Classes Offered - USC Schedule of Classes

General Education Seminar (GESM)

Instructions on how to obtain department authorization (d-clearance) for GESM courses are available at dornsife.usc.edu/2015ge/gesm-registration/. Course descriptions are available at dornsife.usc.edu/2015ge/course-descriptions/

GESM 110g: Seminar in the Arts (4.0 units)

The multifaceted history of the creative act, its analysis, production, and context as a representation of human experience. (Satisfies GE-A, The Arts) Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Intercepted Letters: Poetry as Correspondence
35265R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Austen Rose	DMC254
Joy at the End of the World: Poetry of Radical Care
35266R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Austen Rose	DMC254
Listening and Making--Poetry and Its Forms
35267R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Molly Bendall	THH209
The Color of Imagination
35268R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Steven Minas	SOSB47
Songs of Resistance
35269R	001	Lecture	8:30-9:50am	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Jim Clements	DMC202
Questions of Documentary
35272R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	John Alexander	WPH201
Intercepted Letters: Poetry as Correspondence
35274R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Austen Rose	DMC158
Poems, Plays and Politics
35276R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Brighde Mullins	WPH201
Visual Art and the Representation of Knowledge
35277R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Susanna Berger	DMC107
Designing Things for Kids
35282D	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Amy Ogata	GFS205
Visual Art and the Representation of Knowledge
35283R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Susanna Berger	GFS204
Formal Devices in the Creative Act
35286R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Nikita Allgire	GFS220

GESM 111g: Seminar in the Arts (4.0 units)

The multifaceted history of the creative act, its analysis, production, and context as a representation of human experience. Offered by a USC professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Espionage, Diplomacy and the Arts
35300R	001	Lecture	8:00-9:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Alana Mailes	KDC241
Environmental Activism in Contemporary Art and Design
35301R	001	Lecture	9:00-10:50am	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	David Kelley	HAR211
Making Drawings
35302R	001	Lecture	9:00-10:50am	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Osvaldo Trujillo	WAH102A
Making Photographs
35303R	001	Lecture	3:00-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Julia Paull	HAR211
Music and Performance Art
35305R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Camae Dennis	KDC236
From Bebop to Doo Wop to Hip Hop
35306R	001	Lecture	12:00-1:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Ron Mc Curdy	TMCG156
Exploring Shelter - How and Why We Make Meaningful Architecture
35307R	001	Lecture	10:00-11:50am	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Lauren Matchison	THH108
I Too, Am American--Theatre and Cultural Literacy
35308R	001	Lecture	12:00-1:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Lena Ford	MCC102
China Goes Un-Pop -- Chinese Performance Art
35309R	001	Lecture	12:00-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Meiling Cheng	MCC102
Eco-Theatre--Art, Science and Bioregionalism in Contemporary Plays
35310R	001	Lecture	4:00-5:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Oliver Mayer	MCC102
The Theatre SCene
35311R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Emily Roxworthy	DAB300
Performing Revolutions--The Global History of Theatre and Social Change
35312R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Brent Blair	MCC102
Asian and Asian American Culture on Stage and Film
35313R	001	Lecture	3:30-5:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Velina Hasu Houston	KAP137
Making Drawings
35396R	001	Lecture	3:00-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	1 of 2	Osvaldo Trujillo	WAH102A

GESM 120g: Seminar in Humanistic Inquiry (4.0 units)

