Topics (TFR) courses are offered primarily for freshmen and sophomores. TFR courses are taught by faculty and aim to promote critical thinking and effective, cogent oral and written communication among entering college students, to instill awareness, understanding, and appreciation of human diversity, and to broaden students’ understanding of, and appreciation for, areas outside their field of specialization. Topics courses (COLL-E103, E104, E105) are of moderate size (no more than 100–120 students, and frequently fewer). A freshman seminar class (COLL-S103, S104, S105) is a small (no more than 22 students) freshman-only course for Hutton Honors College students that will satisfy the Topics requirement. These are intended to help connect freshmen in the Hutton Honors College to intellectual discourse, the faculty, the campus, and college-level work. Readings and assignments in the seminar should be designed to promote critical thinking, oral and written communication, and broaden students’ interest in issues and areas of study. Freshman seminars should also help orient Honors freshmen to each other and to the university, and might include group activities that encourage students to explore the rich cultural opportunities of the university and the many academic support services offered on campus. Incrementally more sophisticated assignments and papers will allow students to master the skills they will need in their undergraduate careers.

Along with TFR credit, Topics courses and freshman seminars also carry Distribution credit as appropriate. A faculty member who wishes to propose that a course be taught under COLL E103/S103, E104/S104, or E105/S105, and should contact June Hacker 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 each semester, students and advisors can access a "Special Course Listings" site that lists all TFR courses offered that semester.