The Penn Museum was infiltrated by superheroes of all shapes and sizes yesterday, becoming an educational playground for children and parents to learn about ancient and modern-day heroes.
The event - "Wow! Superhero Day"- was held at the Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology in conjunction with Van Pelt Library's Year of the Comic Book and Penn's Year of Evolution celebration to commemorate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.
"The purpose of the event is education: teaching the kids with lectures and fun interspersed," said Tena Thomason, assistant director for special events at the Museum.
She specified that the program was intended as a "family day," targeted toward children. The event was advertised through ads in the Philadelphia community and blogs in the comic-book community, in an attempt to "bring in a diverse audience."
Children and parents, clad in varying superhero costumes, were engaged in comic-book-themed games. Little Batmans and Supermans played "Heroic Twister," made masks and participated in a scavenger hunt. They learned how to draw their favorite superheroes in a comic-book-drawing workshop, led by a Penn Fine Arts student.
Roger Greenberg, a faculty member at Penn Medicine, heard about the event through a Penn Med e-mail and brought his two children, ages three and six, to the event.
Penn faculty members also gave lectures focused on tying comic book themes to academia.
Peter Struck, a Classical Studies professor, spoke about "Ancient Heroes and Superheroes" and drew parallels between mythical figures and modern-day superheroes, such as Hercules and Superman. In response to a question about Hercules' enemy, one kid dressed as the Hulk eagerly said, "I know the god -- Hera!"
Penn students were also involved in the festivities. Students dressed up in costumes ranging from Spiderman to Catwoman volunteered to help with the event.
Peter Ceretti, a junior in the College, received extra credit in his Anthropology and Cinema Classics class for volunteering. He was dressed up as Lucha Libre, a Mexican wrestler, and he particularly liked how "both kids and adults came dressed up as their favorite superheroes."
The event was "not something I'd expect to see at the Museum," he added.
