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Topics Credit

Topics (TFR) courses are intended for freshmen and sophomores. TFR courses are taught by faculty and aim to introduce students to the methodologies of particular subject areas (e.g. Arts and Humanities or Social and Historical Studies). Students learn what kinds of questions are asked and what sorts of problems are pursued by scholars within particular fields, and they develop the skills necessary for such scholarship. Topics courses (COLL-E103, E104, E105) are of moderate size (no more than 100–120 students, and frequently fewer), and they carry Distribution credit.

The College also offers Intensive Freshman Seminars (COLL-S103, S104, S105), three-week classes that meet just before the beginning of the fall term, are open to all incoming freshmen at IUB, and count as 3-credit electives. Each IFS is taught by a full-time faculty member and is limited to 20 students. IFS provides students with the opportunity to get to know a faculty member, develop the kinds of research skills that they will use over the coming years, gain an understanding of what it is that scholars do, and become familiar with the campus’s resources. These courses fulfill the Topics requirement and also carry Distribution credit.

Faculty members who wish to propose a course to be taught under COLL E103/S103, E104/S104, or E105/S105 should contact June Hacker at jhacker indiana.edu for questions about that process.

In addition to COLL E103/S103, E104/S104, and E105/S105, departmental courses listed in Appendix III of the undergraduate Bulletin fulfill the Topics requirement. Each time a departmentally numbered TFR course is offered, the department’s scheduling officer must notify the Registrar (by using the Registrar’s Report Code Value “BLTF”) that it should be listed as a Topics course. From the Registrar’s homepage, students and advisors can access a “Special Course Listings” site that lists all TFR courses offered in a particular semester.