Kal Penn Lands Teaching Gig At University

Kal Penn, an actor and producer known for his role in the 2004 cult classic "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."

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 stars in the current movie "The Namesake" and recently finished shooting "Harold and Kumar 2."

His acting credits also include the television series "24" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and the films "Epic Movie," "Van Wilder," and "Van Wilder: The Return of Taj."

The university said that 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, Los Angeles, and is pursuing a graduate certificate in international security at Stanford University.