The courses listed in this section have been chosen by the designated departments as having special interest for students who are not majoring in that particular subject but who might find courses in that discipline both enjoyable and beneficial. For more information, contact the department directly.
- School of Architecture (ARCH)
- Marshall School of Business (BUCO, FBE, IOM)
- School of Cinematic Arts (CTAN, CTCS, CTIN, CTPR, CTWR, IML)
- Earth Sciences (GEOL)
- Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (JOUR)
- Thornton School of Music (MPGU, MPKS, MPPM, MPST, MPVA, MUCO, MUEN, MUHL, MUIN, MUJZ, MUSC)
- Occupational Therapy (OT)
- School of Pharmacy (MPTX, RCSI)
- Price School of Public Policy (PPD)
- School of Theatre (THTR)
Architecture
ARCH 114 Architecture: Culture and Community (2 units)
Description: Introduction to the ways architecture represents aspirations of culture, satisfies practical and spiritual needs, shapes the social and urban environment, and helps preserve the planet.
ARCH 214b World History of Architecture (3 units)
Description: A world-wide perspective of architectural history as a product of social, cultural, religious, and political dimensions, b: 1500 CE to present. Prerequisite: ARCH 214a.ARCH 220 The Architect's Sketchbook (2 units)
Description: The architect's sketchbook as a portable laboratory for perceiving and documenting space introduces the study of the built environment. On-site sessions develop drawing, observation, and visualization skills.ARCH 304x Intensive Survey: Prehistory to the Present (4 units)
Description: An intensive historical overview of architecture from prehistory to the present, emphasizing interrelationships of various global cultures and how social considerations were translated into form. Not available for credit to architecture majors.ARCH 307 Digital Tools for Architecture (3 units)
Description: Exploration of digital tools with an emphasis on building information modeling (BIM), parametric modeling, and interoperability including special topics in Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) and sustainable design. Recommended preparation: basic computer skills.ARCH 370 Architectural Studies- Expanding the Field (2 units)
Description: Survey of opportunities, specializations, and professions related to architecture provides a resource for professional growth for architecture majors, and introduction to the field for non-majors.ARCH 421 Digital Architectural Photography (2 units)
Description: Perceiving and documenting the built environment through the perspective and frame of the digital camera. Mastering the basic principles of the digital image though an understanding of frame, light, exposure, color correction, and printing output.ARCH 422 Architectural Photography (2 units)
Description: Perceiving and documenting the built environment through the perspective and frame of the camera. Abilities with 35mm and large format cameras, lighting, and black and white lab techniques will be developed. Recommended preparation: knowledge of 35mm camera.ARCH 441 A History of Architectural Theory: 1400-1914 (2 units)
Description: A seminar on architectural history from Alberti to Scott, reviewing primary texts and subsequent criticisms.ARCH 442m Women's Spaces in History: "Hussies," "Harems" and "Housewives" (4 units)
Description: Methods for studying patterns of spatial differentiation of women throughout history from home to city, embodied in gender specific language and gendered spaces.ARCH 444 Great Houses of Los Angeles (4 units)
Description: An introduction to the architectural philosophies of seven influential California architects through reading and site visits to significant case studies.ARCH 454 Contemporary Asian Architecture (4 units)
Description: Exploration of various "Asian" architectures, comparisons of areas, identifying current trends and impact of Asia on Southern California and Los Angeles.ARCH 527 Case Studies: The Development of Urban Housing (2 units)
Description: An exploration of the various elements and stages of the housing development process. Recommended preparation: a preliminary understanding of real estate or housing.ARCH 553 History of American Architecture and Urbanism (3 units)
Description: History of American architecture and urbanism from Prehistory to World War II examined in relation to European influences and indigenous developments.ARCH 561 Architecture in the Urban Landscape: Projects and Places (2 units)
Description: Study of the basic spatial and infrastructure elements of the city, and how urban places are formed. Focus on incremental development, public-private collaboration, community incentives and controls, project implementation strategies.ARCH 565 Global History of Landscape Architecture (3 units)
Description: Understanding of the global history of landscape design in relation to social, political, religious, environmental and aesthetic principles; current design theory, projects and their historical references are critically reviewed and analyzed.Business
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
BUCO 425 Ethics and Professional Communication (4 units)
Description: Study the intersection between business and professional leadership, language, and ethics. Analyze and present results to public audiences through publications, professional conferences, ethics case competitions. Corequisite: WRIT 340.FINANCE AND BUSINESS ECONOMICS
FBE 428 Principles of Employment Law (4 units)
