Professor Kumar: Actor Penn to teach at Penn

PHILADELPHIA — Kumar is going from White Castle to the Ivy League.

Kal Penn, known for his role as Kumar Patel in 2004's “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” will be a guest instructor at the University of Pennsylvania during the spring 2008 semester, the school announced Monday.

Penn, 29, will teach two undergraduate courses, tentatively titled “Images of Asian Americans in the Media” and “Contemporary American Teen Films.”

“The Asian American Studies Program is delighted that Kalpen Modi, aka Kal Penn, chose our program to host his teaching engagement at Penn,” program director Grace Kao said. “Mr. Modi is one of the leading Asian-American actors of his generation and is particularly aware of how his racial and ethnic identification has affected his professional experiences.”

Slideshow: 10 films for spring Students can enroll in the courses as Asian-American studies or cinema-studies programs in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, Kao said.

Penn, who's latest movie is “The Namesake,” co-stars with John Cho in “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.” His screen credits include “Epic Movie,” “Van Wilder” and “Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj.”

He recently finished shooting “Harold & Kumar 2” with Cho.

The university said Penn, a native of Montclair, N.J., received a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a specialization in theater, film and television from the University of California at Los Angeles and is pursuing a graduate certificate in international security at Stanford University.