Preceptorials

Preceptorials are informal, non-credit seminars on assorted topics which offer a unique way for students to “Zoom in at Penn” and take a closer look at the cultural, social, and intellectual environment at Penn. This year, all Preceptorials will take place in a virtual format, both synchronously and asynchronously. The Preceptorials that took place during NSO have been archived and are available to view on NSOAI's YouTube Channel.

Throughout the academic year, Preceptorials can be hosted by faculty, staff, and/or student organizations. If you would like to host a Preceptorial, please fill out this form with all your details. Email Andrea Naughton any andrea29@upenn.edu with any questions.

Year of Civic Engagement (2020-2021)

As you may already be aware, the 2020-2021 Provost’s theme is the Year of Civic Engagement. This theme encourages individual students, faculty, staff, departments, and centers to create programming that relates to the topic in many contexts as well as to connect the Penn community to the many existing civic engagement opportunities. To further this goal, the Provost’s Office sponsors the Year of Civic Engagement to offer opportunities to create, participate in, and learn about curiosity and related fields.

We encourage you to watch the Penn Year of Civic Engagement Introduction Video (under 7 minutes) as well as the Provost Community Gathering video (under 1 hour) to get a greater understanding of what the theme year is all about.

Upcoming Events

Browse some of our campus partners' upcoming events below!

Anti-Asian Racism and the State
Monday, September 14
12pm-1:30pm
Host: Penn Task Force on Providing Support to Asian & Asian-American Students and Scholars (TAASS)
Systemic racism against people of color: Where do Asians fit into this structure? This panel of core faculty from Penn’s Asian American Studies Program will uncover a history and culture of anti-Asian racism, and it will provide radical Asian American perspectives. State management of Asia and its diasporas shape modern American policy, foreign and domestic; this panel will discuss the deep ties between policies of exclusion and the conditions of Asian America. The urgency of anti-racism today – with the Black Lives Matter campaign at its heart – will guide our conversation. This is an event for all members of the Penn community. We aim to have a dynamic and open conversation that addresses your questions, concerns, and experiences.
Registration Required

Monday Mindfulness Meditation Sessions
Monday, September 14, September 21, September 28
12pm & 7pm
Host: Sandi Herman, Health and Wellness Educator, Campus Health
Take a breath and relax! Join us, whenever you can, for this weekly, 45-minute guided meditation session. Everyone welcome, no experience necessary.
Click Here for the 12pm Sessions & Click Here for the 7pm Sessions

CURF & P1P Present: Work-study and Research
Tuesday, September 15
4pm
Host: CURF & P1P
Have workstudy? Want to get started in research? Come hear how you can do both at the same time! Current undergraduates will share how they were able to use work study funding to support their work. Staff from Financial Aid as well as the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships will be available to answer questions about the research position search process and how to access your funds.
BlueJeans Link

First-Year Finances: Embracing Financial Freedom
Tuesday, September 15
5pm-6pm
Host: Financial Wellness @ Penn
In your first year of college, you'll likely experience more financial freedom and responsibility than you have in the past. This can be challenging when it's coupled with a college culture that promotes (sometimes reckless) spending. Are you prepared? Join Financial Wellness @ Penn for a conversation about managing your newfound financial freedom and starting your first budget!
Zoom Link

SNF Paideia Civic Chats: Chat with the Netter Center
Wednesday, September 16
3pm-4pm
Host: Netter Center, SNF Paideia Program
The SNF Paideia Program is partnering with programs on campus to involve students further in the Year of Civic Engagement (YoCE) by facilitating casual conversations around civic engagement opportunities at Penn. Come meet with staff from the Netter Center for Community Partnerships to learn more about Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) courses and other opportunities to participate in their programming with West Philadelphia partners. Meet with student leaders in Penn Leads the Vote, a non-partisan student-led initiative housed in the Netter Center, as well to learn about volunteer opportunities around voting and ensuring your peers are registered and committed to voting.
Registration Required

Write, Research, and Innovate at Penn
Wednesday, September 16
5pm-6pm
Host: Penn Libraries
Learn about campus resources (Penn Libraries, Architectural Archives, Weingarten Learning Resources Center, and Penn Engineering Office of Diversity & Inclusion) that support Penn Engineering students' academic and innovative endeavors.
Registration Required

