Majors & Minors

The geohazards minor allows students who are not geology majors to pursue a course of study that will lead to greater understanding of geohazards such as climate change, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, environmental contamination and availability of natural resources. These issues are examined in a number of upper-division geology courses, and each student can select from the list below depending on the particular area of interest and whether previous course work has been completed to meet prerequisites for some of the choices. The minor requires an introductory class, an upper-division course in either formation of minerals or geosystem behavior and three elective courses from the list below. The minimum number of units to complete the minor is 24, including the introductory course CHEM 105aLg (a corequisite for GEOL 315L) or MATH 125 (prerequisite for GEOL 450L) and three of the group: BISC 427, GEOL 305L, GEOL 315L, GEOL 316L, GEOL 320L, GEOL 321L, GEOL 433L and GEOL 450L. The remaining courses listed have additional prerequisites.

The 16-unit Geroscience Minor provides students with the opportunity to supplement their education with a life course perspective of aging processes. The minor includes a specific focus on active participation in research and course work that emphasizes current research discoveries in geroscience. The core curriculum of this minor includes GERO 300, GERO 301, and 8 units of directed research credit for participating in hands-on research with a faculty mentor. GERO 300 is an introduction to geroscience research and is meant to be taken prior to working in a lab. This course will expose emerging undergraduate geroscholars to the breadth of research opportunities at USC by some of the worlds experts in all domains of gerontology. This course is meant to help students decide which area of research is more exciting for them and to help them choose potential research groups to rotate in during the following semester. GERO 301 enables students to effectively read current scientific literature and present a literature review to their peer group. This course will be taken after a minimum of two semesters of research in a mentors lab; once a student is more familiar with the field and the research methodologies for that discipline.

This program is multidisciplinary in nature, It allows students to survey the biological, sociological, political and psychological aspects of aging, which provides a critical understanding of the current issues facing the field. Students choose one elective course based on their research area.  For example, undergraduate researchers working with biogerontologists could take GERO 315g A Journey into the Mind, which is designed to help non-science majors appreciate the importance of science in their lives and understand the science of gathering data to support how the brain works and our resulting behavior.  Researchers working with social gerontologists could take GERO 340 Policy, Values, and Power in an Aging Society, which studies how Americans' political values affect public policy and discusses landmark legislation that explores the social contract between generations and the role of governments in social welfare. Students may also choose between two of our most popular courses on diversity in aging (GERO 380m and GERO 435m), among other courses. 

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The innovative Minor in GIS and Sustainability Science provides an interdisciplinary foundation for individuals to address environmental sustainability, among the most pressing challenges of our time. With an understanding of concepts of spatial sciences, including geographic information science, cartographic principles, spatial data acquisition and analysis, and techniques of programming and customization, students will be capable of analyzing and utilizing geospatial information linked with human and natural systems to understand how humans create stress on ecosystems and make informed decisions about how to alleviate stress or restore damaged ecosystems.

In the capstone course, students have the opportunity to explore their specific interests in greater depth as they design a geospatial technology project that contributes to one or more sustainable development goals at various scales and in locations around the globe.

Geospatial careers are among the fastest-growing in the U.S. and world today, and geospatial jobs are currently available in every industry and discipline in consulting firms, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and private-sector companies.

The rise of global firms and international changes that followed the end of the cold war raise new opportunities and challenges. This minor provides students from fields such as business, journalism, engineering and political science an understanding of the dynamic nature of global relations, communications and technology. The global communication minor consists of six 4-unit courses, three from International Relations and three from Communication.

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The USC Dornsife Spatial Sciences Institute offers a pioneering Bachelor of Science in Global Geodesign to prepare individuals with the integrative ability to analyze the role of place, space and time to address issues of environmental sustainability and human well-being on neighborhood, community, regional and global scales in multidisciplinary and multi-dimensional ways.

Throughout their program, USC Global Geodesign students engage with faculty and leading practitioners from around the world to gain integrative experiences in spatial sciences, architecture, landscape architecture and urban and regional planning. Global geodesign graduates develop perspectives and backgrounds that will uniquely position them to contribute to improving the built and natural environments in multicultural and multi-scalar ways.

