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.
- School of Cinematic Arts (CTAN, CNTV, CTCS, CTPR, CTWR, CTXA, IML)
- Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (COMM, JOUR, PR)
- Thornton School of Music (MPGU, MPKS, MPPM, MPST, MPVA, MTEC, MUCO, MUEN, MUIN, MUJZ, MUSC)
- Price School of Public Policy (PPD)
School of Cinematic Arts
ANIMATION
CTAN 200g The Rise of Digital Hollywood (4 units)
Description: An overview of the evolution of computer graphics in modern media.
CTAN 420 Concept Design for Animation (2 units)
Description: Creating characters and environments for animation, live action, and video games.
CTAN 432 The World of Visual Effects (2 units)
Description: Introduction to the expanding field of visual effects; topics include integration for cinematic storytelling and the study of digital productions employing the latest visual effects.
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 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.
CTAN 460 Character Design Workshop (2 units)
Description: The basics of character design for animation: anatomy, poses, facial expressions, silhouettes, and anthropomorphism. Development of a portfolio.
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 465L Digital Effects Animation (2 units)
Description: All aspects of digital effects animation, including particles, dynamics, and fluids. Creating water, fire, explosions, and destruction in film. Prerequisite: CTAN 452 or CTAN 462.
Includes an introduction to the rich procedural capabilities of Houdini, the standard application used in the industry for effects animation. The course will encompass a series of hands-on exercises, so a prior basic working knowledge of Maya or other 3-D application is essential.
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 497L Procedural Animation (2 units)
Description: Introduction to software packages and practices exploring current animation techniques that leverage simulation systems. Artificial intelligence as a tool for animation.
CTAN 504L 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. Prerequisite: CTAN 502
CTAN 508L Live Action Integration with Visual Effects (2 units)
Description: Survey of the digital techniques required to successfully marry live action shooting with CGI elements and green screen footage. Prerequisite: CTAN 462
CTAN 536 Storytelling for Animation (2 units)
Description: Storytelling workshop for animators; application of dramatic techniques to visual concepts to derive three-dimensional stories which can serve as bases for finished films.
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
CINEMATIC ARTS
CNTV 428 Fundamentals of Entertainment Law and Dealmaking (2 units)
Description: An introduction to the legal aspects of securing and protecting content in all forms of media, and the business side of project development and implementation.
CNTV 441 Business and Cinematic Arts Entertainment Practicum (2 units)
Description: Application of business and cinematic arts concepts to entertainment industry networking and career-building experiences. Peer collaboration/competition, and identifying organizational compatibility.
This course is geared toward learning how to find internships and use your experiences to succeed in your first job in the entertainment industry. Class sessions will serve as a venue to exchange internship information and troubleshoot solutions.
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 strive to be a content creator, producer, writer, director, or an executive, this course will help you identify how and why you should be creating your own projects. Key aspects of the producing process from both a creative and business standpoint in film, TV, VR, and digital media spaces will be examined.
CNTV 522 The Television Industry: Networks, Cable and the Internet (4 units)
Description: The current state of the television industry and future business paradigms.
This course will cover a comprehensive look into the television industry, including the conception, development, and selling of an idea, as well as how networks, cable companies, internet, and mobile platforms operate.
CNTV 524 Digital Technologies and the Entertainment Industry (4 units)
Description: The impact of digital technologies on the film, television, and music industries from content creation to distribution.
The focus of this class will be on the impact that various “disruptive” technologies, from digital cinema to mobile technology to video games to RSS feeds, have on the media value chain.
CNTV 562 Seminar in Motion Picture Business (4 units)
Description: Problems of studio operation, production, distribution, exhibition or legal procedures relating to the motion picture.
The theatrical motion picture and television businesses from the studio’s perspective, with an emphasis on feature films. Guest speakers will discuss creative development, production, post-production, marketing, distribution, business affairs, deal analysis, film finance, tax-based incentive deals, etc.
CNTV 563 The Business of Representation (4 units)
Description: Various roles an agent, manager, attorney and publicist play in representing talent, producers and writers. Taught by professionals who are at the forefront of the entertainment industry.
CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES
CTCS 190g Introduction to Cinema (4 units)
Description: Gateway to majors and minors in cinematic arts. Technique, aesthetics, criticism, and social implications of cinema. Lectures accompanied by screenings of appropriate films.