Description: Comprehensive survey of employment and labor law topics arising in the contemporary American workplace.INFORMATION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
IOM 401 Business Information Systems – Spreadsheet Applications (2 units)
Description: Provides an applied understanding of how spreadsheets are used to analyze business information. Create real world software applications for use in accounting, finance, marketing and operations.IOM 402 Business Information Systems – Database Applications (2 units)
Description: Provides an applied understanding of how work group databases are used to analyze business information. Create real world software applications that are used in accounting, finance, marketing and operations.IOM 427 Spreadsheet Modeling, Optimization and Analysis (4 units)
Description: Application of decision analysis, simulation and optimization techniques to managerial problems. Students learn how to create and present useful spreadsheet models to analyze practical business problems. Recommended preparation: BUAD 310.IOM 431 Managing the Digital Revolution for Your Business (4 units)
Description: Specifics of digital technologies including Web 2.0, creating a website, ERP, and CRM in a way to understand how these digital technologies can be used strategically by companies.IOM 433 Business Information Systems Analysis and Design (4 units)
Description: Information analysis and the logical specification of business systems, including logical design, physical design, and implementation; computer exercises and case studies.IOM 443 The Business of Interactive Digital Media (4 units)
Description: Understanding the entertainment and media industries, and the effects of IT, the Internet, and mobile technologies on the business models and management of these industries.IOM 482 Supply Chain Management (4 units)
Description: Issues in supply chain management. Supply chain performance and dynamics. Tools for planning, control and coordination. Supply chain design and strategy. Prerequisite: BUAD 311.Managing a Small Business on the Internet (2 units): Foundational knowledge for managing a small business on the internet, including strategies, tools, and resources integrated with hands-on skills for developing a small business website.
Basics of Project and Operations Management for Non-Majors (2 units): Topics include project management; optimal resource planning and allocation; decision making under uncertainty; managing variety; and global supply chains.
Cinematic Arts
ANIMATION
CTAN 435 Story Art Development (2 units)
Description: Using basic storyboarding techniques to develop a sense of character, plot, and continuity. Technical aspects of developing ideas into films.CTAN 436 Writing for Animation (2 units)
Description: Workshop exploring concept and structure of long and short form animated films through practical writing exercises.Two sections offered, both taught by Elizabeth Brauer.
CTAN 443L 3-D Animation and Character Design (2, max 4 units)
Description: Principles of 3-D animation and character design combining lectures, aesthetic concepts and techniques demonstrating the use of 3-D animation software and puppet animation. Prerequisite: CTAN 452.CTAN 448 Introduction to Film Graphics — Animation (4 units)
Description: An introduction to methods for creating analog animation through experimentation with imagery, concepts and materials. Emphasis on basic timing principles and hands-on techniques.Practical course in concepts, media and techniques related to the graphic film: symbology, composition, kinestasis, animation, typography, color and materials. Survey; lecture; production.
CTAN 450a Animation Theory and Techniques (2 units)
Description: Methods for creating animation blending traditional techniques with contemporary technologies.Direct application of animation theory and techniques to drawing skills, story and continuity: design staging, timing, camera potential and action analysis. Lecture and laboratory.
CTAN 451 History of Animation (2 units)
Description: In depth survey of historical developments, styles, techniques, theory and criticism of animation as an art form.CTAN 452 Introduction to 3-D Computer Animation (2 units)
Description: Lecture and laboratory in computer animation: geometric modeling, motion specification, lighting, texture mapping, rendering, compositing, production techniques, systems for computer-synthesized animation.Three sections taught by Dariush Derakhshani, Maks Naporowski or Marcel Valcarce.
CTAN 455 Organic Modeling for Animation (2 units)
Description: The art of digital sculpting for animated characters, with visual effects integration. Recommended preparation: CTAN 452 or CTAN 462.CTAN 462 Visual Effects (2 units)
Description: Survey of contemporary concepts and approaches to production in the current state of film and video effects work. Digital and traditional methodologies will be covered, with a concentration on digital exercises illustrating modern techniques.CTAN 464L Digital Lighting and Rendering (2 units)
Description: Concepts, tools and techniques used to create cinematic lighting and rendering in computer-generated imagery (CGI). Prerequisite: CTAN 452 or CTAN 462.The course will assist the advancing animation or visual effects student with all aspects of CGI rendering, from developing fully digital scenes to integrating CGI with live action, using Autodesk Maya 3D animation software.
