Students to design residential seminars

Imagine discussing baseball with a distinguished professor or singing a song about an infectious disease and getting credit for it, all without leaving your dorm. These are just some of the possibilities students may take advantage of through a new college house program designed to fund residential seminars proposed by the members of each residence. Housing officials have asked students to submit proposals for their ideal courses, according to Chris Dennis, director of College Houses and Academic Services. After the proposals are submitted, the college house staff will choose four ideas to convert into actual seminars. Pending the approval of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College House office will fund the classes next semester, Dennis said. Since the houses can propose an idea or request any faculty member they especially like, the program will ideally give students a chance to learn from the unique interests faculty members may have, Dennis said. "For example, [History Professor Bruce] Kuklick is a history scholar, with a love for baseball," said Sue Smith, a spokesperson for the college house system. She explained that Kuklick's passion and knowledge for the history of the game might be interesting material for a seminar. The seminars, though open to all students, will take place in college houses, and many spots will be reserved for on-campus residents. Although similar seminars took place last spring in several college houses, the new program gives all 12 reorganized college houses the chance to become involved. Former College Dean Robert Rescorla, a Psychology professor, originally brought such an idea to the University's attention after seeing positive results at his alma mater, Yale University, Dennis said. Building on the increased number of faculty in residence, some students might be able to enroll in seminars taught by their own house's assistant dean or faculty master. Helen Davies, a Medical School professor and the faculty master in the Quadrangle's Spruce Street College House, currently teaches an undergraduate seminar on infectious diseases. The course may be offered in the house next semester. This 15-student seminar -- which will use a lot of visual aids -- was a direct response to student requests. Part of the attraction for the seminar, explained Deborah Yarber, Spruce Street's assistant dean, is Davies' unique teaching style. The professor makes up songs as pneumonic devices for different diseases. "Leprosy? all my digits falling off of me," Yarber sang to the tune of the Beatles' "Yesterday," giving an example of one of Davies' songs. Dennis said that based on the success of recent preceptorials -- which are not-for-credit mini-courses created in 1996 by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education -- the seminars are likely to be popular. SCUE chairperson Rachael Goldfarb, a College senior, said she was pleased Penn was creating alternatives to the preceptorials. "Hundreds of students get excluded from preceptorials, and there's nothing I can do about it," Goldfarb said. "I feel guilty."