Rated one of the top six USC classes you cannot afford to miss, and now fulfilling the General Education requirement, this course explores the formal properties of movies: literary design, performance, visual design, composition (framing/staging/ photographing), editing, sound design, genre, style and the production process.
CTCS 191 Introduction to Television and Video (4 units)
Description: Exploration of the economic, technological, aesthetic, and ideological characteristics of the televisual medium; study of historical development of television and video including analysis of key works; introduction to TV/Video theory and criticism.
CTCS 192gm Race, Class, and Gender in American Film (4 units)
Description: Analyzes issues of race, class and gender in contemporary American culture as represented in the cinema. Focusing on historical representation as well as contemporary images, the course looks to explain the role of cinema in creating and influencing perceptions around issues of American identity. This course satisfies USC’s General education requirement.
CTCS 464 Film and/or Television Genres (4 units)
Description: Rigorous examination of film genres: history, aesthetics, cultural context, social significance, and critical methodologies.
CTCS 466 Theatrical Film Symposium (4 units)
Description: Lectures and readings on creative problems in the motion picture industry; current films; interviews with visiting producers, directors, writers, performers.
Taught by world-renowned film critic Leonard Maltin, Theatrical Film Symposium brings you face-to-face with leading film directors, writers, producers, and actors working today. Each week, students watch sneak previews of upcoming movies, followed by exclusive Q & As with the creative teams behind the films.
CTCS 467 Television Symposium (4 units)
Description: Lectures and readings on creative problems in the motion picture industry; current films; interviews with visiting producers, directors, writers and performers.
Modeled after the popular Leonard Maltin course CTCS 466, CTCS 467 offers an exciting counterpart focusing on the television industry, taught by Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic Mary McNamara. Each week, students are shown selected TV programming, followed by a Q & A with guests from the show.
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.
CTCS 494 Advanced Cinema and Media Studies Seminar (4 units)
Description: Rotating topics involving detailed study of the historical, cultural and aesthetic analysis of film, television, and new media technologies.
EXTENDED ANIMATION
CTXA 524 Contemporary Topics: Animation Dreams and Consciousness (2 units)
Description: Explores the relationship of science, philosophy and art to new forms of animation and digital media practice, with a focus on dreams and consciousness.
CTXA 551 Stop Motion Performance (2 units)
Description: Incorporating classic stop motion techniques for puppet performance and animation. Emphasis on timing, performance, movement, animation and gesture. Prerequisite: CTXA 550 or CTAN 550
CTXA 575 Cinematic and Media-Based Installations (2 units)
Description: The history and practice of media-based installation art, from site-specific architectural projection mapping, to activist and public art, video sculptures and immersive, physical transformations.
CTXA 584 Advanced Virtual Media Previs Laboratory (2 units)
Description: Exploration of energy and flow in staging, movement, layout and cinematography. Methods of creating new worlds, dramatizing action and staging scenes in a virtual space.
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.
Students will study the history and theory of digital media and also gain hands-on media authoring skills. Counts as a requirement for the minor in Digital Studies.
IML 201 The Languages of Digital Media (4 units)
Description: An in-depth investigation of the close interrelationships among technology, culture and communication to form a solid foundation for digital authoring. Duplicates credit in former IML 101.
IML 385 Design Fiction and Speculative Futures (4 units)
Description: The history, theory and methods of design fiction, focusing on design videos and physical prototypes as tools for exploring contemporary social, political and ethical life.
Students will engage in collaboration, video capture, video editing, basic sound design, 3-D printing, and object design. Counts as a requirement for the minors in Digital Studies, Media and Social Change and Future Cinema.
IML 419 Emotion in Digital Culture (4 units)
Description: Project-based course examining emotion in relation to technology, digital culture and the human experience.
Students will explore tracking emotional well-being with apps and wearables to experience developments in body-borne computing and issues in the quantified self movement. Counts as a requirement for the minors in Digital Studies and Media and Social Change.
IML 420 New Media for Social Change (4 units)
Description: Creating real social change through multimedia, working in collaboration with a local nonprofit organization.
Students explore the nature of civic engagement and strengthen their digital media skills in the pursuit of real world change. Counts as a requirement for the minors in Digital Studies and Media and Social Change.
IML 456 Nature, Design and Media (2 units)
Description: Description: Investigation of the impact of natural patterns on digital media design. Explores the relationships among chaos, harmony, beauty, proportion, spirituality, holistic systems and shaped experience.
