Courses of Interest

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.

USC School of Cinematic Arts (CNTV, CTAN, CTCS, CTIN, CTPR, CTWR, IML)
USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (SLL)
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (COMM, JOUR, PR)
USC Gould School of Law (LAW)
USC Thornton School of Music (MUCO, MUJZ, MUEN, MUHL, MUIN, MTEC, MPGU, MPKS, MPPM, MPST, MPVA, MUSC)

School of Cinematic Arts

CINEMATIC ARTS

CNTV 440 The Business of Motion Pictures, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Interactive Entertainment (2 units)

Description: An in-depth analysis of the history, evolution, and current state of the motion picture, television, animation, video game, and interactive entertainment industries.

This class will offer an in-depth analysis of the business of motion pictures, television, animation,
gaming, as well as deals, and a general explanation of how the various parts of the entertainment industry work.
Professor: Jeffrey Korchek

CNTV 457 The Entertainment Entrepreneur: Getting Your First Project Made (2 units)

Description: The practical aspects of entrepreneurial producing in the entertainment industry. Identifying and understanding the pitfalls and benefits of creating one’s own projects.

Whether you are a producer, director, writer, or business-focused individual, this course will help you identify and understand the pitfalls and benefits of creating your own projects.
Professor: Jason Berman, Warren Jenson

ANIMATION

CTAN 330 Animation Fundamentals (2 units)

Description: An introduction to the fundamentals of animation, covering such topics as timing, anticipation, reaction, overlapping action, and metamorphosis.

CTAN 410 Audio Design for Animation and Immersive Media (2 units)

Description: Experimental and traditional audio design practices for animation, culminating in an immersive audio project utilizing acoustic design, surround sound, and professional recording and editing tools.
Fundamental principles of traditional and experimental audio design for cinema and new media culminating in a unified immersive audio project.

CTAN 420 Concept Design for Animation (2 units)

Description: Creating characters and environments for animation, live action, and video games.

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.

CTAN 443L Character Development for 3-D Animation and Games (2 units, max 4)

Description: Development, modeling, and animation with an emphasis on character setup features: rigging, skeletons, deformers, and scripting. Applying principles of traditional animation to 3-D character rig/puppet. 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.

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, max 4)

Description: Lecture and laboratory in computer animation: geometric modeling, motion specification, lighting, texture mapping, rendering, compositing, production techniques, systems for computer-synthesized animation.

CTAN 455L 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.

CTAN 485L Pipeline and Character Modeling for Animation (2 units)

Description: Modeling and pipeline integration for 3-D animation props, sets and characters. Recommended preparation: Prior knowledge in Maya preferred.

This class teaches all the necessary skills to model and texture 3-D characters in Maya and ZBrush.

CTAN 502L Experiments in Immersive Design (2 units)

Description: An in-depth exploration of aesthetics and techniques involved in the conceptualization, design and creation of immersive media and stereoscopic imaging. (Duplicates credit in former CTAN 502a)
Review of techniques and aesthetic issues pertinent to immersive virtual reality and stereoscopic animation. Students create short projects utilizing emerging media formats: IMAX cinema, Fulldome cinema, cinematic virtual reality.

CTAN 504 Creative Production in Virtual Reality (2 units)

Description: A creative studio course in producing both a linear cinematic virtual reality short film and associated real-time immersive experience.

CTAN 525 Gesture Movement (2 units)

Description: The concepts of animation performance, body and facial gesture, and the emotional and psychological resonance through cinematic arts.

CTAN 550 Stop Motion Puppet and Set Design (2 units)

Description: Puppet and set design for stop motion animation while providing guidance on armature rigs that allow the character to be animated effectively.

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.

CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES

CTCS 190g Introduction to Cinema (4 units)

Description: Gateway to the majors and minors in cinematic art. Technique, aesthetics, criticism, and social implications of cinema. Lectures accompanied by screenings of appropriate films.

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.

CTCS 412 Gender, Sexuality and Media (4 units, max 8)

Description: Examines how gender and sexuality are figured in cinema and television with an emphasis on the development of feminist media theory.

CTCS 464 Film and/or Television Genres (4 units)

Description: Description: Rigorous examination of film and/or television genres: history, aesthetics, cultural context, social significance, and critical methodologies.

