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Special Courses
Freshman Seminars
The Freshman Seminar Program
offers small classes designed to bring freshmen from
all schools of the University into close contact with
scholars and teachers from a wide range of disciplines.
Each year, nearly 100 seminars are offered, assuring
that a seminar is available to every freshman who wants
to take one. Enrollment is limited to 20 students per
seminar and sometimes fewer. The program sponsors
offerings in such traditional disciplines as English
and history, as well as interdisciplinary seminars in
fields like health and archaeology.
Critical Writing Seminars
Various departments in the School
of Arts and Sciences offer critical writing seminars.
Each writing seminar is based in a discipline,
exploring current topics and debates in its field as
well as the writing styles and conventions of the
discipline. One critical writing seminar will satisfy
the College’s Writing Requirement.
Communication Within the
Curriculum (CWiC)
CWiC supports a range of courses
for students interested in oral communication and
developing their speaking abilities. All
CWiC-affiliated classes are regular departmental
courses, but with an emphasis on speaking. CWiC has
affiliations with an array of classes to offer students
the opportunity to improve their speaking through a
variety of disciplines. CWiC also sponsors more
speaking-intensive courses, including Speaking About
seminars, CWiC seminars and Classical Studies 135,
which takes oral argument as its subject. For current
course listings, please see the website.
Academically Based Community
Service Courses
Supported by the Center for
Community Partnerships, Academically Based Community
Service (ABCS) courses involve hands-on, real-world
problem solving and help students become active,
participating citizens of a democratic society. Through
their work with West Philadelphia public schools,
communities of faith and community organizations, ABCS
faculty and students work to solve critical community
issues in a variety of areas, such as the environment,
health, arts and education. ABCS is rooted in and
intrinsically linked to teaching and research and
promotes student and faculty reflection on the service
experience. ABCS is committed to linking theory and
practice through activities that make a significant
difference in the community of West Philadelphia and at
Penn.
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Over 150 ABCS courses from diverse
schools and disciplines across the University have engaged
in work in West Philadelphia through the Center for
Community Partnerships. During the 2004-2005 academic year,
2,118 ABCS students were involved in 46 undergraduate
courses across 19 departments and 16 graduate courses
involving eight of the professional schools. Please see the
website for a complete listing of ABCS courses.
Benjamin Franklin Seminars
These small courses are in-depth
seminars with a heavy focus on class discussions,
readings from primary sources and paper writing.
Students who are members of the Benjamin Franklin
Scholars Program are especially urged to take these
seminars; however, any undergraduate may enroll.
Approximately 30 seminars are offered each semester.
While most are taught by faculty in the School of Arts
and Sciences, courses are also offered by faculty from
the other schools, including Wharton, Medicine, Nursing
and Engineering. For a current list, please see the
website. The Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program is part
of the Center for Undergraduate Research and
Fellowships (CURF).
College 99
College 99 is a course
designation that permits a student in the College to
undertake independent study with a faculty member of
the University outside of the School of Arts and
Sciences. A student may consider taking a College 99 if
preparatory course work has already been done and if
his or her interests cannot be accommodated through
regular or independent study within a department in the
School of Arts and Sciences.
Courses in the College of General
Studies
The University’s College of
General Studies (CGS) is a division of the School of
Arts and Sciences. CGS administers Penn’s
programs for adult and part-time students. Full-time
undergraduates may take late-afternoon, evening and
Saturday courses through CGS. In some cases, students
may register for CGS courses to fulfill specific degree
requirements. Students are advised to discuss their
course registration options with their advisor prior to
registering.
In Addition to the B.A.
Dual Degree
Penn undergraduates have the
opportunity to receive two bachelor’s degrees
simultaneously by completing the requirements of the
College along with those of one of the
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