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, CTIN, 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)

School of Cinematic Arts

ANIMATION AND DIGITAL ARTS

CTAN 200g The Rise of Digital Hollywood (4 units)

Description: An overview of the evolution of computer graphics in modern media.

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 510 Inside Story: Creative Development for Animation (2 units)

Description: A creative development workshop for animated pitch storytelling, supported by an introduction to character development and story structure fundamentals.

CTAN 511 Demystifying the TV Animation Pipeline (2 units)

Description: The practical aspects of producing a 2-D animation series. Identifying and understanding the 2-D pipeline.

CINEMATIC ARTS

CNTV 499 How to Make “It”: Mapping Your Way to Success in Showbiz (2 units)

Description: This dynamic and practical course is designed to equip students with the tools and skillsets needed to Map Their Way to Success in Showbiz. Through highly interactive classes, students will learn best practices in creating film and television projects, starting from the initial stages of sourcing material all the way through the final stages of marketing and advertising and each week, students will engage with panels of “industry insiders.”

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 fulfilling the GE-A requirement, this course explores the formal properties of movies and their social context: narrative form, performance, art direction and mise-en-scène, cinematography, post-production, sound design, genre, style, and the production process – how movies are made, how they work their magic on us, how we can improve our perceptive abilities when it comes to filmgoing, and how the wider cultural, sociopolitical, and industrial environment of film shapes our perceptions of the world. A perennial favorite, CTCS 190 fills fast. Open to all majors. You must register for the lecture as well as a discussion section.

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.

This course provides an introduction to the history, institutions, forms and critical analysis of television, and its relationship to the cultures around it, including other media and arts.

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.

Screenings include: Bombshell (2019), The Banker (2020), The Blind Side (2009), Real Women Have Curves (2002), Pleasantville (1998), Mulan (1998), Enter the Dragon (1973), Platoon (1986), In & Out (1997), among other titles.

CTCS 394 History of American Cinema since 1960 (4 units)

Description: The development of American cinema since the end of Classical Hollywood and its relationship to American history and culture. Lectures, screenings and discussions.

In this course, we’ll explore significant developments that have occurred since Classical Hollywood dissolved. New Hollywood auteurs and big-budget blockbusters will be studied alongside various independent and documentary movements, situating each within their economic, creative, cultural, and technological contexts.

CTCS 407 African American Cinema (4 units)

Description: Intensive survey of African American cinema; topics include history, criticism, politics, and cinema’s relationship to other artifacts of African American culture.

The course will use developments in Black cinema as a broader framework for discussing American social, cultural, and political history, from the era of the Civil Rights Movement through the very recent present. Screenings include: Malcolm X, 13th, A Raisin in the Sun, Coffy, Boyz N the Hood, Dead Presidents, Zola, Coming to America, Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Daughters of the Dust, and One Night in Miami, among other titles.

CTCS 409 Censorship in Cinema (4 units)

Description: An inquiry into the practice and patterns of censorship in cinema.

We will study the foundations of the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America (forerunner to today’s MPA), the Production Code Administration, the development of the studio ratings system, approaches to censorship in the streaming era, and contemporary political Courtney White.

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

Description: Rigorous examination of film genres: history, aesthetics, cultural context, social significance, and critical methodologies.
Vampires on Film
Join your favorite Transylvanian-born professor in a survey of the long-lasting vampire mythos and its continuing appeal. Screenings will likely include Nosferatu itself, alongside a variety of American and international takes on the vampire film: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Vampire’s Kiss, Twilight, Mr. Vampire, Renfield, El Conde, Vampyr, Irma Vep, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Let The Right One In, From Dusk til Dawn, and others.
Professor: George Carstocea

The Action Film
Course focuses on Hollywood films with limited attention to non–US cinema. Examples may include: 48 Hrs., The Adventures of Robin Hood, Collateral, Commando, Crank, Die Hard, Dirty Harry, Domino, Face/Off, Foxy Brown, Hard Boiled, Jackass 3D, John Wick, Mad Max: Fury Road, Long Kiss Goodnight, Mission Impossible 3, Ong Bak, The Other Guys, Point Break, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Rambo, Under Seige 2: Dark Territory, The Warriors, The Woman King.

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.
Taught by Mary McNamara, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic and cultural editor for the Los Angeles Times. Each week, students meet with current TV Creators and Showrunners for Q&As about writing and producing their shows.

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.
Hollywood Cinematography
In this course, we will explore the history of Hollywood style from the point of view of cinematography and cinematographers, as well as engaging with issues such as labor, technology, gender, race, and the collaborative nature of the production process. This class will focus primarily on American cinema and explore the soft style of Classical Hollywood, deep focus, film noir, realism, modernism, New Hollywood, and digital photography while considering the influence of other cinemas along the way.

