Student Resources

TSEM 102 (Towson Seminar) and TSEM 190 (Honors Towson Seminar) courses emphasize active learning and introduce multiple perspectives, sometimes drawing from more than one discipline. TSEM is typically taken by first-year students during either of their first two semesters.

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Explore current TSEM topics, learning support, opportunities and outcomes.

Student Information

TSEM Support

Opportunities for Students

Towson Seminar Topics Spring 2025

An introduction to the cultural, political, social conflicts of the 1960s in America, with emphasis on development of research and critical thinking skills. Through their study of major figures, movements and events of this period, as well as through guided study of research methodology, students will become acquainted with historical ways of thinking and writing.  
Exploration of American drug policies. Emphasis on treatment and prevention options, debates regarding decriminalization and legalization, and the domestic and international drug trade. Attention to popular perceptions of addicts, the flaws in those perceptions, and how perceptions shape policies. The historical context of current drug policy.  
Past and present Paris through virtual tours of its twenty neighborhoods. Analysis of diverse information sources, including metro maps, online museum collections, neighborhood websites, historic films, buildings, and monuments. Interaction of Parisians with the changing cityscape and each other.  
 An introductory, multidisciplinary examination of the influence of science and technology (S&T) on modern political, economic, and social life, and an analysis of the likely effects of current S&T trends on the future.  
A multidisciplinary examination of how the automobile has changed world cultures with an emphasis on economic, environmental, social and political factors.  
The theme of the journey as the most enduring and complex in the literature of Western civilization. The epistemological value of the journey as exploration of self and others鈥� identities, the notions of quest and epic hero, the issue of ancient and modern migrations as a crossing of geographical and cultural borders.  
The role of reason throughout the history of Western philosophy, beginning with the Platonic formalism of the ancient era, continuing into the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment with Rene Descartes鈥� rationalism, David Hume鈥檚 empiricism, and Immanuel Kant鈥檚 transcendentalism, and culminating in the contemporary perspectives of Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Emmanuel Levinas, and Alphonso Lingis on the limits of reason.  
Focuses on ceremonial objects central to Judaism: shofar (ram鈥檚 horn), tsitsit (ritual fringes), tekhelet (blue thread), mezuzah, tefillin (phylacteries), Torah scrolls, kipah (skullcap), four species, Passover Seder plate and its contents, mikvah and possibly others. Starting with the Biblical origins of these objects, and moving through history to the present day, this class will trace the development of these ritual objects and how they are currently understood and manufactured. Study will include readings from Biblical and Rabbinic sources, secondary readings, films, hands-on demonstrations, and a field trip. The first week of the course will present an introduction to the importance of rituals and symbolic objects in general and for Judaism specifically.  
Murals are paintings placed on culturally meaningful walls. 鈥淎merican Murals鈥� will examine the creation and use of murals across many American ethnic and racial groups from pre-Colonial Native Americans, through the Colonial period, to the 21st Century including the 1930s Mexican Mural Movement, Works Progress Administration and mid-20th-century Civil Rights Movements.  
 Focuses on the ways in which families experience risk. Places emphasis on the diversity of risk both within the family unit as well as how risk is perceived by social forces outside the family. Introduces multiple perspectives on risk and resiliency using a multidisciplinary approach. Special attention will be paid to how individual differences have the potential to increase risk for individuals, families and communities.  
An examination of food: what we eat, where we eat, how we eat, and what are the industrial, economic, technological, social and political factors that shape the production of food, and what these mean for the planet. An introduction to student research and writing at the university level. Through readings, discussions, and assignments students will learn about food production and distribution in order to feed nearly seven billion people and about the nature of scholarship.  
Understand the critical and often contentious issue of climate change, and to introduce students to scholarship. Scientific evidence and analysis, and an interdisciplinary perspective are needed to deal with the pressing issue of global climate change. This course will provide students with the critical thinking and analytical skills needed to weigh the evidence supporting or refuting claims of climate change or its consequences and to help students develop the research and writing skills required of college graduates.  
Current issues in education related to living and learning in a digital society. This course emphasizes that critical, self-reflective understanding of the contexts of our technology use is central to becoming digital practitioners and effective teachers in a participatory culture. Students will be introduced to effective strategies for gathering, evaluating and communicating information.  
 Immersive study of composers / performers / improvisers, their creative output, their historical and cultural context, and their continuing relevance in today鈥檚 music cultures. A robust study of the historical relationships between jazz performance and socio-political discourse, examined through the works and activism of influential jazz artists throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.  