Counts as a requirement for the minors in Digital Studies and Future Cinema.
IML 475 Media Arts Research Lab (2 units)
Description: A hands-on mentored research lab experience within the context of media art and in association with a real-world project.
The goal of IML 475 is to give students exposure to the innovative work being done at SCA. Participating labs include the Mobile and Environmental Media Lab, the Mixed Reality Lab and the World Building Media Lab. Counts as a requirement for the minors in Digital Studies and Future Cinema.
IML 477 Embodied Storytelling and Immersive Docu-Narratives (4 units)
Description: Examination of art, media, and theatre, to create an immersive, installation-based intervention utilizing the embodied 360-degree docu-narrative form.
This course counts as an elective for the Digital Studies, Future Cinema and Media and Social Change minors, and for the Honors in Multimedia Scholarship program.
IML 493 Creativity and Wellbeing (2, 4 units)
Description: Exploration of the intersections among creative practice, mindfulness and wellbeing through individual studio-based project work.
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 Cinematography (3 units)
Description: Use of high definition motion picture equipment to explore the fundamentals of shot design, movement and lighting. In class group projects.
The magic of creating images on film, from using cameras, lenses, and filters to photographic processes and the role of cinematography in interpreting story. Hands-on projects put theory into practice.
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.
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.
Includes writing of the script to planning, shooting, and editing.
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.
The course studies the anatomy of a film by examining a major current release with guest speakers involved in the making of a production. Films previously studied include The Avengers and The Sessions.
CTPR 404 Practicum in Podcast Production (2 units)
Description: The basics of podcast production, including creating an idea, researching and writing the script, hosting, casting, recording and promoting a podcast episode.
CTPR 407 Sound Design for Podcasting (2 units)
Description: How visuals communicate emotions and ideas in streaming media, advertising, digital games, business and legal presentations and documentary and scripted filmmaking.
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.
Guest speakers and lectures discuss and cover the role of the writer, agent, studio executive, producer, director, as well as address the topics of marketing, publicity, and distribution.
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.
The class focuses on techniques, cost, and operational characteristics. For aspiring production managers, directors, and camera and effects specialists. Conducted in a workshop environment where students experience the complexities involved with techniques in use industry-wide.
CTPR 425 Production Planning (2 units)
Description: Theory, discussion, and practical application of production planning during preproduction and production 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.
Students 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 445 Realtime CG Filmmaking (3 units)
Description: Introduction to the software necessary to create previs, pitchvis, CG films and quick experiments to practice creativity without being on set.
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.
CTPR 456 Introduction to Art Direction (2 units)
Description: Introduction to drafting, set design, set decoration and creating models for students with diverse abilities. Guest lectures, group discussions and hands-on workshop.
CTPR 458 Organizing Creativity: Entertainment Industry Decision Making (2 units)
Description: Analysis of the unique structures in the entertainment industry for organizing and managing creativity. Students research and chart pathways to leadership. Open only to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.
Students will learn how to face challenges and opportunities as they launch their careers in the entertainment industry. The class examines the industry’s ever-evolving creative and business
structures through lectures and dialogue with expert guest speakers.
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.
Students are introduced to film economics, as it relates to production, distribution, and exhibition.
CTPR 461 Managing Television Stations and Internet Media (2 units)
Description: Managing electronic media, including radio and television stations, broadcast and cable networks, and the internet.
Executives from all areas of the TV industry address class each week to provide first-hand information about a wide range or areas, including news production,
sales, marketing, and syndication.
CTPR 470 Practicum in On-Screen Direction of Actors (2 units)
Description: Concentration on the basic skills in working with actors from a director’s point of view.
Students learn to experiment and discuss the many choices in directing actors, including laboratory and scene analysis. The course also breaks down a script from the emotional point-of-view of the actor.
CTPR 474 Documentary Production (2 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 491 Internet Famous: How To Make Viral Comedy (2 units)
Description: Translating traditional storytelling tools into short form comedy that stands out online. Writing, directing and producing creative projects designed for current online platforms.
Students learn how to translate storytelling into short form comedy that will stand out online. Students explore newer avenues, such as YouTube, IGTV and TikTok as outlets for their creative voices with projects they will write, direct and perform in.
