Advanced Seminar (ASEM)

While knowledge and professional skills found in a student's major and minor are important foundations for accomplishment, successful individuals also must be able to navigate a complex political, social, cultural and economic environment that challenges more traditionally limited concepts of higher education and competencies. To help students better understand the demands of contemporary life, instructors teach an advanced seminar based in their area of expertise and passion. The topic will be approached from multiple perspectives in a course designed for nonmajors. Studying in this setting, students demonstrate their ability to integrate different perspectives and synthesize diverse ideas through intensive writing on that topic.

Requirements

• All undergraduates at the University of Denver are required to take an Advanced Seminar, an upper-level course capped at 18-19 students.
• This course must be taken at the University of Denver. Students must complete all other common curriculum requirements before taking the Advanced Seminar.

General Outcomes for All Sections of ASEM

1. Demonstrate the ability to integrate and apply content from multiple perspectives to an appropriate intellectual topic or issue.
2. Write effectively, providing appropriate evidence and reasoning for assertions.

Features of Writing in an Advanced Seminar

Advanced Seminar course meet four criteria in terms of writing:

• Students will write a minimum of 20 pages (about 6000 words), some of which may be informal, but some of which must be revised, polished, and intended for an educated readership.
• Students will complete a minimum of three writing projects that are distributed over the quarter; exceptions might include a cumulative project completed in multiple stages.
• Students will be required to revise some of their work based on feedback from their professor.
• There will be some instructional time given to writing.

For Faculty: Submitting a new ASEM Course

For faculty interested in developing and teaching a new ASEM course, Review the following:  

• Advice for Proposing an ASEM Course
• Features of Writing in ASEM Courses

When  you are ready to submit your course, complete the ASEM Submission Form (Qualtrics) 

ASEM Training Workshop

Twice a year, typically in the late Fall and Spring, the University Writing Program will hold a training for faculty who are teaching ASEM for the first time. This training is required for first-time ASEM faculty. It is encourage to take this training after ASEM proposals have been approved by the ASEM committee and DU.  This day-long training will be workshop-style, presented by multiple faculty from the University Writing Program, and involves working on potential draft assignments from your ASEM syllabus. Questions about the ASEM Training Workshop should be directed to writing@du.edu

Submission Deadlines

In the Fall 2022, the ASEM Committee changed the deadlines for ASEM submissions to accommodate the Registrar requirements that Department course schedules be submitted earlier than previous years. The ASEM process time can vary so we ask that proposals now be submitted on the following timeline: