivate dialogue in an intimate setting.
Tuesday Movie Night: On the last Tuesday of the month, the Club presents classic films. Screenings followed by a “talk back”. Doors at 6:00pm with feature at 6:30pm. Free admission with snacks and drinks including light fare, popcorn, chips, nuts, soda, beer, and wine.
Recordings: Many weekly Roundtable Luncheon and monthly Club Dinner presentations are recorded. Scroll down to select month for Vimeo links. Click Here for months prior to March 2023.
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Annually
January: Annual Business Meeting of the general membership followed by the Benjamin Franklin Dinner. On a Friday evening closest to Franklin’s birthday on January 17th.
Summer: Picnic usually at the home of an Innmate.
December: Holiday Luncheon featuring housemade Fish House Punch.