WRITING
CTWR 409 Fundamentals of Screenwriting: Character, Conflict, and Story (4 units)
Description: Introduction to writing compelling scenes, creating authentic characters, three act structure, and feature film outlining.
CTWR 411 Television Script Analysis (2 units)
Description: In-depth analysis of the craft of writing prime-time episodic television. Examination of situation comedies and dramas through weekly screenings and lectures.
CTWR 422 Creating the Dramatic Television Series (2 units)
Description: Examination and creation of the world, characters, and concept for an original hour-long dramatic series. Writing an outline for an original dramatic pilot.
CTWR 431 Screenwriters and Their Work (2 units)
Description: Detailed investigation of specific comedy writers, comedy genres, and the works they’ve influenced. Lectures include screenings and visiting screenwriters.
CTWR 432 Television Writers and Their Work (2 units)
Description: Detailed investigation of various television writers’ styles, the worlds they have created, and the works they’ve influenced. Lectures include screenings and visiting television writers.
CTWR 516 Advanced Motion Picture Script Analysis (2 units)
Description: Critical analysis of the structure of films from the classics to current award winners. Students will learn how to identify key story concepts and break down three act structure in finished films and scripts.
CTWR 523 Introduction to the Screenplay (4 units)
Description: Introduction to formal elements of the screenplay through lectures and the workshopping of a complete first draft of a feature-length script. Prerequisite: CTAN 536 or CTWR 505 or CTWR 518.
Recommended preparation: CTWR 516.
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
COMMUNICATION
COMM 300 Entertainment, Communication and Society (4 units)
Description: Theoretical foundation for understanding the construction, consumption, and consequences of entertainment from classical to contemporary times; situates entertainment within the ecology of information and communication.
Professor: Daniela Baroffio
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: Chelsea Graham
COMM 306 Innovation, Entertainment, and the Arts (4 units)
Description: Explorations of innovation in the entertainment business. The effects of digital mobile media on TV, movies, music, advertising, social networks and art.
Professor: Aaron Damien Settipane
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 321 Communication and Social Media (4 units)
Description: Social media within the broader social, political, and historical contexts; key themes include labor, Web 2.0, self-branding, celebrity, participation, privacy, online shaming, and activism.
COMM 324mw Intercultural Communication (4 units)
Description: Cultural variables and social psychological processes that influence intercultural interaction; relationship between communication and culture in diverse settings including business, medicine, and education.
Professor: Carmen M. Lee
COMM 336 Communicating About Sex (4 units)
Description: Communicating with partners, friends, parents and health care professionals about sexual behavior; interpersonal and mediated contexts; understanding of sexual scripts; current theory and research.
Professor: Jillian K. Pierson
COMM 366 Designing Media for Social Change (4 units)
Description: Students explore the theoretical and practical issues involved in designing effective media and communication projects for social change in international contexts
Professor: Alison P. Trope
COMM 373 Media Technologies and Free Speech (4 units)
Description: Exploration of how freedom of speech has been adapted and applied to “new media” from film to computer algorithms and video games.
Professor: Jennifer Anne Petersen
COMM 373 Media Technologies and Free Speech (4 units)
Description: Exploration of how freedom of speech has been adapted and applied to “new media” from film to computer algorithms and video games.
Professor: Jennifer Anne Petersen
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.
Professor: Hye Jin Lee
COMM 387 Interpreting Popular Culture (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.
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 457 Youth and Media (4 units)
Description: Exploration of youth media and culture, including television, movies, video games, toys, magazines, music, social media. Examines representations of youth and youth as audience.
Professor: Robin Stevens
COMM 489 Campaign Communication (4 units)
Description: Problems in political communication: creating an informed electorate, use of mass media, factors in voter persuasion. Guest experts in political analysis, opinion polling, communication evaluation.
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.
JOUR 201 Culture of Journalism: Past, Present and Future (4 units)
Description: Understanding key moments, debates and ideas that have shaped journalism in the United States from the Revolutionary War period through today. Examination of the social, cultural, political and technological aspects of journalism and its impact on the profession and public service.
JOUR 330 Photojournalism (4 units)
Description: Emphasis on fundamental skills necessary for photojournalism including camera techniques, story ideas and digital darkroom.
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.
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.
JOUR 412 Podcasting: Origin Stories (2 units)
Description: A foundational understanding of the historic, cultural and theoretical underpinning of the podcast medium with an emphasis on critical listening.
