The Honors Seminar at Technische Hochschule Augsburg is an invitation (or application)-only course held annually during the summer semester, each year focusing on a unique theme. In the Summer Semester 2025, the seminar will explore the topic "The Power of Optimism," examining its impact across various disciplines.

Throughout the seminar, students engage in interdisciplinary discussions and interactive sessions led by dedicated professors or lecturers from diverse fields. Each week, a different professor will interactively guide participants through topics such as the psychological aspects of optimism in job searches, the influence of optimism on financial decision-making, and the role of optimism in co-creation between humans and machines. Other sessions will cover positive psychology, the potential of low-tech solutions for future hope, sustainability progress, and the relationship between communication and optimism. Additional topics include interim use of empty buildings, designing mechatronic systems to spread optimism, role-playing to experience desirable futures, the role of language in saving civilization, building trust with brands, and digital transformation with optimism.

Participating Professors and Their Subjects:

• Claudia Meitinger – Elektrotechnik – "Designing a Mechatronic System to Spread Optimism"
• Sarah Hatfield – School of Business - "Empowerment through Optimism: Contributions for Taking Action and Agency"
• Peter Cocron – AGN –"Optimism and the Job Search – A Psychological Perspective"
• Jana Görmer-Redding – Informatik – "Co-Creation Between Human and Machine: Personal and Business Reasons for Optimism"
• Manfred Uhl – School of Business – "Optimism Needs Trust – How to Build Trust with Brands"
• Alisa Kasle-Henke – ZSI & School of Business – "Communication and Optimism: Feedback and its Relationship to Optimism"
• Svea Schauffler – ZSI/AGN – "The Role of Language in Saving Civilization"
• Florian Hörmann – M + V – "Is Low-Tech the New High-Tech for Driving Future Hope?"
• Stephan Zimmermann – Informatik – "Digital Transformation with Optimism: A Design Futuring Workshop on Positive Digital Visions"
• Andreas Muxel – Design – “Positive Futures: Desirable futures of human and non-human species”
• Sabine Joeris – School of Business – " Sustainability: Far from the Finish Line - A Look into Global Progress until now "
• Elisabeth Krön – A + B – "Interim Use of Empty Buildings – Optimistic Ideas for Change"
• Alessandra Zarcone – Informatik – "The End is Not Near – Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will in the Age of AI Doom-Mongering"
• Michael Feucht – School of Business – "Financial Decisions and Optimism: The Future is Uncertain, But It Can Be Good"

The primary objectives of the Honors Seminar are to foster interdisciplinary learning, enhance critical thinking, promote effective communication, encourage personal growth, and build community engagement. By achieving these goals, the seminar aims to equip students with the skills and perspectives necessary to navigate and contribute positively to an increasingly complex and interconnected world.

For inquiries, please contact Alisa Kasle-Henke alisa.kasle-henke(at)tha.de

Will be made available on Moodle.