With NSO preceptorials, a chance to be curious

On Saturday, Aug. 24, first-year undergraduates have an opportunity to choose from dozens of topical seminars that range from an introduction to the Penn Band to a discussion at Perry World House about global citizenship. The preceptorials run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are part of New Student Orientation, which spans Aug. 21-26.
 
“Preceptorials provide exposure to people that students might not otherwise get a chance to meet,” says David Fox, director of NSO. “The idea is to spend a couple hours doing something that might interest you.”
 
Preceptorials have been part of NSO for at least two decades, Fox says. They are led by a mix of faculty, staff, and student groups who volunteer their time. He emphasizes that it’s sometimes an opportunity for students to interact with a faculty member for the first time in an extended manner. Some students, Fox says, will use the opportunity to continue thinking about how to map out their academic careers and hear from others who’ve been in their shoes.
 
Ann Kuttner, an associate professor of history of art in the School of Arts & Sciences, has been leading preceptorials since the 2010s, she says, and likes to use the time to show students the Penn Museum and ask them to think more critically about public space—particularly landscape architecture. This year, she’ll lead From Rome to Philadelphia at the Penn Museum, an approximately 90-minute preceptorial that highlights artifacts from the Penn Museum’s courtyard like the famous Roman Wanamaker bronzes. Students will also have a chance to explore the Mediterranean Galleries, and Kuttner will discuss the Roman concept of bringing culture to the masses and their ancient regard for public parks. 

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For many students, she says, it’s a first chance to reevaluate a museum space as “a place they’d go for pleasure and not just for duty.”
 
“I think these preceptorials are important, and one of the gorgeous things is it’s a very eccentric program,” Kuttner says. “It’s literally what faculty [and others] come up with. Maybe it happens once and never again, or maybe it comes back around … and then they have the chance to spend some time with a professor who is convinced they are a worthwhile and interesting person.”
 
It is, she says, a space for students to be curious, to ask questions, and—for faculty—an opportunity to create an idea-generating jump-off point. “I think ideally that’s what a preceptorial also does,” she says.
 
Malik Muhammad, meanwhile, is director of inclusion initiatives and social justice education at University Life and uses his preceptorial as a welcoming space to talk about belonging. We Belong: Fostering Authenticity at Penn and Beyond will be a 75-minute facilitated discussion for students who want to learn more about how to be their authentic selves on campus. They’ll also learn about Penn’s many cultural resources that are available—including himself. 
 
“It’s all about embracing the full essence of who you are in a tough campus culture like Penn, being able to be your authentic self,” says Malik. “We’ll be talking about barriers to authenticity, opportunities around authenticity, sharing campus resources that are supporting various identities, and then also creating that level of confidence folks can have as they navigate their first-year experience.”
 
Part of that effort, he says, is to “mitigate that essence of imposter syndrome” as students begin their time at Penn.  
 
Historically, says Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of history of education in the Graduate School of Education, who referenced the work of Christopher Loss of Vanderbilt, preceptorials began as a larger effort in the 1920s to orient new students who were only just beginning to learn about what universities are. The boom decade meant that white men and some women, post-suffrage, were entering the university system in larger numbers. Because of this influx, universities realized the need to either acclimate students or risk losing them. 
 
“What does it mean to have a roommate? What’s my meal plan going to look like? What should I major in? All these things,” says Zimmerman. “And this is the beginning of what we call ‘student life,’ of the whole advising system, and yes, it’s the beginning of the creation of a mental health system.” 
 
Universities, he says, assumed a new responsibility of attending to students’ “well-being and psyches.” Much of universities’ administrative roles, including programs like New Student Orientation, have evolved from this seedling era.

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For this year’s preceptorials, adds Fox, he further asks that students take part in a walking tour on Sunday. Those take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 25.
 
“We don’t label them as preceptorials, but in a way they are a variation,” he says. 
 
They cover downtown neighborhoods like Chinatown and Rittenhouse Square, and he hopes first-years will take time to explore West Philadelphia and all it has to offer.