A Food for Thought Module 1 - Friendship in the Polis
Wednesday, September 16, September 23 & September 30
7pm
Host: Collegium Institute
This informal, convivial seminar will meet once a week over Zoom to discuss brief readings and examine how friendship--as both concept and, more importantly, a practice--enables us to navigate differences of opinion on truth, justice, and morality within a democratic polity. Amid ever more frequent calls for the virtues of civility and toleration in an ever more polarized populace, this seminar will consider whether conversation and dialogue between people of differing worldviews require not mere tolerance of the other, but friendship with and love for the other. In a country grappling with deep divisions on every conceivable topic, can friendship on an individual and a societal level enable us to act with malice toward none, with charity for all, and to make a reality the promise and the dream of our deeply flawed nation of high ideals? Join us as we reflect on such questions drawing from the texts of great thinkers both classical and contemporary.
Registration Required

Penn Abroad Virtual Fair
Thursday, September 17
10am-2pm
Host: Penn Abroad
Start planning your future global experiences by exploring programs online at the Penn Abroad Virtual Fair. Global experiences are an essential part of the Penn experience and regardless of your class year or school, there are many different opportunities to help you meet your professional, academic, and personal goals. Penn staff, representatives from international partner programs, and Penn Abroad Ambassadors will be live to answer questions and provide insight into the many opportunities.
Registration Required

Voter Registration Event, National Constitution Day
Thursday, September 17
12pm-1pm
Host: Penn Professional Staff Assembly (PPSA)
Join PPSA to celebrate National Constitution Day and Prepare to VOTE! Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020; Celebrate the U.S. Constitution, Register to Vote and Make a Personal Voter Plan, Volunteer and Engage!
Registration Required

Thursday Afternoon Mindfulness Meditation Sessions
Thursday, September 17, September 24, October 1
3pm
Host: Sandi Herman, Health and Wellness Educator, Campus Health
Take a breath and relax! Join us, whenever you can, for this weekly, 45-minute guided meditation session. Everyone welcome, no experience necessary.
Click Here to Join

Write, Research, and Innovate at Penn
Friday, September 18
12pm-1pm
Host: Penn Libraries
Learn about campus resources (Penn Libraries, Architectural Archives, Weingarten Learning Resources Center, and Penn Engineering Office of Diversity & Inclusion) that support Penn Engineering students' academic and innovative endeavors.
Registration Required

Climate Week at Penn
Monday, September 21 - Friday, September 25
Climate Week will feature a number of events organized by various schools and centers at Penn, all related to sustainability and climate. Visit the Climate Week website to check out the wide range of webinars, workshops, teach-ins, showcases, readings, climate storytelling, and a new set of 1.5* Minute Climate Lectures.

Can We Talk? Civil Dialogue for Troubled Times
Wednesday, September 23
5pm-7pm
Host: Red & Blue Exchange (RBX), SNF Paideia Program
Add your voice to a regional student dialogue on the state of our nation. 
- Meet students from around the region.
- Talk about justice, pandemic, the election, your future.
- Get tips on holding difficult conversations you can put to work on campus, online, at home.
Registration Required

Fall Intramurals Session II Registration (FIFA, Rocket League)
Thursday, September 24 - Thursday, October 8
Host: Penn Campus Recreation
Registration opens soon for our Session II Fall Intramurals! Register online today at IMLeagues.com as these offerings are FREE and open to the Penn Community!

Virtual Contemplative Social Justice Art Tour of Penn’s Outdoor Sculptures
Thursday, October 1
3pm-4:15pm
Host: SNF Paideia Program
What does art have to say about social justice? Allow Penn’s outdoor sculptures to speak to you (and indulge your nostalgia for Penn’s campus), as we spend an hour together contemplating, discussing and learning about some of Penn’s sculpture collection from a social justice perspective. We will explore simple wellness practices such as beholding and deep breathing. We will also share our perspectives on what we “see” when we take time to pause and really look at sculpture. Our co-sponsor, the Netter Center, will teach us about civic engagement opportunities at Penn and how to avoid burn-out through sustainable reflection. Finally, we will learn from our university curator and collections manager more about these pieces of art that ground our campus home here at Penn. This tour will include: Jacob Epstein’s “Social Consciousness”; Louise Nevelson’s “Atmosphere and Environment”; Alexander Archipenko’s “King Solomon” and Robert Indiana’s “Love.”
Registration Required

Class of 2024 Photo Mosaic
If you did not submit a photo during NSO please, visit this website and click "add photo", to add your image into the Class of 2024 mosaic. We look forward to having the entire class represented here and taking our in-person photo, when we are able!