Sports, Media, and Culture
This course will analyze the representation (and misrepresentation) of sports and athletes in fiction film, documentary, and American media culture more broadly. The objective of this course will be to critically examine media that feature a variety of sporting examples, for the purpose of exposing the underlying themes that illuminate the role of sports in American society. The course is especially interested in media examples that offer complex representations of identity around issues such as race, class, gender, history, and the American Dream
Professor: Todd Boyd

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.

This seminar explores the relationship between visual media (e.g., cinema, television, and digital media) and the natural environment. Our environmental predicament originated in the industrialization of Western Europe, when, almost simultaneously with new forms of capitalist exploitation, mechanically reproduced media surfaced to document and preserve the natural world as it was disintegrating.

INTERACTIVE MEDIA AND GAMES

CTIN 291 Advanced Games Crew (2 units, max 4)

Description: Hands-on creating experiences for students who want to work as crew on an advanced game project.

Do you want to be a part of making something special the world can see? Join Advanced Game Project crew and help create a polished playable video game with a large team as a part of the USC Games Studio.

CTIN 420 Tabletop Roleplaying Games (2 units)

Description: An overview of tabletop roleplaying games and the design space around roleplaying. Recommended Preparation: CTIN 488 or CTIN 541

Do you love to play Dungeons and Dragons, or other tabletop roleplaying games? Have you ever wanted to understand how they work, and how to design them and design content for them? Students of any experience level who wish to play, study, and make roleplaying games are welcome.

CTIN 487 Streaming Explorations: Games and Entertainment for Community (2 units)

Description: Best practices and strategies for streaming. Students build a personality and audience through the course, receiving advice and feedback from emerging leaders in the field.

Do you want to understand Twitch, live-streaming, and build your skills and portfolio as a content creator? This course investigates the live streaming medium through in depth conversations with successful streamers and platform managers, and assignments designed to build your own content portfolio.

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

Are you interested in making games, but don’t know where to start? In Game Design Workshop, students of any background learn the fundamentals of interaction design and collaboration as they make a series of board games with other students.

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 448 World Building Design Studio (2 units)

Description: Integrating visual and scenario design in the construction of worlds as containers for narrative in documentary, drama, fiction, fantasy, and immersive media.

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 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 15 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 303g From Page to Screen: Adapting Stories for Film and TV (4 units)

Description: Detailed investigation of source material and how it translates to screen. Special attention paid to character, genre and story as relates to intellectual property.

An investigation into the choices TV and film writers make translating source material to your favorite series or feature film. Through lectures, special guests, and readings, we’ll examine how material changes and what liberties Hollywood takes in that process.

CTWR 410L Character Development and Storytelling for Games (4 units)

Description: An exploration of characters and story worlds as they relate to gaming with an emphasis on emotionally rich environments in interactive entertainment. Recommended Preparation: CTIN 488.

Do you love characters, stories, and narrative design in games? Have you wondered what it takes to write for games and how interactive storytelling is practiced? Open to students of any background, CTWR 410 overviews the field of writing and narrative design and helps students learn to create, pitch, and write story ideas for games.

CTWR 430 Comedy Writers 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.

Section: 19409R The Comedy Writing and Influence of Judd Apatow
From his breakthrough TV series Freaks and Geeks to his classic comedy features Superbad and The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Bridesmaids and Trainwreck and to his ode to stand-up comedy, Funny People, Judd Apatow is arguably the most influential name in film comedy of this century. This course will highlight Apatow’s unique comic voice, but more importantly his storytelling skills built around deeper themes of sexual awakening, the empowerment of women, and the politics of romance.

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.

Section: 19350R The Labor Struggle: Unions on Screen and in Life
Labor struggles have appeared in cinema in many ways: as heroic (The Organizer), as comedic (9 to 5), as musical (The Pajama Game), as tragic (Blue Collar), as biopic (Hoffa; Silkwood), as celebration of union organizing (Bread & Roses) and as critique of union corruption (On The Waterfront). The class will focus on the strategies screenwriters from the 1940s to the present have deployed to talk about the power of unionized labor, the joys and concerns of organizing, the successes and failures of labor’s attempt to fight for living wages and safe working conditions.

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.

Section: 19181R Sharks, Tornados, and Asteroids: Writing the New Antagonist
The temperature is rising, the sharks are circling, and it’s cloudy with a chance of meatballs. How do you write a film where the antagonist is Mother Nature? We’ll look at how these stories act as a call to action to fight against climate change and how they emotionally connect with audiences around the world.

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.