JOUR 430 Writing the Film Review (4 units)
Description: Techniques of writing the film review; preparation and treatment of form and content; problems, responsibilities and ethics of film reviewing.
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.
JOUR 446 Entertainment Reporting (2 units)
Description: Techniques of reporting and writing about the entertainment business, economics and finances. Analysis of the skills and background needed for reporters specializing in this area of the news.
JOUR 447 Arts Reporting (2 units)
Description: Techniques of reporting and writing about the arts, including television, film, theatre, music, graphic arts, architecture and design.
JOUR 457 Food of Our Families (4 units)
Description: Tell stories that explore food culture and culinary traditions, become familiar with cultural areas of Los Angeles and become immersed in global food and culture.
JOUR 463 Evolution of Asian Americans and the Media (4 units)
Description: History of Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans and how media and journalism played a role in perpetuating narratives and stereotypes that exist to this day.
JOUR 480 Sports and Media Technology (4 units)
Description: Examine and analyze the ever-changing technology sector of the sports business and sports media worlds. Identify emerging technologies being developed in the sports industry and how they are being utilized to enhance the fan experience.
JOUR 481 The Athlete, Sports Media and Popular Culture (4 units)
Description: Analysis of the images of the athlete and sports media helps us understand how sports dramatically affects such social issues as race, class and gender.
JOUR 485 Sports Investigative Reporting (4 units)
Description: Produce compelling investigative sports stories culminating in an original and publishable final project.
JOUR 494 Python Coding for Data Journalism (2 units)
Description: Python coding language to gather, parse and analyze data for investigative news reporting.
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 343 Advertising Design and Production (4 units)
Description: Production of advertising materials; emphasis on the creation and design of advertising elements.
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 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.
PR 457 The Role of Celebrity in Public Relations (4 units)
Description: Understanding of the history and application of celebrity in public relations, focusing on the entertainment industry and the notoriety attached to politics and the media.
PR 458 Political Public Relations and Advocacy (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 464 Advanced Lifestyle Public Relations (4 units)
Description: In-depth look at various aspects of Lifestyle PR with special emphasis on food, fashion and beauty, travel/tourism, hospitality, furniture/housewares, toys and more.
PR 478 Social Media Analytics: Data and Content Creation for Real-time Public Relations (4 units)
Description: Application of monitoring tools to become social media analysts and real-time content creators; interpretation of large data sets drawn from the social web; understanding of how to present data visually for optimal impact.
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.
An introduction to the craft of makeup for film, TV, and other media, through lectures, demos, and hands-on workshops. The different kinds of makeup styles and procedures, including the study of glamour, old age, gore, fantasy, and prosthetic techniques.
Archived material approached from multiple perspectives, in order to develop new avenues of expression, education, and research. Students create a multi-faceted media project that uses archival images, video, sound and text. Counts as a requirement for the Digital Studies and Media and Social Change minors.
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.
Professor: Ashlin Hunter
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.
Professor: Jason Goldman
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.
Professor: Aaron R. Serfaty
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. Prerequisite: MUJZ 218a
Professor: Aaron R. Serfaty
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.
Professor: Jason Goldman
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.
Professor: Jacob Vogel
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.
Professor: Sara Anne Gazarek
MUEN 307 University Chorus (1 unit)
Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral literature from all periods of music history. Open to all students. Graded CR/NC.
Professor: Collin Biegert Boothby
MUEN 308 USC Apollo Chorus (1 unit)
Description: The USC Apollo Chorus, a choir open to all students, faculty, and staff of any gender, performs tenor/bass repertoire.
Professor: Connor Richard Scott
MUEN 311 USC Oriana Choir (1 unit)
Description: The USC Oriana Choir, a choir open to all students, faculty, and staff of any gender, performs treble repertoire.
Professor: Ali Sandweiss Hodges
MUEN 322 Trojan Marching Band (1 unit)
Description: Continuation of MUEN 222. Graded CR/NC.
Professor: Jacob Vogel
MUEN 324 University Band (1 units)
Description: Rehearsal and performance of standard repertoire. Open to all students by audition. Graded CR/NC.
Professor: Jacob Vogel
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.)
Professor: Sara Anne Gazarek
MUEN 507 University Chorus (1 unit)
Description: Rehearsal and performance of choral literature from all periods of music history. Open to all graduate students.
