Wharton's new focus: theatre

So it's week four already, and you know what that means -- work groups in various classes have been finalized, group assignments have been handed out and it's time to, well, start writing your script.

You mean you haven't started yet?

Last year alone I wrote four scripts, for which I portrayed Judge Judy, an angry reverend, Steve Jobs and a disgruntled immigrant janitor.

Am I in a performing arts program? Actually, I am.

It's called Wharton.

You may not have realized, but the Wharton degree is actually a performing arts degree in disguise.

At least that's what it seems like with the recent trend of Wharton classes requiring students to create outlandish skits related to issues discussed in class. The skits include costumes, sound effects and even musical numbers -- just to please their audience of peers, who review the presentations.

The oneupmanship for these skits has become absolutely ridiculous, and I think it is high time Wharton professors put an end to it by replacing skits with -- gasp! -- professional point-and-click presentations.

The key word here is creativity.

"I think creativity helps get the message across," said Barbara Kahn -- vice dean and director of the Wharton Undergraduate Division -- in regard to classroom presentations.

I agree wholeheartedly, and I'm sure that most Wharton professors would also agree that the curriculum should inspire students to think creatively.

But the fad for skits has overshot the mark of creativity. The focus is no longer on delivering a point in a creative way but rather solely on getting as much audience attention as possible in order to gain good peer reviews.

Consequently, any notion of professionalism goes out the window. The form of the presentation takes precedence over the content. And, quite frankly, anything goes. For example:

n A group of students imitating their professor's peculiar accent and lecturing style in their presentation about workforce management, complete with jokes about his frequent sayings and mannerisms

n A four-minute long video excerpt from a Saturday Night Live skit in a 10-minute long presentation, which was followed by a pointless reenactment and discussion

n A foul-mouthed Martha Stewart complaining about insider trading laws, along with free cookies that she baked for everyone in the class

Sure, I was entertained and well-fed by these presentations. But I don't particularly remember learning anything because I was so distracted by the delivery.

And chances are, as the skit fad continues to snowball, students will continue to get less and less out of these presentations while putting in more and more effort into outdoing the competition. They had a homemade movie in their presentation, so we need one too. They had a song? We'll write, rehearse and perform a whole musical number about energy deregulation! Their group had a celebrity impersonation? Hell, we'll invite a celebrity.

The way things are going, it won't be long before a "wardrobe malfunction" makes its first appearance.

"These presentations make me feel like I'm in a bad seventh grade drama class," Wharton junior Tommy Gaffney said.

I concur -- but not because I believe Wharton students are bad actors.

Rather, it seems that, when preparing a presentation for a class, one should spend more time thinking creatively about the content rather than about how to present it in the most entertaining way.

Otherwise, you end up with a bad Wharton drama class where everyone comes up with original ideas -- "Hey, let's write a skit about The Apprentice!"

Sure, no one's reading long, boring passages from scripts that make you zone out and think about how much you want to leave.

But -- and not to sound like grandpa -- I'll take the good old days.

Back in the day when I took Management 100, I was chastised for making even a slight unfunny joke in my Powerpoint, business-suit group presentation. Now, Management 100 students have to do skits about materials from the bulkpack. Which presentation style do you think prepares business students for when they're pitching an idea at a client meeting with top executives? Unless Bain consultants present recommendations to their clients in the form of a Family Matters episode, I would suggest the former.

And so should Wharton professors. It is high time that someone called a truce in the game of oneupmanship and got back to the basics. Wharton should emphasize communicating clearly, effectively and creatively within the bounds of a professional business setting. Otherwise, the school might as well give out dual degrees in theatre arts.

Cezary Podkul is a junior philosophy major from Franklin Park, Ill. Return of the Salad appears on Tuesdays.

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