University Seminar Descriptions


The Division of Student Success focuses on your successful transition into the Maryville community. Maryville has a comprehensive and integrated approach to assisting you in your academic, financial, and personal transition to Maryville. One of the many exciting opportunities for you as a First-Year student is the University Seminar course which all First-Year students enroll in during their first semester.

Maryville’s University Seminar is more than a required course. It provides a distinctive opportunity to work closely with peers and a team of instructors on an important topic of mutual interest. The team of instructors includes a full-time faculty member, staff member, and a Life Coach who will serve as a resource to support you in achieving your success.

While the courses all have individual themes and emphases, they share a common question: Who am I? In order to discover the answers, all University Seminar classes will have many shared experiences, across all themes: an assessment of your individual strengths; a common Maryville Reads book; Dramatic Dialogues and the Tunnel of Consciousness, experiences designed to get students thinking about people like and unlike themselves; and more.

University Seminar Themes: Fall 2023

College Survival: Unleashing Your Creative Potential (INTD 101-02)

This class is an opportunity for students to discover their strengths and learn new ways to navigate the challenges of college life. Students will begin to think outside the box to cultivate and hone their ability to succeed by incorporating topics on skill development, resilience, resourcefulness, creativity, communication, and academic and career goals. By the end of the course, students will have the tools to creatively thrive in their college years and beyond while also gaining a deeper understanding and respect for different cultures and backgrounds.

Destination: Graduation (INTD 101-11)

While your end goal at Maryville is graduation, that can seem really far away. This class will help you design your Atlas full of maps to success. We will explore more about who you are, how you make meaningful connections with others, and practical tips to guide you towards success in college and life.

Harry Potter and the Quest for the Glow Up (INTD 101-12)

Glow up: “To go from the bottom to the top to the point of disbelief. An incredible transformation‚” (Urban Dictionary). Calling all muggles, wizards, and witches! Maryville University is taking you on a journey to Hogwarts! Using the Harry Potter books and movies to explore your life‚ possibly away from home‚ at a new school, we will discover our strengths and identities, together with the different perspectives of those around us. What do the Harry Potter stories have to say about your personal and magical transformation? How can they help us understand who we are, about others, and about who we aspire to become?

How will YOU Save the World?: Unlocking your Inner Superhero (INTD 101-09)

Come join us in University Seminar at the MARVELous Maryville! Together we will explore the internal struggles, perseverance, and teamwork of your favorite super heroes while also discussing the complexity of their characters and the struggles they experience. While it would be awesome to fly, teleport, or read minds, we want to reflect on what powers and strengths you possess and how you will use them to find success in college and positively impact the world around you. Let’s begin crafting your plans for GOOD during your first semester at Maryville!

Mission and Vision: Realizing Your Potential as a Saint (INTD 101-01)

In this class, you’ll learn what it means to be a Maryville Saint. We’ll explore Maryville’s mission and vision statements, and you’ll also get a chance to develop your own mission and vision for the future. By creating a personal mission and vision statement, you will be on track to realize your ultimate potential. Together, we will explore the questions of who we are, who we are in relation to diverse others, and how we know. This will help us develop the skills, resources, and connections that will allow you to be successful as a Saint during your college years and beyond. We’ll work on building academic survival tools, expanding the communities you’re a part of on campus, and preparing (already!) for success after college.

Professionalism in the Digital World (INTD 101-04)

Professionalism is essential to your success, but what does it mean in the digital world? With the increased use of social media and digital technology, a professional approach is imperative to build, protect, and manage your digital brand. In this course, we’ll journey together through the foundations of professionalism, career readiness, and etiquette, and how these concepts are being impacted by the digital world.

Quests, Journeys, and Adventures: A Maryville University Starter Set (INTD 101-03)

A person’s journey throughout life is one of self-discovery, challenges, and triumphs. This class allows students to analyze key parts of personal identity in relation to their self, peers, community and the world. The class will walk you through the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, which you will use to create and embody a character of your own making and form an adventuring party. After that, you’ll test your metal against a world created by your dungeon master instructors and face unimaginable challenges with nothing but your own imagination. To quote Bilbo Baggins “I’m going on an adventure!” *all dungeoning materials provided*

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Your Identity Through Sports (INTD 101-10)

Self-perception and the construction of our identity evolves as an individual and a community. What values do we embody and practice? This course aims to have students analyze the concept of identity and the multiple identities we construct for ourselves in contemporary society through analyzing sports (both common and uncommon). By looking at sports and how they affect society, students will deconstruct their own sense of self and see how their identities work in differing social and cultural contexts.

The “REEL” World (INTD 101-05)

This course explores the ways in which movies can help individuals better understand their own identity, values, and purpose in life, or what it means to be a “Reel” person. Through the lens of movies such as The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Ex Machina, Lion, How to Train Your Dragon, and Free Guy, students will analyze a range of films that feature characters on a journey of self-discovery. By examining these films, students will learn to identify and analyze key narrative elements, character development, and cinematic techniques that contribute to the portrayal of self-discovery. Additionally, this course involves self-reflection and self-discovery activities that encourage students to connect their own experiences and insights to the films they are studying. Discussions will focus on themes of the experiences, environments, and relationships that contribute to self-identity both in film and in the real world.

The Voice (INTD 101-06)

“This is The VOICE!” If you sang that in your head, this is the course for you! Your life is about to change as you know it! You have now graced the stage for a new life experience. Using the Framework of NBC’s The Voice, this course will take an introspective dive into finding your voice throughout your academic, professional, and personal journey. We will explore critical thinking, community, and communication as it relates to honoring everyone’s story and defining your own.

The Meaning of Life and Legacy (INTD 101-07)

This course will be designed to help think about life. We will discuss the biological functions, cultural practices, and various businesses that surround both life and the end of life. Students will interact with questions such as: What is life? What is death? What are our fears? What makes for a well-lived life? We will explore similarities and differences regards to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, and personal preferences. Finally, students will look through a second lens at the three questions every USEM asks: Who am I, and who do I want to have been? Who am I in relation to diverse others, and who will I have been in the larger community of my lifespan? How do I know, and how will others know my legacy?

Zombie Apocalypse: Leadership in Times of Crisis (INTD 101-08)

Adulthood can seem harsh and unforgiving, much like the post-apocalyptic world inherited by Joel and Ellie in HBO Max’s “The Last of Us.” Using this framework—as well as several other zombie classics of varying genres—students will learn from the wisdom of those who choose to lead, even in unfathomable circumstances. Students will explore themselves, their peers, and the world around them (and try not to get infected in the process!).