CTAN 495 Visual Music (2 units)
Description: Experimental animation providing the opportunity to produce individual or group projects. Focus is non-conventional techniques for image creation and collaboration between composer and visual artist. Not open to freshmen and sophomores.CTAN 502a Experiments in Stereoscopic Imaging (2 units)
Description: An in-depth exploration of aesthetics and techniques involved in the conceptualization, design and creation of stereoscopic imaging.CTAN 564L Motion Capture Fundamentals (2 units)
Description: Fundamental principles of motion capture technology explored while working through a structured series of assignments based around performance, gesture and motion. Prerequisite: CTAN 452 or CTAN 462.CRITICAL STUDIES
CTCS 200 History of the International Cinema I (4 units)
Description: The development of international cinema from its beginnings to World War II. Lectures, screenings, and discussions.Professor: Serna, Laura Isabel
CTCS 400 Non-Fiction Film and Television (4 units)
Description: An international survey of documentary, informational, and independent experimental film, video and television.Professor: Renov, Michael
CTCS 402 Practicum in Film/Television Criticism (4, max 8 units)
Description: Exercise in writing film and television criticism using new and classic films and television programs. This is a hands-on practicum designed to sharpen the critical skills of students and apply those skills to the analysis of television as it relates to popular culture. The course stresses doing, not theorizing.Professor: Rosenberg, Howard
CTCS 412 Gender, Sexuality and Media (4, max 8 units)
Description: Examines how gender and sexuality are figured in cinema and television with an emphasis on the development of feminist media theory.An examination of how media informs our understandings of race, gender, and sexuality and how theories of race, gender, and sexuality can influence our understanding of media. Students are expected to be open to and comfortable with discussing and analyzing a range of representations of race, gender and sexuality.
Professor: Himberg, Julia
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
CTIN 309 Introduction to Interactive Entertainment (4 units)
Description: Critical vocabulary and historical perspective to analyze and understand experiences with interactive entertainment; students imagine and articulate their own ideas.CTIN 401L Interface Design for Games (2 units)
Description: Introduction to the aesthetics, terminology and common trends of interface design for games. Topics include 2-D and 3-D spaces and user/camera perspectives.CTIN 404L Usability Testing for Games (2 units)
Description: Concepts and methods of usability assessment. The emphasis will be on understanding the issues surrounding game interfaces, and utilizing usability assessment methods.CTIN 458 Business and Management of Games (2 units)
Description: Overview of current business models in games and interactive media, methods for pitching and getting products funded; copyright and intellectual property.CTIN 463 Anatomy of a Game (4 units)
Description: Examine two game products from concept to delivery; introduce students to each of the professional disciplines involved in making digital games. Recommended preparation: CTIN 488.CTIN 464 Game Studies Seminar (2, max 4 units)
Description: Rigorous examination of interactive entertainment: genres, history, aesthetics, cultural context, and social significance. Topics vary by semester.CTIN 482 Designing Online Multiplayer Game Environments (2 units)
Description: Grouped into teams, students will study and design an original multiplayer game environment suitable for online usage.PRODUCTION
CTPR 335 Motion Picture Editing (3 units)
Description: Theory, techniques, and practices in picture editing; use of standard editing equipment; individual projects.Exploration of aesthetics, theory, history and procedures of motion picture editing for many styles of film. Students view award-winning shorts and sections of features to illustrate different editing styles, and edit a series of scenes using the latest Avid equipment.
CTPR 385 Colloquium: Motion Picture Production Techniques (4 units)
Description: Basic procedures and techniques applicable to production of all types of films; demonstration by production of a short film from conception to completion.Motion picture production from writing of the script to planning, shooting and completion of a movie. The class will write, direct and shoot a digital video.
CTPR 409 Practicum in Television Production (2, 4, max 8 units)
Description: Television production: laboratory course covers operating cameras, creating graphics, technical operations, controlling audio and floor-managing live productions. Students plan and produce actual Trojan Vision programs.CTPR 426 The Production Experience (2 units)
Description: To provide students with basic working knowledge of both the skills of the motion picture set and production operations through classroom lectures and hands-on experience.Learn the fundamentals of episodic TV drama and participate in the shooting of an episode written and directed by students. Positions available in producing, camera, sound, production design or editorial.
CTPR 456 Introduction to Art Direction (2 units)
Description: Introduction to computer drafting, set design, rendering and model-making for students with diverse abilities. Guest lecturers, group discussions and hands-on workshop.Workshops will include guest lecturers, group discussions and hands-on projects.