Interpretation and analysis of works of the imagination, exploring language, thought, and cultural traditions in relation to one another. (Satisfies GE-B, Humanistic Inquiry) Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location	Syllabus
The Just Society--What Are Our Rights and Duties?
35322D	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Collis Tahzib	WPHB26
Mindfulness in Cultural Practices
35324R	001	Lecture	8:00-8:50am	MWF	1 of 2	Thomas Ward	THH213
A Theatre of Crisis -- Greek Tragedy and Contemporary Catastrophe
35325R	001	Lecture	8:00-9:20am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Matteo Barbiero	LVL3B
That Teenage Feeling
35327R	001	Lecture	8:30-9:50am	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Chris Belcher	DMC107
Trauma and Memory in Spanish and Latin American Cinema
35328R	001	Lecture	8:30-9:50am	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Julian Gutierrez-Albilla	DMC110
The Uncanny in Medieval and Renaissance Europe
35331R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Thea Tomaini	DMC157
Being Muslim in America
35332R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Arjun Nair	GFS113
Soviet Science Fiction between the Arts and Sciences
35334D	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Nikita Allgire	DMC211
Literature of Resistance
35335R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2		DMC255
A Theatre of Crisis -- Greek Tragedy and Contemporary Catastrophe
35336R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Matteo Barbiero	LVL3B
Black Fantasy Literature and Speculative Cultures
35337R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Jasmine Moore	DMC202
Contemporary Korean Film and Culture
35342R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Youngmin Choe	WPH205
The New Vietnam--Arts, Culture, Diaspora
35343R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Janet Hoskins	GFS201
Ancient Greece and India--Stories of an Encounter
35344R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Matteo Barbiero	WPHB36
Envisioning Afterlives--Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in Literature and History
35345R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Lori Meeks	GFS202
The Decline of Western Civilization-- History, Punk, Grunge, and Neoliberalism
35346R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Richard Antaramian	DMC151
Adapting Cervantes' Don Quixote to Film
35347R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Sherry Velasco	WPH106
Living Morally
35350R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Sharon Lloyd	GFS107
The Decline of Western Civilization-- History, Punk, Grunge, and Neoliberalism
35353R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Richard Antaramian	DMC157
Psy-Lit-- Literary Representations of Mental Life
35354R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Nikita Allgire	WPH107
Reading "Black"Love
35355R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Lanita Jacobs	KAP158
St. Petersburg--The City of Myth
35356R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Ellina Sattarova	DMC101
The Just Society--What Are Our Rights and Duties?
35357D	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Collis Tahzib	DMC261
Vampires and Other Monsters in World Literature, Film and Art
35359R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Ellen Oliveira	LVL13
The City, Rome
35360R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Maya Maskarinec	LVL3Y
Audio(visuality)--Voice and Sound in Popular Media
35361R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Sarah Kessler	DMC108
Climate Fiction--Speculative Fiction for a Broken World
35362R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Stephanie Bower	GFS204
Yesterday's Tomorrows
35363R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Rick Berg	GFS112
Choice, Chance, Fate and Dilemmas in Literature and Film
35365R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Nathalie Burle	DMC105
Why God? Religion in Modernity
35366R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Matthew Peterson	GFS111
Isle of Intellectuals--Cultural and Environmental Theory from Martinique
35367R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Alyssa A. L. James	GFS201	PDF (192869 KB)
Trouble As Their Business--Mid-20th Century Noir and Detective Fiction
35369R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	1 of 2	Ben Levine	WPH201
Happiness and the Human Condition
35370R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Susan Lape	GFS113
Kurosawa's cosmo--from Noh to Dostoevsky
35371R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Kerim Yasar	SOSB37
Transforming Italy-- Italian Literature Today
35373R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	James Fortney	DMC255
St. Petersburg--The City of Myth
35374R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Ellina Sattarova	DMC106
The Power of Stories--Tribal Identity in Contemporary America
35375R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Antonio Idini	DMC202
Italian Organized Crime in Literature and Cinema
35376R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Alessio Filippi	THH203
Yesterday's Tomorrows
35377R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Rick Berg	GFS229
Daughters of Africa--Black Women in U.S. History
35378R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Francille Wilson	DMC255
Christianity in the Roman Empire
35379R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Sheila Briggs	DMC202
Why God? Religion in Modernity
35382R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Matthew Peterson	GFS201
The Uncanny and the Otherworldly--Ghosts and Haunting in World Literature from Antiquity to the Present Day
35383R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Guilan Siassi	DMC254
Voices of Brazil from Past to Present
35384R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Jane Kassavin	DMC106
Time in Culture and Social Experience
35386R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Emily Zeamer	GFS205
Reason and the Unbearable Lightness of Being
35387R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2		DMC255
Ghost Stories--Throughout Time and Around the World
35391R	001	Lecture	5:00-6:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Tok Thompson	THH117
Wandering Jews--Jewish Migration in History and Literature
35397R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Michael Rom	DMC161
Feminist Science Fiction Studies
35398D	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Atia Sattar	THH205

