USC Schedule of Classes

The description and analysis of various forms of visual culture, including both mass media and "high" art representations, both Western and non-Western images.

European art and its legacy in the Americas. Painting, sculpture, architecture and other visual media considered in relation to social and cultural history.

An introduction to the major art forms and monuments of religious art in India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan from prehistory to1300.

Survey of the art, architecture, and visual culture of Latin America from the colonial period to the present, focusing on connections to culture and society.

Consideration of various categories of "The Modern" as they have been constructed in Western art of the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Explores key moments in the history of photography from its invention to the present. Issues include modernity and mass culture; photography as a fine art; technologies of vision.

Analysis of race and the economic, political, gender, and social dimensions of contemporary Los Angeles including topics such as residential segregation, economic inequality, and city politics.

An introduction to cultures and people in the Americas; the social, historical, economic and cultural formations that together make up the Latino/a American imaginary.

Examination of the ways that different nations and cultures have remembered the Vietnam War or the American War as it is called in Vietnam. (Duplicates credit in former AMST 377)

Introduction to American studies and ethnic studies. Provides an overview of major theories, concepts, and issues.

Overview of Native American studies, including Indigenous intellectualism and resistance through language revitalization, film-making, and the recognition of one another.

Examines the relation between U.S. national culture, race, and popular culture.

Examines political and cultural change in the United States during the decade of the 1960s.

Examines the socio-historical and political imperatives of multi-disciplinary scholarship foundational to the study of African Americans.

History, political-economy and aesthetics of the African Diaspora with emphasis on Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

Examines history of popular cultural forms such as literature, music, dance, theater, and visual arts produced by and about African Americans.

Introduction to an interdisciplinary study of American political, cultural and social life with a particular emphasis on the Western United States as a region. Recommended preparation: HIST 200, ENGL 263

An examination of how Hollywood representations of the Middle East have changed over the last 100 years, focusing on how representations influence perceptions and policies.

Archaeology as the means of investigating our shared human past, from the origins of humanity to the foundations of current civilization.

The effects of globalization on social life in diverse communities, approaching related issues from an ethnographic perspective. Gateway course for the Global Studies Major.

Concepts of social anthropology, using filmic representations of societies throughout the world. Gateway course for the Anthropology major.

Survey of the performance of healing in cross-cultural perspective. The course culminates in field research to Spiritist centers outside the United States.

Indigenous peoples of North America: major cultural themes, contemporary issues, language revitalization, native sovereignty, environmental issues, decolonization.

Introduction to folklore as a discipline, including folklore research methods and theory. Core course for the minor in Folklore and Popular Culture.

Youth gang dynamics and their effects on institutions. Comparative analysis of Asian, African, and Mexican American gangs.

In-depth exploration of 3D digital, immersive, virtual or extended reality visualizations of cultural heritage, archaeology, historical sites and artifacts, including their legal and ethical dimensions.

Survey of the universe: planets, satellites, comets, stars, nebulae, galaxies. Practical component includes planetary observations and dark-sky field trip. Not available for major credit.

Survey of the prospects for life in our solar system and beyond, based on the evolution of life on Earth.

An examination of the physical and biological laws that influence agriculture, pollution, population dynamics (including humans), climate, biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function. Not available for major credit.

Study of common skills in biology, including basics of evolution, systematics, ecology, genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology, physiology, and anatomy.

Introduction to the scientific method; basic instruction in molecular biology with emphasis on how biological research advancement has impacted medicine, commerce and society in general.

Exploration of molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, nutrition and the history of biology through the study of food, focusing on food's relationship to the biological world.

In-depth survey of key topics related to advances in our knowledge of the diversity of life and evolution; origin of life; eukaryotes/prokaryotes; ecology.

The human organism; the nature of inherited and acquired diseases;the biological and societal basis for the AIDS epidemic; therapy,drug design and the future. Not available for major credit.

Changes in the physical and biological universe over time; origins of life, dinosaurs, human evolution. Implications of evolutionary mechanisms and mass extinctions for human survival.

In-depth survey of key topics related to advances in our knowledge of cellular biology and physiology; cell composition/metabolism; gene action; organism structure and function. Recommended preparation: high school chemistry; BISC 120L or BISC 121L.

Equivalent to 220L, but taught at a higher level for exceptionally well-prepared students. Admission to the course by departmental approval only.

Exploration of the unique properties of brain cells that allow complex perceptions and behaviors; examination of structure and activity of brain cells that underlie function.