CTCS 466 Television Symposium (4 units)

Description: Description: Lectures and readings on creative problems in the motion picture industry; current films; interviews with visiting producers, directors, writers, performers.
Professor: Leonard Maltin

CTCS 467 Television Symposium (4 units)

Description: Description: Lectures and readings on creative problems in the television industry; study of current and historical trends, interviews with producers, directors, writers and performers.
Professor: Mary McNamara

CTCS 469 Film and/or Television Style Analysis (4 units)

Description: Intensive study of the style of an auteur, studio, film or television making mode in terms of thematic and formal properties and their influences upon the art of film.

INTERACTIVE MEDIA

CTIN 101 Fundamentals of Procedural Media (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the procedural nature of interactive media and games, though the coding language Processing. Students will develop proficiency in reading and creating computational media.

Coding for the Creative Mind. Students will not only learn to code, but will create finished digital games. The path to every other digital game-making course begins here!

CTIN 190 Introduction to Interactive Entertainment (4 units)

Description: Critical vocabulary and historical perspectives on interactive entertainment; students articulate their own ideas, while wrestling with the larger conceptual issues at play within the field. (Duplicates credit in former CTIN 309.)

CTIN 290 Digital Media Workshop (4 units)

Description: Exploration of a variety of moving image aesthetics and methodologies in order to highlight how the language of cinema shapes contemporary digital and interactive media practices.

Modeled after CTPR 290, in this project-driven intensive course students will create content in the mediums of traditional film, 360 video, VR and interactive game spaces. (Students will use CSharp and Unity for projects, so CTIN 101 or another coding course is recommended, but not required.)

CTIN 406L Sound Design for Games (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the techniques, terminology, and implementation of sounds in games, including establishing a sense of place and concepts of realistic sound.

A deep dive into the technical skills needed to create immersive, interactive audio for games and interactive experiences.

CTIN 452L Themed Entertainment Design

Description: The fundamentals of design, technology, operations and process for the creation of themed entertainment experiences and story-centric place-making. Prerequisite: CTIN 488 or CTIN 541. Recommended preparation: CTIN 489 or CTIN 532.

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.

Students will study and design an original social game using leading industry design methodologies. Learn the fundamentals of leveraging web services for online social experience.

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.

Through a partnership with PlayStation, students in this course will receive a PS4 to be used for the semester, as well as a host of free game content for review and analysis. Course will feature guest speakers involved in the creation of the course’s games of study.

CTIN 488 Game Design Workshop (4 units)

Description: An introduction to making games. Students will explore the principles of game design through the entirely analog creation of card, board and tabletop games. Recommended preparation: CTIN 190.

A must-take course for any student who has ever considered game design as a career path, this introduction to the principles of game design will have students creating analog games which will be professionally printed by the end of the course.

PRODUCTION

CTPR 288 Originating and Developing Ideas for Film (2 units)

Description: Exercises in observation, imaginative association, visualization, etc., that deepen the creative process, leading to ideas, stories, characters, and images for narrative, documentary, and experimental films.

CTPR 327 Motion Picture Camera (3 units)

Description: Use of high definition motion picture equipment to explore the fundamentals of shot design, movement and lighting. In class group projects.

Principles of black-and-white and color cinematography. Individual projects. The magic of creating images on film from using cameras, lenses, and filters to photographic processes and the role of the cinematographer in interpreting story.

CTPR 335 Motion Picture Editing (3 units)

Description: Theory, techniques, and practices in picture editing; use of standard editing equipment; individual projects.

CTPR 340 Creating the Motion Picture Sound Track (2 units)

Description: Techniques and aesthetics for recording production sound, editing dialogue, sound effects, music, Foley and preparing for the mix. For film, television, and other media.

CTPR 371 Directing for Television (4 units)

Description: Preparation of director’s preproduction blockout; study of direction for live, tape, and film production, for both dramatic and informational television.

Class focuses on the preparations needed for directing in TV. Students will work in teams creating short scenes in various formats, including traditional episodic and situational comedy. The directorial role as production leader and visionary is emphasized.

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 386 Art and Industry of the Theatrical Film (4 units)

Description: Detailed analysis of one theatrical film from conception through critical reception to develop an understanding of motion pictures as art, craft, and industry.

