Check out reactions to the choice of James Franco as this year’s SPEC Connaissance speaker.

“Time Travel Safari,” welcomed Olivia Judson Wednesday night to speak about the evolutionary adaptations of animals and their implications on present-day Earth.

The third day of Asian Pacific American Heritage Week on Wednesday combined food, awareness and comedy, courtesy of comedian Hari Kondabolu. DP sits down with Hari Kondabolu

Oscar-nominated actor James Franco will take the stage at Irvine Auditorium on Nov. 6 as part of SPEC’s fall Connaissance speaker series. TWEETS: Students react to James Franco choice GALLERY: Photos of past Connaissance speakers

The Wharton School announced last week that its Accelerated Development Program, which offers a business certificate for executive students — college graduates with existing business experience — will find a new home in India starting January 2012.

Occupy Philadelphia’s tent village continues to grow outside City Hall, despite the city’s plans to begin construction of an ice skating rink in the lower plaza in mid-November. TOPICS: Occupy Philadelphia

Filmadelphia celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and according to Madison Cairo, Annenberg Center director of operations and special artistic initiatives, 63 screenings ­— just over half of the festival — will be held in facilities owned by the University.

As part of a pilot program launched this fall, two Penn students are enrolled in Romanian alongside two Columbia students.

Despite Harvard and Princeton’s reinstated early action programs, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda does not anticipate a drop in early decision applications to Penn. INTERACTIVE: Early rates around the Ivies

A new temple under construction and a newly formed student organization will give Penn Mormons an opportunity to increase their presence.

Comedian Hari Kondabolu sat down with The Daily Pennsylvanian on Wednesday before his performance in Houston Hall.

Crimes committed on and around campus last week, with an interactive map.

Zach Weiner, creator of the popular daily webcomic “Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal,” spoke at an event Tuesday in Skirkanich Hall hosted by Dining Philosophers, a computer science club.

Protesters are demonstrating against House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who will be speaking at Penn on Friday as part of the Wharton Leadership Lecture Series. TOPICS: Occupy movement

The Penn Institute for Urban Research, along with the Urban Studies Program, hosted a panel Tuesday evening in College Hall to discuss Bloomberg’s New York: Class and Governance in the Luxury City by Julian Brash.

Animal rights group PETA’s youth division, peta2, conducts a survey each year to determine which American college or university has the most vegan options. Penn, one of 32 schools nominated, advanced to the second round Tuesday in the large-campus division.

Since the idea for Penn Alexander School began in 1998, the Graduate School of Education has helped to prune the K-8 public school in West Philadelphia in Penn’s backyard.