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Aaron Levy

Senior Lecturer, English and History of Art

Fisher-Bennett Hall 334

Office Hours

fall 2025

Mon 12-1:45pm and by appointment

Aaron Levy, PhD, MPhil is a Senior Lecturer in the Departments of English and the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania and the inaugural Director of Health Humanities Initiatives at Penn Medicine. He is also a Senior Fellow in the School of Social Policy & Practice and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Levy received his BA and MPhil from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD from the University of Leeds in the UK.

As a leading scholar and advocate for the role of the arts and humanities in health and healing, Dr. Levy directs the Penn Medicine Listening Lab, which has collected over 70 stories from patients, caregivers, and providers, and the Health Ecologies Lab, which explores the intersections of care, healing, and the humanities. He co-directs Rx/Museum, a project examining the intersection of art and medicine, and is the author or editor of several influential works on these topics, 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). Dr. Levy has developed numerous courses on these themes across multiple schools at the University of Pennsylvania, including the first-ever educational partnership between the School of Arts and Sciences and the Barnes Foundation.

He is the also author or editor of numerous other publications about the arts and humanities, including Cities Without Citizens (2002), Helene Cixous: Ex-cities (2007), and Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch (2010), On the Living History of the Venice Architecture Biennale (2010), John Cage's How to Get Started (2010), and Four Conversations on the Architecture of Discourse (2011). His filmography includes works on Carolee Schneemann, Dennis Oppenheim, and Werner Herzog.

Alongside his academic responsibilities, Dr. Levy is a seasoned non-profit leader and curator whose work is marked by a commitment to addressing socio-political issues through art and community collaboration. As the founding Executive and Artistic Director of Public Trust, he has developed and led numerous interdisciplinary programs and exhibitions engaging pressing cultural and political topics. He has curated hundreds of exhibitions, programs, and projects, working with prominent artists such as Carolee Schneemann, Agnes Varda, and Susan Meiselas. Examples of his large-scale projects include Into the Open (2008) at the Venice Biennale, the Perpetual Peace Project (2010), and No Mud, No Lotus (2018) with Louverture Films.

Dr. Levy has served on prestigious committees such as the Artist Protection Fund Selection Committee and the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions (FACIE). He was a U.S. Cultural Envoy to Pakistan in 2010.

Publications

Courses Taught

fall 2025

ENGL 2530.301 The Literature of Care  

spring 2025

fall 2024

ENGL 2530.301 The Literature of Care  

spring 2024

fall 2023

ENGL 2530.301 Literature of Care  

spring 2023

fall 2022

spring 2022

ENGL 207.301 The Literature of Care  

fall 2021

spring 2021

ENGL 207.301 The Literature of Care  

fall 2020

spring 2020

ENGL 207.301 The Literature of Care  

fall 2019

ENGL 017.401 30 Americans  

spring 2019

ENGL 207.301 The Literature of Care  

fall 2018

spring 2018

ENGL 263.401 The Politics of the Gift  

fall 2017

ENGL 016.401 The Ecology of Art  

spring 2017

ENGL 263.401 Politics of Friendship  

fall 2016

spring 2016

fall 2015

ENGL 263.401 The Seduction of Power  

spring 2015

fall 2014

ENGL 263.401 Invisible Subjects  

spring 2014

fall 2013

spring 2013

ENGL 263.301 Cities Without Citizens  

fall 2012

spring 2012

ENGL 261.301 The Politics of Memory  

spring 2011

ENGL 261.301 The Future of Memory  
ENGL 295.401 War, Peace and Culture  

spring 2010

ENGL 261.301 The Future of Memory  
ENGL 294.402 Slought Curatorial Seminar canceled  

fall 2009

spring 2009

fall 2008

spring 2008

fall 2007

spring 2007

ENGL 294.401 After Derrida  

fall 2006

fall 2004

spring 2004

fall 2002

ENGL 404.640 Engaging Contemporary Art