An in-depth study of all aspects of filmmaking — screenplay to completion; the anatomy of a film. A major current film is examined in detail and guest speakers involved in the making of the film describe each phase of production. Films previously studied include “The Avengers” and “The Sessions.”

CTPR 409 Practicum in Television Production (2, 4 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 410 The Movie Business: From Story Concept to Exhibition (2 units)

Description: Examination of the industry from story ideas, through script development, production and exhibition; evaluation of roles played by writers, agents, studio executives, marketing and publicity.

Covers the gamut of the movie business, from story concept to film exhibition. Guest speakers and lectures will cover the role of the writer, agent, studio executive, producer, director, marketing, and distribution.

CTPR 422 Makeup for Motion Pictures (2 units)

Description: Lecture-laboratory in makeup relating it to mood of the story and emulsion of the camera stock. Introduction to makeup for film, TV, and theater, exploring glamour, old age, gore, fantasy, and prosthetic techniques. Students learn through lectures, demos, and hands-on workshops.

CTPR 423 Introduction to Special Effects in Cinema (2 units)

Description: Introductory workshop in the aesthetics and practices of special effects, embracing both the classical and contemporary modes.

Intro to special effects techniques, cost, and operational characteristics. Hands-on workshop where students experience time and complexities involved with effects/techniques now in popular use industry-wide. Great for aspiring production managers, directors, and camera and effects specialists.

CTPR 425 Production Planning (2 units)

Description: Theory, discussion, and practical application of production planning during preproduction and production of a film.

From script to screen: practical application of methods and tools for the scheduling, budgeting, and planning of a film.

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 431 Developing the Documentary Production (2 units)

Description: The tools and skills necessary to turn an idea into a documentary story, using sample reels, pitches, and writing to develop a professional proposal.

Course is designed to teach students the knowledge, skills, insight and judgment needed to research, develop and create pitch materials for a documentary production.

CTPR 454 Acting for Film and Television (4 units)

Description: Intensive examination of skills and techniques necessary for successful performances in film and television. Practical application through in-class exercises and assigned projects.

Learn and apply prominent theories of performance and how they relate to film and television. Students gain understanding of the tools of performance, as derived from the stage, and how they translate to film and television.

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.

CTPR 457 Creating Poetic Cinema (2 units)

Description: An investigation of poetic cinema from four different perspectives: found poetry; applied poetry; poetry as image; and poetry in narrative fiction. Production of short films.

Explores the relationship between poetic cinema and artistic expression — especially the visual arts, literature and music — through the creation of short films. Approaching the poetics of cinema through: found poetry, translating written poetry, cinema AS poetry and the poetic image in narrative cinema.

CTPR 460 Film Business Procedures and Distribution (2, 4 units)

Description: Financing, budgeting, management as applied to films; problems of distribution, including merchandising, cataloging, evaluation, and film library management.

Introduces film economics, exhibition, distribution, and production. Budgets, financing, television/non-theatrical and theatrical films, production and distribution agreements, copyright and legal considerations will also be covered.

CTPR 461 Managing Television Stations and Internet Media (2, 4 units)

Description: Managing electronic media, including radio and television stations, broadcast and cable networks, and the Internet.

In a period of unprecedented growth and change in media, students focus on how managers of TV, cable, radio and digital mass media are facing the challenges of the era. The class includes guest speakers, field trips and studies in mass media financing, marketing and history.

CTPR 474 Documentary Production (4 units)

Description: Pairs produce, direct, shoot, and edit a short documentary on a subject of their choice. Finished projects will be suitable for broadcast/festivals.

Students are encouraged to form pairs before class; individual students form partnerships at the beginning of the term. Students must come prepared with two to three documentary ideas. Finished films will be approximately fifteen minutes in length.

CTPR 484 Advanced Multi-Camera Television Workshop (4 units)

Description: Exercises and practical application for writing and producing a multi-camera television project. Special attention to the development of the sitcom. Recommended preparation: CTPR 371 required for students who wish to direct a sitcom.

The Witt-Thomas-Harris Endowed Advanced Multi-Camera Television Workshop. Exercises and practical application for producing/directing/editing a half-hour television project. Recommended preparation: CTPR 371, CTPR 476, CTPR 523, CTPR 532/comedy for students who wish to direct and CTPR 310 or CTPR 335 for students who wish to edit. Offered in conjunction with CTWR 487 Staff Writing the Multi-Camera Television Series.