Section: 19410RWomen Showrunners: Changing the Prime-Time Narrative
That glass you hear cracking? It’s the small screen. In 2023, almost a third of all television shows — 32.5% — are being created and run by women showrunners. We’ll look at the evolution of this change and the stories that have gone from niche audience to prime time must watch TV and discuss what might deliver the final blow that shatters the glass screen completely.

CTWR 509 Understanding the Process of Film Making (2 units)

Description:An introduction for screenwriters to the process of creating a feature film, from script through release print, including pre-production, production and post-production.

An in-depth look at what it means to be a writer/director in the independent sphere. Through lectures and guests, we will cover the nuances of writing a script to get the attention of financiers, and the journey from production, post, and festival circuit. CTWR 509 is taught by Kerem Sanga, a writer/director whose credits include The Violent Heart, First Girl I Loved, The Young Kieslowski, and more. His films have been a part of the Tribeca Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. He won the Sundance Audience Award for his film First Girl I Loved.

EXPANDED ANIMATION

CTXA 423L Visualizing Science Production (2 units)

Description: Principles of 2-D and 3-D digital animation applied to scientific themes and research topics.

CTXA 525 Gesture Movement for Animation (2 units)

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

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 588 Animation for Virtual Characters Robotics & AI (2 units)

Description: Designed to explore the illusion of life, sentience and how to develop compelling animation, diverse stories and gestures for virtual characters, AI and robotics.

CTXA 592 Master Class Advanced Storyboarding: Inside the Animation Story Room (2-6 units, max 12)

Description: Take your storyboarding to the next level and get a taste of how a feature story room works. In this participatory-heavy class, we will focus on boarding and pitching simple story ideas to your fellow classmates in an open-critique format. Experience how a professional story team operates through a mix of collective brainstorming and iteration, expanding and taking your sense of narrative to the next level.

MEDIA ARTS AND PRACTICE

IML 424 The Music Festival Experience (4 units)

Description: Exploring the cultural significance of music festivals as spaces where music, media and culture intersect; learning experience design and planning innovative experiences for music festivals.

IML 425 Narrative Across Media (4 units)

Description: Traditions and emerging practices in multimedia storytelling. Narrative convergences of literature, film, television, comics, mixed reality, videogames or physical/virtual environments.

IML 453 Design Fiction and Speculative Futures (4 units)

Description: Designing fictional stories, images and worlds to imagine possible futures as a form of speculative design and critical inquiry.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

COMM 312 The Business and Culture of Celebrity (4 units)

Description: Employs the concept of “celebrity” as an optic through which to view and assess some of the key aspects of the communication revolution.

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.

COMM 340 The Cultures of New Media (4 units)

Description: Cultural implications of computer-mediated communication and related media. Ideological responses to media innovation; debate over artificial intelligence, virtual communities, and virtual reality. Recommended preparation: COMM 339.

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

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 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.

COMM 412 Communication and Social Movements (4 units)

Description: Social and political movements as rhetorical phenomena; ideology, organization, and influence of such movements as civil rights, “New Left,” feminism, “New Right,” environmentalism.

COMM 422 Legal Issues and New Media (4 units)

Description: Examines laws and regulatory policies shaping new media, especially the Internet; impact of regulation on development and use of communication technology.

COMM 443 Communicating Better Health: What Works and Why (4 units)

Description: How communication — interpersonal, mass media, information technologies — shapes health behavior. Topics: doctor-patient consults; marketing campaigns; health in entertainment, news; internet; social media; mobile devices.

COMM 450 Visual Culture and Communication (4 units)

Description: Examines issues of visual images in communication related to history, modernity, cityscapes, news media, advertising, evidence, science, digital technology, and globalization.

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.
Professor: Joe Saltzman

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.

JOUR 300 Journalism and Society (4 units)

Description: Examination of media and society by applying concepts on power, ideology, discourse and representation to specific case studies from the field and practice of journalism.
Professor: Ben Carrington

JOUR 323 Journalism and the Audience (2 units)

Description: Build a personal website that features a culmination of your previous undergraduate journalism work; craft a professional digital profile using various social media platforms; understand the economics of the news business; prepare to enter the industry.

JOUR 330 Photojournalism (4 units)

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

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 426 Influencer Relations (4 units)

Description: Media is social. Influencers reign. Influencer Relations provides a practical understanding of the new rules of the industry for students interested in working within it.

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.

PR 492 Personal Branding (4 units)

Description: Learn to build, promote and manage a personal brand through critical analysis, case study, interactive interpretation and creative problem solving.

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: Mark Lanz Weiser

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: John Thomas

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)

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: John Thomas

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: Katie Thiroux

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: Tram N. Sparks

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: Tram N. Sparks

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: Tram N. Sparks

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: Katie Thiroux

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: Tram N. Sparks

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: Tram N. Sparks

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: Tram N. Sparks

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)

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

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: Aaron R. Serfaty

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

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