 Immersive study of composers / performers / improvisers, their creative output, their historical and cultural context, and their continuing relevance in today鈥檚 music cultures. A study of film composer John Williams鈥� career and influential film soundtracks, grounded in historical and social context.  
 Immersive study of composers / performers / improvisers, their creative output, their historical and cultural context, and their continuing relevance in today鈥檚 music cultures. This course offers a comprehensive exploration of Radiohead's artistic journey, examining their musical influences, impact on contemporary music, cultural significance, and innovative approach to sound.  
 Immersive study of composers / performers / improvisers, their creative output, their historical and cultural context, and their continuing relevance in today鈥檚 music cultures. An examination of the musical and cultural influences on and innovations of The Beatles throughout all stages of their career.  
 Emphasizes active learning with content focusing on representations of vampires in popular media from literary origins in the late 19th century through to recent incarnations on screen.  
Provides an integrated view of business organizations and prepares students to critically analyze business problems and develop effective solutions. Includes study of the structure and organization of businesses, common business processes, and the interrelationships among business functions.  
Employs dramaturgical analysis and research as the focus of an interdisciplinary learning experience. Every play creates its own unique world that reflects both the society in which it is written and the way that the playwright wishes to respond to that society. Theatre artists employ particular analytical strategies in considering how to bring the world of a play to life in performance. They also conduct extensive research in order to inform their understanding of a play鈥檚 world and enrich the ways they may share it with an audience. Students in this course will actively engage in this research and analysis in order to make their study of plays the point of departure for learning about a range of topics. Communication skills will be developed through class discussion, writing assignments and a formal group presentation.  
Effects of sleep and sleep deprivation on optimal functioning. Exploration of sleep, sleep disorders, long term effects of sleep deprivation and treatment options.  
Through reflective writing, roundtable discussions, skills workshops, a research paper, and a group presentation, students will be introduced to the rigors of academic scholarship, explore collaborative learning, and engage in critically evaluating the content and impact of mediated messages on the practice and consumption of health care across cultures.  
Asks students to think critically about the sense experiences 鈥� their cultural significance, political consequences, and representations in written texts and visual media. Students will observe how representations of sense experiences shift through stylistic choices in the descriptive writing of marketers, artists, filmmakers, and social critics.  
Introduces students to skills needed to function successfully at college, in the context of an exploration of the relationship of occupational engagement to well-being. Students will gain an understanding of the concept of occupation, and investigate the influence of various occupations on health, happiness, and well-being.  
An interdisciplinary exploration of the game of baseball and its impact on American culture. Will study the history and development of the game, key figures in the game, the growth of the game, the effects of integrating the game, the cultural impact of the game, the sense of community the game gives, the ethical debates of performance enhancing drugs, labor relationships between owners and players, and the future of the game.  
Seminar emphasizing active learning, with a focus on examining and analyzing the mass media as tools of education, socialization, and indoctrination that influence our understanding of the world.  
A survey of attitudes toward the human body in different fields, eras, and cultures.  
Explores teaching - a most exciting and challenging profession 鈥� through inspiring examples of excellent teaching practices in order to incorporate these best practices into every challenging teaching situation. Introduction to effective strategies for gathering, evaluating and communicating information. Students will use critical thinking, team collaboration and problem solving to examine the most current scholarship surrounding these topics.  
Baltimore is a city of connections and contradictions. This class looks closely at texts written about the city from diverse perspectives: historical, sociological, environmental, journalistic, and literary. Approaches the city itself as a text to be explored; students will generate their own texts in response to their encounters with the city. Various themes will include the Chesapeake Bay, the sights and sounds of Baltimore, and urban history.  

Learning Outcomes

During the seminar, students:

  • Prepare and present a compelling substantive interpretation, argument and/or analysis of a problem or issue in a research paper.
  • Gather and use academic resources effectively and according to the standards and rules of academic integrity in formulating and presenting a substantive interpretation, argument and/or analysis of a problem or issue.
  • Understand and evaluate the nature and possible causes and implications of events, behavior, problems and issues from an informed and intellectually balanced perspective.
  • Connect concepts and empirical evidence in logically coherent, valid and compelling ways.
  • Understand and appreciate social and cultural differences among individuals, groups and societies and engage and learn from others with different backgrounds and perspectives in constructive ways, when appropriate to the topic.
  • Participate responsibly and effectively in group efforts to address and solve problems, where appropriate within the course format.