CTPR 487 The Recording Studio in Film and Video Production (2 units)

Description: Exploration of the role of the recording studio in professional film and video productions. Emphasis on technical and hardware considerations.

CTPR 496 The Film Industry: Career Challenges and Choices for Women (2 units)

Description: Discusses womens’ roles in the entertainment industry and career opportunities available for women in the business, corporate, and creative sectors.

WRITING

CTWR 211g The Television Writer: An Agent of Change (4 units)

Description: The television writer as an agent of change across current social issues including, but not limited to: race, gender, and class.
This course satisfies the university’s general education requirement.

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 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.

CTWR 417 Script Coverage and Story Analysis (2 units)

Description: Evaluation of completed scripts prior to their production. Coverage and analysis of scripts as potential properties from the perspective of a production company.

CTWR 431 Screenwriters and Their Work (2 units)

Description: Detailed investigation of a specific screenwriter’s style and the works they’ve influenced. Lectures include screenings and visiting screenwriters.

MEDIA ARTS AND PRACTICE

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.

Introduction to media, art and technology in the context of various academic and professional disciplines. Students will study the history and theory of digital media and also gain hands-on media authoring skills.

IML 140 Workshop in Multimedia Authoring (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the expressive potential of multimedia as a critical and creative tool, supplementing traditional forms of academic work.

IML 295L Workshop in Multimedia Authoring (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 320 Designing and Writing for Transmedia Narratives (4 units)

Description: Creating a story that uses three or more digital platforms (video, social media, games, comics, et cetera) with strategies drawn from entertainment, art and activism. Students will explore various narrative styles for interactive non-linear storytelling.

IML 340 Remixing the Archive (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.

IML 365 Future Cinema (4 units)

Description: Examination of the history of cinematic experimentation to provide a framework for understanding contemporary virtual reality, augmented reality, interactive installations and large-scale urban screens.

For the final project, students will be asked to design a speculative project by transforming a short story into an expanded/future cinema presentation.

IML 420m New Media for Social Change (4 units)

Description: Creating real social change through multimedia, working in collaboration with a local nonprofit organization.

IML 422 Information Visualization (4 units)

Description: Visualizing information through diverse media platforms, with a focus on critical analysis and hands-on visualization.
Students will explore the technical and conceptual aspects of using data to create diagrams, infographics, charts, wayfinding systems, interactive media, journalism and art.

IML 458 The Embedded Story: Designing Digital Landscapes and Languages (2 units)

Description: Exploration of the imagined territories where language and landscape originate, converge and are transformed. Students will collaborate to create media in cross-platform environments.

Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

SLL 110g Russia in the Modern Era (4 units)

Description: Key moments in the development of Russian culture since its westernization in the early eighteenth century to the present day. Focus on works of literature, art and other products of the culture that have significantly influenced Russian self-understanding as well as the ways in which Russians perceive the rest of the world.

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

COMMUNICATION

COMM 211x Professional Effectiveness: Building a Career through Third (2 units)

Description:Experiential learning and structured practice to build skills in communication effectiveness, problem solving, decision making and self-awareness.
Professor: Chris Swain, Ernest Wilson

COMM 304 Interpersonal Communication (4 units)

Description: Analysis of face-to-face interaction; role of communication in the development, maintenance and destruction of relationships; communication processes in managing interpersonal conflict.
Professor: Jillian Pierson

COMM 307 Sound Clash: Popular Music and American Culture (4 units)

Description: Music as inter-cultural communication and method for exploring race and ethnicity in the constitution of American culture and American self; role of music industry.
Professor: Josh Kun

COMM 310 Media and Society (4 units)

Description: Interplay between media and society, including family and children’s socialization, inter-group relations and community, pornography and violence, gender and race, media ethics, conduct of politics.
Professor: Robert Scheer

COMM 313 Communication and Mass Media (4 units)

Description: Survey of mass communication research; history, content, effects, theories, and policy implications of various media. (Duplicates credit in former COMM 203.)
Professor: Stacy L. Smith

COMM 339 Communication Technology and Culture (4 units)

Description: This course examines philosophies and popular representations of technology from the origins of western culture to the present and identifies the complex attitudes toward technology.