Fundamental principles and laws of chemistry; laboratory work emphasizes quantitative procedures. Prerequisite to all more advanced courses in chemistry. Lecture, 3 hours; laboratory and discussion, 4 hours. Quiz, 1 hour.

Scientific principles underlying forensic approaches to the investigation of crimes and its societal impact on law, culture and media. Not available for major credit.

Introduction to the culture of ancient Greece and its influence on contemporary ideas, institutions, values, and literary and artistic works of the imagination.

Political, ethical, and ideological aspects of classical WesternAttitudes towards human diversity. Relationship between classicaltradition and contemporary discussions of diversity and unity.

History and cultures of the ancient empires of southwest Asia, from Cyrus the Great to the establishment of Islam.

Comparative study of Latin American cultures, especially vis-a-vis those of Europe and the U.S. Materials drawn from literature, but also film, opera, history, cultural theory.

A comparative study of the Asian aesthetic heritage of poetry, painting, music, and drama; of literary themes, trends, and myths.

Introduction to works of major women writers from the Middle Ages to the 20th century in their literary, social and cultural contexts.

Japanese literature from the earliest times to the present; development of prose, poetry and the novel; evolution of theatre; Japanese literature under Western influence. Conducted in English.

The history of Korean literature and culture from the ancient to the modern era. Recommended preparation: HIST 105g.

An introduction to Sinophone literatures and cultures (in English translation) from the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Southeast Asia, and North America.

Advanced-level introduction to China and its relations with the wider world in historic and contemporary perspective.

Behavior of firms and consumers, functions of the price system, competition and monopoly, labor markets, poverty, government regulation, international trade, and the environment.

Unemployment, inflation and output determination and links.Effects of government taxation and spending on growth, investment,saving, consumption, and trade.

A study of emotional intelligence through literature, history and the arts with a focus on anger, happiness, love and empathy.

An exploration of the culture, vibrance, heritage, mythology, variety, and pathology of a city that was born in hopes and captured the worlds imagination. Duplicates credit in ARLT 101g.

Close study of Shakespeare's plays and poems to introduce his language, stagecraft, literary "genius," social and literary contexts, precursors and rivals, and legacy.

Intensive reading of major writers to 1800.

Intensive reading of major writers, 18001950.

Intensive reading of representative writers.

Study of forms of nonfiction writing, focusing on craft and process: how it works and how to read, write and write about it.

Historical survey of the traditions of lyric poetry from Shakespeare to the contemporary, examining the genre's multiple forms of literary, visual, and aural expression.

Literature was central to India's independence movement. Through novels, manifestos, poems, short stories and films, well explore topics like Gandhism, violence, caste, communalism and partition.

Literary travel using novels to explore regional culture and unify the study of literature, history, geography, politics and social studies.

Examination of legal problems and concepts in English and American literature. Recommended preparation: CORE-102 or ARLT-100; WRIT-140.

Study of poetry written in English since 1945, with special emphasis on the last two decades.

Selected British, Irish, and American drama from the post World War II period (1945 to the present).

Theoretical and applied studies of literature in English as social activity and cultural production; its expression of, and influence upon, social values, concepts, and behavior.

Introduction to issues in visual and popular culture, focused on critical and historical interpretation of words and images in comic books and graphic novels.

Gateway to the majors and minors in environmental studies. Provides students with an overview of how government agencies and societal institutions address (or fail to address) the interrelated social and scientific aspects of environmental problems and policies.

Exploration of the major social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical disagreements that exist between scholars, leaders, and citizens concerning today's most serious environmental issues and problems. Not available for credit to environmental studies majors and minors.

An exploration of cultural haunting in post-Revolutionary France, grounded in critical approaches to literature, with a focus on collective memory, loss and historical violence.

Film-making in France from the earliest experiments to current trends. Emphasis on the political, social, historical context of French films. Taught in English. Reading knowledge of French recommended.

Study of difference as represented through French, Francophone and related narratives of disability and illness, with attention to race and gender. Conducted in English.

Geologic structure and evolution of planet earth. Principles ofplate tectonics, rocks and minerals, processes of mountainbuilding, continent and ocean formation, earthquakes, volcanism,development of landforms by running water and glaciers. Lecture, 3hours; laboratory, 2 hours. One all-day or two-day field triprequired.

Physical, chemical, and geological character of the oceans andocean basins. Origin of the oceans. Ocean processes and agents.Economic value of the oceans. Lecture, 3 hours; laboratory, 2 hours. One all-day field trip required.