Professor: Collin Biegert Boothby
MUEN 508 USC Apollo Chorus (1 unit)
Description: The USC Apollo Chorus, a choir open to all students, faculty, and staff of any gender, performs tenor/bass repertoire.
Professor: Connor Richard Scott
MUEN 511 USC Oriana Choir (1 unit)
Description: The USC Oriana Choir, a choir open to all students, faculty, and staff of any gender, performs treble repertoire.
Professor: Ali Sandweiss Hodges
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.)
Professor: Michael K. Garcia
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.
Professor: Nick Stoubis
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. Prerequisite: MPGU 120a or MUPF 120a
Professor: Nick Stoubis
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. (Duplicates credit in MPGU 120abcd.)
Professor: Nick Stoubis
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.
Professor: Scott Barry Tennant
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.
Professor: Scott Barry Tennant
MPGU 127 Easy Fingerstyle Brazilian Rhythms (2 units)
Description: Learn basic Brazilian rhythms and famous classics with classical guitar fingerstyle techniques.
Professor: Scott Barry Tennant
PERFORMANCE (KEYBOARD STUDIES)
MPKS 150a Beginning Piano (2 units)
Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors.
Professor: Stephen Pierce
MPKS 150b Beginning Piano (2 units)
Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors. Prerequisite: MPKS 150a
Professor: Stephen Pierce
MPKS 150c Beginning Piano (2 units)
Description: Techniques of performance, note reading, and basic musicianship. Not open to music majors. Prerequisite: MPKS 150b or MUPF 150b
Professor: Stephen Pierce
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.
Professors:Timothy Kobza, Thomas Holt, Sean Jackson Jr., Paul Abad, Andy Jackson Jr.
MPPM 240 Drumming Proficiency for the Popular Musician (2 units)
Description: Beginning and elementary instruction in drum set techniques.
Professor: Peter Erskine
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.
Professors: Aaron R. Serfaty, Peter Erskine
PERFORMANCE (STRINGS)
MPST 163 Class Harp (2 units)
Description: Basic instruction in the fundamentals of solo harp playing, note reading, and basic musicianship.
Professor: Joann Ruth Turovsky
PERFORMANCE (VOCAL ARTS)
MPVA 141 Class Voice (2 units, max 4)
Description: Introduction to the fundamental principles of singing: breath control, tone production, diction, and the use of appropriate song material.
Professor: Lynn Helding
MPVA 412 Musical Theatre Workshop II (3 units)
Description: Stylistic and technical features of dramatic and musical elements involved in performance of American musical and standard operetta repertory; staging of scenes. Prerequisite: MPVA 402
Professor: Karen Parks
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 BM and BS, Music Industry majors. (Duplicates credit in former MUIN 277.)
Professor: Charles G. Gutierrez
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.
Professor: Leon Garcia Corona
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.
Professor: Rotem Gilbert
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.
Professor: Karen Parks
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.
Professor: Sean C. Nye
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.
Professor: Ron McCurdy
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.
Professors: Sean C. Nye, Jae Deal
MUSC 372g Music, Turmoil and Nationalism (4 units)
Description: An exploration of musical practices and styles which reflect and shape national identities and which focus on those created in response to political turmoil in many forms.
Professor: Lisa Cooper Vest
MUSC 374g Beatles, Stones, Bowie: Empire and Masculinity (4 units)
Description: Historical survey of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie that explores their contributions to contemporary notions of “masculinity,” “Empire,” and “classic rock.”
Professor: Joanna Demers
Price School of Public Policy
POLICY, PLANNING, AND DEVELOPMENT
PPD 499 (51155) Behavioral Science for Health and Environmental Policy
Description: This course will cover what motivates people to (not) change their behavior, how to identify barriers to change, how to design communications and interventions that address those barriers, and how to evaluate these communications and interventions. Students will apply these insights to health, climate change, and other policy topics.
PPD 499 (51156) The Art and Science of Leadership
Description: This course aims to develop transformational leaders primed to lead social change in public, private, and nonprofit organizations. While scholarship in
leadership and organizations and theories of psychologies and neuroscience are the basis of the course, the course also explores the arts and sciences implicit in our human story: poetry, literature, film, music, fine art, philosophy, mythology, physics, mathematics, and action research, featuring prestigious guest lecturers from various disciplines.