COMM 360 The Rhetoric of Los Angeles (4 units)

Description: Representations of Los Angeles communicated in diverse media; the city as rhetorical text; analysis of cultural identities, art, architecture, and representations in popular culture.
Professor: Taj Frazier

COMM 371 Censorship and the Law: From the Press to Cyberspace (4 units)

Description: The study of current and historical battles over the limits of free expression from press and public parks to television, movies, music and cyberspace.

COMM 383m Sports, Communication and Culture (4 units)

Description: Rhetorical and critical approaches to sports and public discourse; application to sports organizations, the news and popular media; representations of gender and race in sports.
Professor: Daniel Durbin

COMM 384 Interpreting Popular Culture (4 units)

Description: Popular culture as an indicator of cultural values, a producer and reflection of cultural meaning, and a means of communication; theory and case studies.

COMM 385 Organizational Communication (4 units)

Description: How communication processes both create organizations and are constrained by them. Theory and research into topics such as culture, technology, power, leadership and decision-making in a variety of organizational contexts.

COMM 387 Sports and Social Change (4 units)

Description: Application of critical, sociological and rhetorical theories to sports events and sport media; examination of the role of sports in enacting social change.
Professor: Ben Carrington

COMM 395m Gender, Media and Communication (4 units)

Description: Issues of gender in communication, including: media representations of femininity and masculinity; and gender’s role in communication at the interpersonal, public, and cultural levels.

COMM 402 Public Communication Campaigns (4 units)

Description: Theory and research in public health communication campaigns; design, implementation, and evaluation; extensive discussion of historical case studies and reasons for success or failure.
Professor: Michael J. Cody

COMM 405 From the Ground Up: Communicating About Food (4 units)

Description: Explores food communication as a facilitator of human interaction and cultural diplomacy; controversies regarding food production/consumption; and evolution of food entertainment programming.
Professor: Colleen Keough

COMM 445 Global Networks of Sport (4 units)

Description: Focuses on global technologies, media, money, and labor in the sport sector. Investigates both deviant and regulatory networks of sport in the context of globalization.

COMM 454 Media, Money, and Society (4 units)

Description: Money as communication; social scientific analysis of money and financial markets; money and popular culture; the business press; representations of Wall Street in Hollywood cinema.
Professor: Christopher Smith

COMM 465m Gender in Media Industries and Products (4 units)

Description: Examination of the effect of gender stratification in media industries upon the cultural products they create, especially gender and gender/race role portrayals.
Professor: Alison P. Trope

COMM 498 Ethical Issues in Entertainment and Communication (4 units)

Description: Examines social and political controversies over conflicting ethical standards for communication in a variety of media: mass-media, communication technology, and entertainment.
Prerequisite: COMM 310.
Professor: Allissa Richardson

COMM 553 Political Economy of Global Telecommunications and Information (4 units)

Description: The political, economic, regulatory and technological changes that together creating a new world information economy. The politics of international telecommunications is emphasized.
Professor: Hernan Galperin

JOURNALISM

JOUR 200w The Power and Responsibility of the Press (4 units)

Description: Explores the role of journalism and social media in society – its influence on government, technology, business, national security, sports, science and entertainment.
Professor: Geoffrey Cowan

JOUR 210x Basics of News Production for Non-Majors (2 units)

Description: Introduction to television, radio, and/or digital news production. Examination of issues in journalism. Graded CR/NC.
Professor: Christina Bellantoni

JOUR 330 Photojournalism (4 units)

Description: Emphasis on fundamental skills necessary for photojournalism including camera techniques, story ideas and digital darkroom.
Professor: Myra Turner

JOUR 350 Introduction to Sports Media (4 units)

Description: Highlight norms, routines of content, including print, broadcast, video. Focus on opportunities, constraints posed by roles of reporters, fans, players, publicists, agents, leagues, teams.

JOUR 380 Sports, Business and Media in Today’s Society (4 units)

Description: An inside look at the important stories, topical issues, trends and historical developments related to the growing influence of business and media on college and professional sports; identifying the key components and meeting the influencers in class that help shape the business side of sports, while recognizing the role the media plays in providing daily coverage across multiple platforms.
Professor: Jeffrey C. 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.
Professor: Mary Murphy

JOUR 404 Produce and Host Sports Content in Studio A (2 units)

Description: Interview, present and design sports segments for television/video in Studio A.

