Local
Global
Cloud

Aaron Levy

Dr. Levy is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of Slought, an non-profit organization and network he founded on the university campus that engages the public in multifaceted dialogue about topical cultural and socio-political issues facing Philadelphia and the world. With a network of university and community collaborators working in solidarity, Dr. Levy has supported the development of hundreds of public programs that elevate stories and histories of the struggle for justice in Philadelphia and beyond, and testify to the power of volunteerism within the public sector.

He recently organized Photographies of Conflict, a two-year exhibition cycle with artist collectives who use photography to contest dominant narratives of conflicts, and No Mud, No Lotus, a retrospective of Louverture Films exploring how filmmakers, thinkers, and activists can engage and record some of the most devastating and urgent issues of our day (both 2018-19). He is also the editor of over twenty publications, including On Listening as a Form of Care (2020); On the Poetics and Politics of Health (2021); The Language of Care: Stories from the Penn Medicine Listening Lab (2021); and Rx/Museum: 52 Essays on Art and Reflection in Medicine (2022).

As an educator and organizer, Dr. Levy has worked for nearly twenty years to challenge seemingly intractable socio-political problems and the diverse factors affecting the health and well-being of individuals and communities. He believes passionately in the power of the expressive arts and listening to transform socio-cultural norms and create openings for change to occur. For Dr. Levy, the arts and humanities embody a form of care that, much like the social and biomedical sciences, can contribute to the complex matrix of things that impact healing. In helping institutions make space for vulnerability and embrace greater porosity and collaboration, Dr. Levy's work seeks to help dismantle pervasive inequities and social suffering.

Dr. Levy is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of English and the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the inaugural Director of the Health Ecologies Lab and the Social Justice and Arts Integration Initiative in the School of Social Policy & Practice. He is also Special Advisor for Health and Humanities Initiatives at Penn Medicine Academy, the Director of the Penn Medicine Listening Lab, and the Co-Director of Rx/Museum -- projects and initiatives that reflect his dedication to the development of new approaches to listening and care.

Executive Director

Chief Curator

Slought
4017 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
slought.org alevy@sloughtfoundation.org
+1.215.701.4627, Ext. 111

Values

Primary programs
Local
Begins Feb 1, 2019

An initiative elevating stories and histories of the struggle for justice in Philadelphia and beyond

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Begins Nov 13, 2010

A permanent installation that features a rarely heard performance by John Cage, and will evolve over time through participation from the public

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Global
Begins Oct 14, 2019

A storytelling initiative that embraces the power of listening as a form of care

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Begins Jan 18, 2017

A lab focusing on the impact of social systems on the health of individuals and communities

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Sep 1, 2018 – Sep 1, 2020

A cultural exchange initiative engaging a broad network of civic institutions in the former Eastern Bloc and beyond

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Begins Oct 1, 2010

A curatorial intervention exploring 21st century prospects for international peace through a series of symposia, exhibitions, lectures, and films

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Begins Sep 14, 2008

Highlighting America's rich history of architectural experimentation and the original ways architects today are working collaboratively to invigorate community activism and environmental policy

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Cloud
Begins Oct 23, 2015

An online exhibition provoking new thinking about media representation and the contemporary conditions of the Syrian revolution

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Begins Jan 5, 2014

A new identity that radically transforms how Slought operates in Philadelphia, the world, and the cloud, and makes legible the organization's movements as it performs its activities

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Begins Mar 6, 2011

A research initiative and archive about the lives and experiences of 1001 Chinese participants who traveled to Kassel, Germany for Ai Weiwei's project "Fairytale" (2007)

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Begins Aug 27, 2010

A research initiative and publication series exploring the history of the Venice Biennale of Architecture and the relationship between architecture and display

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Begins Mar 7, 2002

Recordings by Fred Wah of readings, lectures and discussions by notable New American poets

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