Tutorials are faculty-initiated studies for one to five students which cover specialized or advanced material not usually available within the regular curriculum. Tutorials differ from independent studies and group studies in that faculty members, not students, are responsible for their design and implementation.

Faculty members offer tutorials based on student demand. Sometimes, a faculty member will offer a tutorial to cover a topic of particularly timely interest, such as the meetings leading up to a negotiating round of a UN convention or the World Trade Organization. Faculty also offer tutorials as advanced seminars in research areas in which they want to extend their knowledge.

There are frequent tutorials in music and mathematics. Other recent tutorials include: The Cartegena Biosafety Protocol, French Feminist Theory; and Kafka, Borges, and "Pre-postmodern" Literature.