JOUR 406 Social Media Storytelling for Latinx Audiences (2 units)

Description: Create native journalistic content for current social media and emerging platforms with an emphasis on engaging content for Latinx audiences and underrepresented communities.
Professor: Amara Aguilar

JOUR 411 Broadcast Reporting and Newswriting for Non-Majors (2 units)

Description: Develop a broad-based knowledge of broadcast news writing and reporting; recognize, research and develop stories; write and format broadcast stories in all forms and learn to produce finished news packages.

JOUR 432 Sports Commentary (4 units)

Description: Techniques of reporting and writing sports columns and commentary for print, video, radio and Web-based media.

JOUR 441 Sports Reporting (2 units)

Description: News and feature coverage of sporting events, including social and economic factors influencing sports in America.
Professor: Alan Abrahamson

JOUR 460 Social Responsibility of the News Media (4 units)

Description: News media as instruments of constructive social change; standards of ethics and aesthetics; interactions between news media and cultural settings; social responsibility of news media personnel.

JOUR 489 Hands-on Disruption: Experimenting with Emerging Technology (2 units)

Description: Exploration and experimentation of emerging technologies through the lens of journalism and hands-on prototyping.
Professor: Robert Hernandez

JOUR 499 Special Topics (2, 3, 4 units)

Description: Selected topics in journalism. Learn how taking a stand for a powerful idea can make an impact! This course will explore how committed advocates have transformed U.S. constitutional law.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

PR 340 Introduction to Advertising (4 units)

Description: History and development of advertising; basic advertising campaigns showing relationships of marketing, creative, print and electronic media.

PR 341 Advertising Copywriting (4 units)

Description: Writing and editing for advertising and commercial copy for all media.

PR 342 Advertising Media and Analysis (4 units)

Description: Selling, planning, buying for the media; advertising’s relationship to society and business; media choice.

PR 444 Lifestyle Public Relations (4 units)

Description: An extensive overview of the Lifestyle Public Relations category with special emphasis on social media, non-traditional influencers and audience segmentation.
Professor: Jennifer Floto

PR 452 Public Relations in Entertainment (4 units)

Description: Public relations in the design, promotion, and presentation of popular entertainment, including films, broadcasting, music, expositions, amusement parks, resorts and arenas.

PR 455 Public Relations for Non-Profit Organizations (4 units)

Description: Introduction to the specialized field of public relations for non-profit and non-governmental organizations; emphasis on case studies, strategic and critical thinking, and campaign development.

PR 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.

PR 486 Multimedia PR Content: Introduction to Digital Design Tools (2 units)

Description: Hands-on lab; producing multimedia content; basic principles of design; tools and techniques to create digital images and layouts.

PR 487 Multimedia PR Content: Introduction to Audio/Video Tools (2 units)

Description: Hands-on lab; audio/video tools for conceiving, shooting, editing, delivering and archiving compelling stories for online audiences; personal brand building; digital storytelling trends and applications.

PR 488 Multimedia PR Content: Visual Communication of Information (2 units)

Description: Overview of tools and techniques available to convey messages and experiences; exploration into graphic design, visual branding, design methods and processes.
Professor: Jennifer De La Fuente

PR 499 Special Topics (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 units)

Description: Selected topics in public relations.

Gould School of Law

LAW 200w Law and Society (4 units)

Description: Sources and structure of law; history of Bill of Rights emphasizing effect on criminal justice system; limits of law in solving problems in American society.

Learn how to read and write about key Supreme Court cases. Consider the social context in which they arose, the stories of individuals who became a part of our constitutional history, and the resonance their stories have today.

LAW 202 Wrongful Convictions (4 units)

Description: Explores the phenomenon of wrongful convictions from a variety of fields, including psychology, criminology, policing and law, and through documentary films of real cases. Seeks solutions to increase accuracy of criminal process.

Investigate the relationship between public media and the criminal process, the role of non-governmental organizations, and the impact of civic engagement on public policy making.