The minimum unit requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Global Geodesign is 128 units.

This minor provides students with a basic understanding of the factors that determine the health of populations around the globe. Curriculum focuses on the cultural, environmental and clinical aspects of various health topics such as maternal and child health, aging, obesity, infectious disease and others. By studying these issues, students from majors across the university will be prepared to assess and contribute to the resolution of emerging global health challenges. This minor will appeal to a wide variety of majors, particularly majors centered on international affairs, business and health care.

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The Bachelor of Science in Global Health is a multidisciplinary degree of the Keck School of Medicine's Department of Population and Public Health Sciences. This undergraduate program offers an examination of public health and policy issues in the context of global affairs. Students complete course work from Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies and International Relations in addition to requirements from other schools of the university. The program provides students with a strong background in understanding and evaluating global health issues and prepares students to become health professionals with international competencies. This program is an ideal major for students interested in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, international relations, public health, epidemiology, health psychology and health behavior research.

Program Requirements

The Bachelor of Science degree is awarded after students successfully complete 128 units, consisting of 66 units for the major and fulfillment of USC general education requirements including third semester equivalency in a foreign language.

General Education Requirements

The university's general education program provides a coherent, integrated introduction to the breadth of knowledge you will need to consider yourself (and to be considered by other people) a generally well-educated person. This program is effective for all students entering USC in fall 2015 or later, or transfer students beginning college elsewhere at that time and subsequently transferring to USC. It requires eight courses in six Core Literacies, plus two courses in Global Perspectives (which may double-count with courses in the Core Literacies) and two courses in writing. For more information about USC's general education requirements, see General Education.

Requirements for the Major (66 units)

The program is divided into core and elective components. As part of the core research requirements, students must complete a directed research requirement, HP 490, with a specific international research focus.

The core component (42–46 units) is required for all students.

The Global Studies major offers an interdisciplinary perspective on global issues and problems, while also providing opportunities for cross-cultural engagement and real-world learning.

Based in the Department of Anthropology, the Global Studies major prepares students for careers that require cross-cultural proficiency and grounded social analysis, such as international aid and advocacy, policy, law, media and journalism, business, global health, design, or engineering. Along with the required core and collateral courses, the elective units allow sufficient flexibility to complete course prerequisites for regional and area studies programs, law school, and business school.

Experiential Learning

In addition to specific course work, students in the Global Studies major are expected to engage in curricular experiential learning, such as by completing a minimum of one intensive internship (such as 4 credits or more of ANTH 393), one semester of study abroad, or equivalent.

Ideally, a student will spend one summer and one semester engaged in experiential learning prior to the senior year. Approved experiential learning courses include ANTH 325 and ANTH 393, as well as Problems Without Passports and many Maymester courses. Your academic adviser can provide more information on approved experiential learning options.

Language Requirement

Language proficiency is an important foundation for cross-cultural learning. For this reason, Global Studies majors are required to have or acquire at least intermediate conversational proficiency in a language not already familiar to them. The language requirement can be fulfilled in several ways: by completing a study abroad language immersion program at least eight weeks in length, by completing an oral examination administered by a qualified language instructor, or by completing an additional 8 units of language courses (in addition to the 8 units required of all USC Dornsife students).

Capstone Project and Seminar

The capstone project is the final requirement for the Global Studies major. It is a cumulative project that draws upon the experiential learning and coursework completed for the major. Students complete the capstone project while enrolled in an approved 4-unit capstone seminar. See the Global Studies program webpage for more information on the capstone.

Honors Program in Global Studies

Global Studies majors who have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.5 are strongly encouraged to explore the Honors Program in Global Studies, which entails writing an honors thesis and earning a grade of A- or higher in ANTH 485. We encourage students who meet the qualifications to consider the program as early as their fourth or fifth semesters. The full requirements for the Honors Program can be found on the Global Studies webpage.