CTPR 470 Practicum in On-Screen Direction of Actors (4 units)
Description: Concentration on the basic skills in working with actors from a director's point of view.WRITING
CTWR 404 Foundations of Comedy (2 units)
Description: Study of comedy theory and practical applications in film, television, and social media. Lectures and screenings of comedic forms tracing past, present and future.CTWR 412 Introduction to Screenwriting (2 units)
Description: Introduction to the formal elements of writing the short film.CTWR 416 Motion Picture Script Analysis (2 units)
Description: Critical analysis of story structure from classic films to contemporary works. Identification of key story concepts and elements of three-act structure.MULTIMEDIA SCHOLARSHIP
IML 104 Introduction to Digital Studies (2 units)
Description: An introduction to the expressive range of screen languages in their cultural, historical, and technological contexts.IML 140 Workshop in Multimedia Authoring (2, max 4 units)
Description: Introduction to the expressive potential of multimedia as a critical and creative tool, supplementing traditional forms of academic work.IML 295Lm Race, Class and Gender in Digital Culture (4 units)
Description: Critical analysis of the categories of race, class and gender within the diverse digital spaces of contemporary culture, from video games to the digital divide.IML 340 The Praxis of New Media: Digital Argument (2, max 4 units)
Description: An intermediate level course which approaches archived material from multiple perspectives, in order to develop new avenues of expression, education, and research. Recommended preparation: IML 104 or IML 140 or IML 201.Earth Sciences
GEOL 108Lg Crises of a Planet (4 units)
Description: Impact of civilization on planet earth, and impact of earth's natural evolution on society: earthquakes, volcanism, landslides, floods, global warming, acid rain, groundwater depletion and pollution; mineral and fossil fuel depletion, formation of the ozone hole. Lecture, 3 hours; laboratory, 2 hours. One all-day or overnight field trip.GEOL 130Lg The Nature of Scientific Inquiry (4 units)
Description: Examination of the scientific process: what constitutes science; evolution of ideas about the nature of space, time, matter, and complexity; paradigm shifts in the biological and earth sciences. Lecture, 3 hours; laboratory, 2 hours.GEOL 150Lg Climate Change (4 units)
Description: Climate systems from the beginning of earth history to the present; tools and techniques used to reconstruct prehistoric climate records; effects of climate variations on development of life forms on earth.Communication and Journalism
JOURNALISM
JOUR 201 History of News in Modern America (4 units)
Description: Understanding news today. A survey of how news is gathered, weighed, and disseminated and how historical events have shaped news in the 20th century.Instructor: Felix Gutierrez
JOUR 210x Basics of Broadcast Newsroom Production for Non-Majors Only (2 units)
Description: Introduction to broadcast newsroom production; preparation and treatment of form and content; procedures, problems, ethics, and practice in planning and producing a nightly newscast. Open to non-journalism majors only. Not available for degree credit to journalism majors. Graded CR/NC.Instructor: Stacy Scholder
JOUR 330 Photojournalism (4 units)
Description: Emphasis on fundamental skills necessary for photojournalism including camera techniques, story ideas and digital darkroom.JOUR 340 Introduction to Advertising (4 units)
Description: History and development of advertising; basic advertising campaigns showing relationships of marketing, creative, print and electronic media.JOUR 341 Advertising Copywriting (4 units)
Description: Writing and editing for advertising and commercial copy for all media. Prerequisite: JOUR 340.JOUR 342 Advertising Media and Analysis (4 units)
Description: Selling, planning, buying for the media; advertising’s relationship to society and business; media choice. Prerequisite: JOUR 340.JOUR 380 Sports, Business and Media in Today’s Society (4 units)
Description: An inside look at the symbiotic relationship of sports and the media — from the interdependence of sports and media, to the coverage of sports in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. The economic and ethical issues involved, the conflicts of interest, the history and current status of sports coverage in American media today.Instructor: Jeff Fellenzer
JOUR 381 Entertainment, Business and Media in Today’s Society (4 units)
Description: An examination of the symbiotic relationship of the entertainment business and the media; press coverage of the entertainment industry; Hollywood’s relationship with news media.Instructor: Mary Murphy
JOUR 420 Advanced Photojournalism (4 units)
Description: Emphasis on advanced photojournalism techniques for complex photo storytelling; focus on style, content, design, expression and ethics. Prerequisite: JOUR 330.JOUR 432 Sports Commentary (4 units)
Description: Techniques of reporting and writing sports columns and commentary for print, video, radio and Web-based media. Instructor: J.A. AdandeJOUR 454 Sports Public Relations (2 units)
Description: Introduction to the field of sports information and promotion, including lectures, media assignments, role-playing, and presentations by sports professionals. Junior standing.JOUR 458 Public Relations in Politics and Political Campaigns (4 units)
Description: Application of public relations principles to the context of political campaigns; emphasis on message development and delivery; relationship between candidate, news media, and electorate.Instructor: Dan Schnur
JOUR 465 Latino News Media in the United States (4 units)
Description: History and growing importance of Latino print and broadcast news media in covering immigration, discrimination, culture, social differences and other aspects of U.S. Latino life.Instructor: Felix Gutierrez
JOUR 477 Web Analytics for News and Nonprofit Organizations (2 units)
Description: Examines print, broadcast and public relations media and their interactive roles in multi-national and supra-national settings at sites in both Western and Eastern Europe. Recommended preparation: JOUR 350.Instructor: Dana Chinn