LAW 210 Fundamentals of the U.S. Legal System (4 units)

Description:Overview of the U.S. legal system, federal and state court systems, and how law is both made and used to govern society.

How is law used to govern society? Examine the basic principles of private law and public law, and the basic methods that the legal system employs to resolve disputes.

LAW 220 The Legal Profession (4 units)

Description:Introduces students to the basic aspects of the legal profession.

What are the various roles that lawyers play? Learn the educational training that lawyers receive, and become exposed to various types of legal careers.

LAW 300 Concepts in American Law (4 units)

Description:The main concepts and topics in American law, in the historical, economic and cultural contexts in which they have developed.

Learn how law, politics and culture interacted to shape the institution of slavery and the development of modern conceptions of race from the origins of New World slavery, race and racism, to the present day.

LAW 402 Psychology and Law (4 units)

Description:Explores issues of responsibility and credibility. Intentional and unintentional behavior. Clinical biases. Topics include witness credibility, confessions, cults, hostages, battered persons, and repressed memories.

Examines policies, procedures, and practices within the criminal justice, drawing on perspectives from cognitive, social, and clinical psychology.

Thornton School of Music

COMPOSITION

MUCO 101x Fundamentals of Music Theory (2 units)

Description: An introductory course in music theory required for those majors in need of remedial training, and available to the general student who wishes to develop music writing skills. Not available for credit to B.M. and B.A. music majors. Recommended preparation: ability to read music.

JAZZ STUDIES

MUJZ 150 Beginning Jazz Improvisation (2 units)

Description:Development of beginning improvisational skills including underlying principles of theory, harmony, jazz ear training, and jazz style.

MUJZ 218a Afro-Latin Percussion Instruments (2 units)

Description:Instruction in the performance of percussion instruments associated with African, South American, and Caribbean music traditions, with special emphasis on adaptation to jazz music.

MUJZ 218b Afro-Latin Percussion Instruments (2 units)

Description:Instruction in the performance of percussion instruments associated with African, South American, and Caribbean music traditions, with special emphasis on adaptation to jazz music.

MUJZ 450 Intermediate Jazz Improvisation (2 units)

Description: Development of intermediate improvisational skills including underlying principles of theory, harmony, jazz ear training, and jazz style. Recommended preparation: MUJZ 150.

MUSIC ENSEMBLE

MUEN 222 Trojan Marching Band (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and participation in performances for athletic and other university functions. Open to all students by audition. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 305 Vocal Jazz Ensemble (1 unit)

Description: Study and performance of vocal ensemble literature from the Jazz idiom, with emphasis on improvisational techniques. Open to all students by audition. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 307 University Chorus (1 unit, max 8)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral literature from all periods of music history. Open to all students. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 308 USC Men’s Chorus (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral repertoire from all periods written for male voices. Open to all students. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 311 USC Oriana Choir (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of advanced chamber music written for women’s voices. Open to all students by audition. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 322 Trojan Marching Band (1 unit)

Description: Continuation of MUEN 222. Graded CR/NC.

MUEN 505 Vocal Jazz Ensemble (1 unit)

Description: Study and performance of vocal ensemble literature from the Jazz idiom, with emphasis on improvisational techniques. Open to all graduate students by audition. (Duplicates credit in MUEN 405.)

MUEN 507 University Chorus (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral literature from all periods of music history. Open to all graduate students.

MUEN 508 USC Men’s Chorus (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral repertoire from all periods written for male voices.

MUEN 511 USC Oriana Choir (1 unit)

Description: Rehearsal and performance of advanced chamber music written for women’s voices. Open to all graduate students by audition.

MUSIC INDUSTRY

MUIN 272x Basics of the Music Industry (4 units)

Description: Introductory survey of the music business. Topics include: copyright, record companies, contracts, music publishing, performance rights societies, managers, agents, and other artist team/income considerations. Not for major credit for music industry majors. (Duplicates credit in former MUIN 372ax.)

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY

MTEC 277x Introduction to Music Technology (4 units)

Description: A survey of the technology used to create, prepare, perform, and distribute music, with an emphasis on recording, MIDI, music production, mastering and Internet technologies. Not available for major credit to B.M. and B.S., Music Industry majors. (Duplicates credit in former MUIN 277.)

