5
Why is the conversation so important?
In seminar, conversation is of vital importance because it enables
students to arrive at understanding not easily attained by othermeans.
Students and tutors alike address each other formally to keep the
conversation civil and respectful—and so everyone’s contribution
receives serious consideration. Because every opinionmust be
supported by reasoned argument, students gain invaluable practice
in critical thinking and analysis—as well as in active listening. They
see by example howwell-supported arguments work, and they learn
the value of admitting what they do not know. Equally important,
seminars achieve what a lecture seldomcan: as students participate
in the conversation, they acquire new perspective by coming to their
own conclusions. These insights not only prove valuable for under-
standing the books: they also remain to influence and support
students’ approach to questions long after they complete the program.
Can I study
subjects that
are not on the
program?
For about seven weeks
in the fall semester of the
junior and senior years, stu-
dents take a break from
seminars and, in small
classes called “precep-
torials,” elect to study
a particular book or
theme along with a tutor.
Some preceptorials
cover territory not on the
program, while others
consist of more focused
exploration of program
readings. Students choose
their topics from a list
drawn up by tutors,
or they may suggest a
topic and ask a tutor to
study it with them.
Students also create
opportunities to explore
books outside the program
by forming extracurricular
study groups both on their
own and with tutors.
Sample
Preceptorials
on Non-
Program Books
Levinas
Totality and Infinity
Readings in
Social Thought:
Marx,Weber,
Durkheim,Geertz
Joyce
Ulysses
Arendt
The Origins of
Totalitarianism
Saussure
Course in General
Linguistics
Ellison
Invisible Man
Neuroscience: brain
dissection, classic
and contemporary
readings
GarcíaMárquez
One Hundred Years
of Solitude
LeonardodaVinci:
paintings, drawings,
andnotebooks