GESM 121g: Seminar in Humanistic Inquiry (4.0 units)

Critical appreciation of various forms of human expression, evaluating works of literature, philosophy, and the arts to enable informed opinions about ideas and values. Offered by a professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Instrumentalizing Happiness: The Ethics, Science, and Industry of Human Flourishing
35401R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Amy Schroeder	GFS202
Climate Change, Technology and Environmental Value
35403R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Elisa Warford	GFS210

GESM 130g: Seminar in Social Analysis (4.0 units)

Individual and collective human action as it shapes and is shaped by economic organizations, political institutions, and broad social and cultural settings. (Satisfies GE-C, Social Analysis) Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Nudging for Behavior Change
35421R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Victoria Campbell-Arvai	DMC108
Culture Detectives--Historical Archaeology in the Americas
35422R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Tracie Mayfield	GFS105
Sociology of Youth, Culture and Society
35423R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Elaine Bell Kaplan	DMC207
Why are We Polarized?
35425R	001	Lecture	8:00-9:20am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Oded Marom	DMC208
Sociology of Youth, Culture and Society
35427R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Elaine Bell Kaplan	GFS207
Helter Skelter--Cults, Crime, and Conspiracy in California History
35428R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	David Helps	GFS202
Jewish Languages in the 21st Century
35429R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Sarah Benor	DMC105
Why are We Polarized?
35430R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Oded Marom	LVL3B
Ritual
35431R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Anne Goldgar	VPD107
Bugs, Pests and People--A More than Human History
35432R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Admire Mseba	THH205
Unlocking the Multilingual Multiverse--Mastering the Power of Language
35433R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Francesca Ricciardelli	GFS109
Why are We Polarized?
35436R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Oded Marom	WPH107
Food -- Then and Now
35437R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Jessica Kanoski	GFS202
Surviving Climate Change in the Middle East
35438R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Mon, Wed	1 of 2	Ciruce Movahedi-Lankarani	GFS113
Pacific Beaches in the American Imagination
35439R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Sean Fraga	GFS108
Language Contact and Language Acquisition
35445R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Zuzanna Fuchs	VPD107

GESM 131g: Seminar in Social Analysis (4.0 units)

The causes and consequences of social phenomena; quantitative and qualitative methods of the social sciences; how people behave and influence the world through cultural forms. Offered by a professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Diversity in Hollywood--Social Inquiry into Causes, Constraints, and Change-Make Processes
35446R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Stacy Smith	ANN406
Media and Social Change
35447R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Daniela Baroffio	ASC240
Science Communication in a Post-Truth Era
35448D	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Cristina Visperas	ANN409ABC
The Bilingual-Bicultural Experience in America -- A focus on Latinos
35449R	001	Lecture	8:30-9:50am	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Eugenia Mora-Flores	DMC108
Journalism and the Shifting Information Landscape
35450R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Laura Davis	THH117
Aging and Media
35453R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Laura Castaneda,Caroline Cicero	LVL3B
Public Policy for Aging Populations
35454R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Emma Aguila Vega	DMC256
Journalism and the Shifting Information Landscape
35455R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Laura Davis	SGM226

GESM 140g: Seminar in the Life Sciences (4.0 units)

Scientific understanding of a full range of living systems from molecules to ecosystems, prokaryotes to humans, past and present. (Satisfies GE-D, Life Sciences) Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location	Syllabus
Language in the Age of the Internet
35461R	001	Lecture	11:00-12:20pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Elsi Kaiser	GFS223
Speech and Hearing in Health and Breakdown
35462R	001	Lecture	12:30-1:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Dani Byrd	GFS113	PDF (1111383 MB)
Science of Mind -- Language
35463R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Hajime Hoji	GFS109