PERFORMANCE (GUITAR)

MPGU 120a Beginning Pop/Rock Guitar (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the performance technique of pop/rock guitar as well as music theory fundamentals, exploring repertoire by artists such as The Beatles and Dave Matthews.

MPGU 120b Beginning Pop/Rock Guitar (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the performance technique of pop/rock guitar as well as music theory fundamentals, exploring repertoire by artists such as The Beatles and Dave Matthews.

MPGU 121 Intensive Beginning Pop/Rock Guitar (4 units)

Description: Introduction to the performance technique of pop/rock guitar as well as music theory fundamentals, exploring repertoire by artists such as The Beatles and Dave Matthews.

MPGU 125 Beginning Fingerstyle/Chord Guitar (2 units)

Description: Basic fingerstyle guitar, learned through the study of such pieces as “Greensleeves,” “Malaguena,” and “Minuet” (Bach); song accompaniment patterns and music notation for the beginner.

MPGU 126 Easy Fingerstyle Beatles (2 units)

Description: Techniques of classical guitar applied to the study of five to eight Beatles songs, from “Hey Jude” to “Blackbird.” No guitar or music background required.

PERFORMANCE (KEYBOARD STUDIES)

MPKS 150a Beginning Piano (2 units)

Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors.

MPKS 150b Beginning Piano (2 units)

Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors. Prerequisite: MPKS 150a.

MPKS 150c Beginning Piano (2 units)

Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors.

PERFORMANCE (POPULAR MUSIC)

MPPM 120 Popular Music Performance I (2 units)

Description: Study of musical elements appropriate to the performance of popular music in a collaborative, interactive environment.

MPPM 240 Drumming Proficiency for the Popular Musician (2 units)

Description: Beginning and elementary instruction in drum set techniques.

MPPM 340 Intermediate Drum Set Proficiency (2 units)

Description: Intermediate level instruction in drum set performance including accompaniment techniques, fills, beat and brush patterns in jazz, Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian styles, interpreting drum charts. Recommended preparation: MPPM 240.

PERFORMANCE (STRINGS)

MPST 163 Class Harp (2 units, max 4)

Description: Basic instruction in the fundamentals of solo harp playing, note reading, and basic musicianship. Open to music and non-music majors.

PERFORMANCE (VOCAL ARTS)

MPVA 141 Class Voice (2 units)

Description: Introduction to the fundamental principles of singing: breath control, tone production, diction, and the use of appropriate song material.

MPVA 241 Intermediate Class Voice (2 units, max 4)

Description: Continued development of the fundamentals of singing, diction, and repertoire building. Prerequisite: MPVA 141.

MPVA 402 Musical Theatre Workshop (2 units)

Description: Stylistic and technical features of dramatic and musical elements involved in performance of American musical and standard operetta repertory; staging of scenes.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

MUSC 102gw World Music (4 units)

Description: Exploration of music and cultures of the world. Engagement with international musicians, global issues, field work and musical diasporas in Los Angeles.

MUSC 115gp Western Music as Sounding History (4 units)

Description: An introduction to Western art music and culture from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras through reading, listening, analyzing and writing about music.

MUSC 200mgw The Broadway Musical: Reflections of American Diversity (4 units)

Description: A uniquely American genre, the Broadway musical serves as a catalyst for inquiry into human diversity, cross-culturalism, and significant social and political issues.

MUSC 210g Electronic Music and Dance Culture (4 units)

Description: The origins and development of EDM and its relatives such as disco, house, techno, rave and electronica, focusing on cultural and technological influences.

MUSC 250mgw The Music of Black Americans (4 units)

Description: A chronicle of the musical contribution of Africans and African Americans to American society and to the foundations of musical genres and styles throughout the world.

MUSC 255 Songwriting I (2 units)

Description: Development of musical and lyrical skills, composing, listening, analysis, and critiques of popular original music.

MUSC 320mgw Hip-hop Music and Culture (4 units)

Description: A history of hip-hop music from its inception to the present: its musical processes and styles, as well as attendant social, political and cultural issues.

MUSC 355 Songwriting II (2 units)

Description: Continuation of Songwriting I; particular emphasis on the analysis of the techniques of important popular songwriters and the application of these techniques to original songs. (Duplicates credit in former MUCO 252.) Prerequisite: MUSC 255.