With topics ranging from wine tasting to the study of UFOs to an eating tour of Philadelphia, preceptorials have something of interest for a wide audience.
Currently the University is encouragining increased participation in the already popular classes -- calling for students to sumbit ideas for future courses.
Taught by some of the most lauded professors at the University, preceptorials are not-for-credit seminar series offered to undergraduates that are taken on top of the regular course load.
"People who are genuinely interested in participating in these seminars are interested in learning for its own sake," Preceptorial Committee member Jason Lee said.
Since the conception of preceptorials in 1996, their popularity has expanded through advertisements, flyers and e-mails sent out to the undergraduate community. Thousands apply each semester for the approximately 450 spots.
"We have probably over 100 people register for any given preceptorial," said Lee, noting that around 30 preceptorials are offered each semester. "People register on Penn InTouch alongside their graded courses, and we are only able to take about 15 people per preceptorial. So there's a huge demand out there."
Admittance into these classes is based on a random computer selection process.
College sophomore Jon Hong is one student who was randomly selected in the process. He took a preceptorial last semester on the topic of Freemasonry, although it was not his first choice.
"I signed up for five, and it was the only one I got," Hong said.
"I was looking for some really different topics," Hong added. "I liked the idea of not having to be totally committed to a course for an entire semester. I had an interest in the topic, and [the preceptorial] allowed me to explore that idea."
Overall, Hong said he enjoyed his experience.
"We got to go on a field trip down to the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia and that was fun. It was interactive and it was nice to meet another 10 kids with similar interests. I'd probably take another one if another one came up that interested me."
The ideas for the preceptorials are left up to the Preceptorials Committee, which is sponsored by the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education.
"The members of the committee are responsible for contacting professors," Lee said. "Ideally, a student who is on the committee is interested in a certain subject and they will call the professor who's associated with that interest. It's basically then up to the professor to decide the content of the preceptorial."
Professor of Material Sciences and Engineering David Pope was contacted four years ago to teach the preceptorial "Wines of the World" and has since continued to co-teach the wine-tasting course with Geology professor Stephen Phipps.
"It's a mixed blessing -- it's a lot of fun while you are involved," Pope said, noting the extensive amount of preparation required. "But it's most definitely worth it in the end because the students seem to really enjoy the experience."
Preceptorials are already under way this semester.
Wharton junior Cindy Chen signed up for the preceptorial entitled "Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens."
The seminar was organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art and explored t artwork by Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara. Included in the preceptorial were lectures by ICA experts, a meeting with the artist himself and a dinner at Pod following a preview of the exhibit.
"I really, really liked it," Chen said. "I'm interested in Japanese culture in general, and it gave me the chance to look at an artist that I hadn't previously heard of before and get more involved in the ICA that I had never been very familiar with before."
Chen also noted that despite signing up for preceptorials every semester, this was the first one in which she was enrolled.
The popularity of the preceptorials has led to a need to restructure and expand the currently 20-person Preceptorial Committee, and the committee is currently looking for new members.