GESM 141g: Seminar in the Life Sciences (4.0 units)

Scientific understanding of living systems from molecules to ecosystems; how data is generated and interpreted; how scientific discovery spurs technological growth and impacts society. Offered by a professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location	Syllabus
Aging and the Human Brain
35465R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:50pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Marc Vermulst	KAP166
Diseases of the Brain--Why Haven't we won the Battle Yet?
35467R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Daryl Davies	GFS204	PDF (416240 KB)
The Brain as a Computer
35475R	001	Lecture	3:30-4:50pm	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Bartlett Mel	GFS105
The Mind and Body Connection Through the Lifespan
35476R	001	Lecture	1:00-2:50pm	Mon, Wed	0 of 2	Valter Longo	GER115

GESM 150Lg: Seminar in the Physical Sciences (4.0 units)

Analysis of natural phenomenon through quantitative description and synthesis; the processes by which scientific knowledge is obtained, evaluated, and placed in social context. (Satisfies GE-E, Physical Sciences) Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.
Note: Register for one lecture and one lab listed immediately following that lecture

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Climate and Natural Hazards--Understanding the Dynamics of Natural Disasters in a Changing Climate
35468R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	1 of 2	Andres Sanchez	GFS111
Climate and Natural Hazards--Understanding the Dynamics of Natural Disasters in a Changing Climate
35469R	001	Lab	10:00-11:50am	Friday	1 of 2	Andres Sanchez	ZHS468
Colonizing Mars - Challenges and Opportunities for Human Exploration
35487R	001	Lecture	2:00-3:20pm	Mon, Wed	2 of 2	Hamid Chabok	GFS113
Colonizing Mars - Challenges and Opportunities for Human Exploration
35488R	001	Lab	4:00-5:50pm	Tuesday	2 of 2	Hamid Chabok	DMC111

GESM 151Lg: Seminar in the Physical Sciences (4.0 units)

Natural phenomena analyzed through quantitative description and synthesis to demonstrate how scientific knowledge is obtained, evaluated and made socially relevant. A separate lab is required. Offered by a professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.
Note: Register for one lecture and one lab listed immediately following that lecture

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Acoustics of Real and Virtual Spaces
35477R	001	Lecture	10:00-11:20am	Mon, Fri	2 of 15	Chris Kyriakakis	RTH217
Acoustics of Real and Virtual Spaces
35478R	001	Lab	11:30-1:20pm	Friday	2 of 15	Chris Kyriakakis	RTH217

GESM 160g: Seminar in Quantitative Reasoning (4.0 units)

Analysis and manipulation of data and information related to quantifiable objects, symbolic elements, or logic; formal reasoning, abstract representation, and empirical analysis. (Satisfies GE-F, Quantitative Reasoning). Open only to Freshmen.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.
Note: Instructions on how to obtain department authorization (d-clearance) for GESM courses are available at dornsife.usc.edu/2015ge/gesm-registration/.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location
Mathematics of Personal Finance
35480R	001	Lecture	8:30-9:50am	Mon, Wed	1 of 2	Felicia Tabing	DMC208
Constructing a Language
35494R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	0 of 2	Andrew Murphy	GFS205

GESM 161g: Seminar in Quantitative Reasoning (4.0 units)

Logical or statistical inference, probability, or mathematical analysis used as tools to evaluate hypotheses, claims, questions, or problems within a formal mode of thought. Offered by a professional school.

Restriction: Registration open to the following class level(s): Freshmen
General Education: This course satisfies the university's general education requirement.

Section	Session	Type	Time	Days	Registered	Instructor	Location	Syllabus	Info
Mind, Belief and Behavior--Learning about Learning
35489R	001	Lecture	9:30-10:50am	Tue, Thu	2 of 2	Helena Seli	SOSB52

Information accurate as of May 15, 2025 9:55 am.
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