Boba Break: Spring Goals Edition

Boba Break: Spring Goals Edition is a relaxed community event for residents to enjoy boba tea while casually reflecting on their goals for the Spring semester. The event creates a low-pressure space for connection, conversation, and a positive start to the term.

Lunar New Year at the Penn Museum

Celebrate Lunar New Year at the Penn Museum on Saturday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ring in the Year of the Horse at the 45th annual Lunar New Year celebration. Explore vibrant Asian traditions during a full day of festivities, including storytelling, artmaking, live music, and dance performances, and a traditional Lion Dance finale. We have 8 tickets reserved, but more free tickets are available for students with an ID until they are sold out. To sign up for this event, please email Arnold Mathijssen at amaths@upenn.edu.

Home Baking School

What's the difference between folding and mixing? What do you do if you don't have buttermilk? Do you really need to let that pie cool? The answer to these questions and more will be revealed by joining the Gutmann House Director for the return of Home Baking School! Every Saturday in February will bring a new lesson and delicious treat to taste. Link for each week will be in the Gutmann Gazette.

Faculty Fellow David Amponsah FAQ

Join Faculty Fellow David Amponsah in the Gutmann Living Room for casual conversation - get feedback on academics, seek advice, learn more about education opportunities, ask about programs or house events, or just shoot the breeze about ideas or issues you want to discuss! Just an open hour to drop by the Living Room and chat with a faculty member in residence.

Popcorn & Pajamas!

Staying on campus for spring break? Come wind down with a cozy movie night! Throw on your comfiest pajamas and join us for popcorn, snacks, and a low-key evening of movies and good company. Whether you’re here to relax, de-stress, or just avoid studying for one night, this is the perfect way to enjoy a chill spring break evening.

Zulu in Residence

Du Bois College House is committed to advancing the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois through programs that share knowledge and experience of people of African descent. The Zulu in Residence program will expose students to the language and culture of the Zulu people of South Africa in a semi-formal and relaxed setting in Du Bois College House. The program is designed to impart basic communicative skills and cultural nuances embedded in the use of the Zulu language. Unlike students of other world languages and cultures such as European languages which are easily accessible through various media and speech communities in this country, students interested in African languages and creoles spoken in the African diaspora face the challenge of cultural distance due to lack of exposure to these languages and cultures in their immediate environments. The program will bridge this cultural gap by engaging students through movies, songs, pertinent museum experience, and cultural activities available on the internet. Students will also engage in hands-on activities to make and experience Zulu cultural products, e.g. Zulu food. The program also will provide a space for students to make conscious linguistic and cultural comparisons between Zulu and other dialects of English and/or creoles spoken by people of African descent in the diaspora, e.g. features of Ebonics (African American Vernacular) that are similar to those of Zulu as well as some loan words from African languages into language varieties of the African diaspora such as “kata” (Jamaican Patois) and “inkatha” (Zulu) for a roll of cloth on top of the head to cushion the skull from the weight of a head load. Students will perceive language varieties of the African diaspora as systematic and logical dialects with features that can be traced to African language systems. There will also be discussions of the influence of the African diaspora on cultures in Africa, e.g. African-American influence on Zulu music. Please note: students interested in this course community do not have to apply for this particular community; however, you will need to indicate Du Bois College House as your top housing interest when completing the housing application. Goals The following 5Cs (adapted from the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning) will serve as goals of the program: Students will learn communicative language skills through interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes of language learning techniques. They will gain knowledge and understanding of the Zulu culture. They will use their Zulu language and cultural experience to connect with Africana-related materials within disciplines of their interests. And they will enhance their understanding of the African diaspora cultures through perspectives acquired from the Zulu program. They will also develop insight into the nature of language and culture through comparisons of the Zulu language and culture with their own language(s) and culture(s). Through movies, songs, and other cultural activities on YouTube, etc. students will learn cultural products and practices of the Zulu people and become life-long learners who can participate in the sharing of knowledge regarding people of African descent within their communities including at Penn. Contact: Dr. Audrey Mbeje, College House Fellow, W.E.B. Du Bois College House dubois@collegehouses.upenn.edu

Zulu in Residence