Majors & Minors

Overview

The Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies consists of course work in the major, core music studies (theory, aural skills, music history, ensemble) and USC's general education and writing program.

Entrance Requirements

Admission to Thornton programs is granted through the USC admission process. Applicants are screened by appropriate faculty selection committees. Specific entrance requirements are reviewed on an annual basis and published online at music.usc.edu.

General Education Requirements

USC's General Education program, revised in fall 2015, provides a coherent, integrated approach to the study of the liberal arts, with the goal of nurturing habits of thought that are essential for professional success, personal development, and meaningful lifelong learning. Eight courses are required in six Core Literacies, in addition to two courses in Global Perspectives, two courses in Writing, and one General Education Seminar taken during the first year at USC. With careful planning, certain courses (including courses required for the music major) can fulfill more than one of these general education requirements. Academic advisers in the Thornton School carefully guide Thornton students in making their course choices. This typically will result in Thornton students taking a total of eight courses (including two writing courses) in order to fulfill all of the USC general education requirements.

Capstone Project

A senior recital or senior project must be completed under approved faculty supervision and guidance. The faculty of the department of the student's major program determines the detailed requirements of the recital or project, including content, length, format and/or other specifications. Note that senior projects must first be approved by the Jazz faculty. In cases in which a performance venue is required in order to present the recital, reservations must be made according to the current guidelines of the Music Operations office.

This 21-unit minor program in jazz studies incorporates course work in individual instruction, the history of jazz masters, techniques of jazz improvisation and jazz theory for improvisers. The minor is not available to BM jazz studies majors.

Requirements for admission are: GPA per university regulations and an audition.

Jewish American Studies is a multidisciplinary program designed to provide students with a critical understanding of the historical, cultural, social, political and religious experience of Jewish Americans, with a particular emphasis on the development and culture of Jewish communities in California and the West as well as on both historical and contemporary effects of global issues on American Jewish communities. By drawing upon courses in American Studies and by emphasizing comparative as well as interdisciplinary study, this program offers training in the analytical tools and methods of interpretation appropriate for studying the American Jewish experience in its particularity and ethnic and cultural study in general. The program is particularly appropriate for students interested in integrating studies in the humanities and social sciences and for students preparing to work and interact with diverse communities and cultures in the United States and abroad in such fields as education, human services, business, journalism and public administration.

Successful completion of 20 units in American Studies and Judaic Studies are required to qualify for the minor.

The minor in Jewish American Studies offers the opportunity to study the experiences and cultures of the American Jewish community in relation to those of other American peoples. For the minor, 20 units of American Studies and Judaic Studies are required.

The interdisciplinary major in Jewish Studies investigates the study of Jewish religion, history, culture and languages through a variety of academic perspectives. Students can work with scholars in the School of Religion in USC Dornsife College, the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and faculty across the USC campus trained in religious studies, Jewish thought, history, linguistics, literature, international relations, political science, music and sociology. The curriculum is designed to allow students options in combining courses that focus on Judaism as a religion with those that focus on history, literature and other forms of Jewish culture and civilization.

Students taking the Jewish studies minor must enroll in either JS 100 or JS 180. In addition, they must complete four upper-division courses selected from the Judaism as a Religious Tradition track and the Jewish History and Culture track listed in the Jewish studies major description.

The total unit requirement for the minor is 20 units; 16 of those units must be upper-division.

Building upon Annenberg’s record of innovation in journalism education, the BA in Journalism offers a forward-thinking curriculum that encourages students to embrace technology, assess it critically, and employ it in the service of powerful and effective journalism. Team-taught courses leverage faculty expertise in video, audio, text and digital journalism to help students establish their reporting and writing expertise across multiple platforms. Through a newly integrated Media Center experience, students will acquire the editing, production and digital storytelling skills to produce journalism across a range of media. At the conclusion of the degree program, students will complete an advanced reporting project that showcases their abilities.

Students are required to complete 44 units for the major, including 30 units required core courses.

The minor in Judaic Studies provides the opportunity for in-depth study of Jewish history, literature, politics, culture, religion, sociology and gender studies using approaches developed through multidisciplinary approaches. Courses offered cover a broad time span — the ancient Near East to contemporary America — and they challenge and stimulate students to examine and learn about Jewish culture as a topic of scientific interest.

For the minor, 20 units in Judaic Studies and Religion are required. The following courses are required: REL 301 and JS 180. Three additional courses may be chosen from among JS 321, JS 340, JS 361, JS 375, JS 382, JS 383, JS 415 and REL 312. Successful completion of five 4-unit courses or the equivalent in Jewish American Studies is required to qualify for the minor.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the dual PharmD/JD program is competitive, and involves meeting admission requirements and gaining acceptance to both the School of Pharmacy and the law school. Students will not be given special consideration for admission to either program because they are applying for the dual degree. Students that have a baccalaureate degree may apply to the dual PharmD/JD degree program in two ways. First, they may apply at the time they submit their PharmD application by concurrently submitting applications to both schools. Students who elect this approach must identify themselves on their PharmD applications as potential dual PharmD/JD degree students. Students who are admitted to both schools will be offered admission to the dual degree contingent on passing all courses in their first year of the PharmD with a minimum 3.0 GPA.

Students pursuing the dual PharmD/JD degree must notify the law school in a timely fashion that they will be enrolling in the dual PharmD/JD degree program and will not matriculate at the law school until the following year. Students who are accepted only by one school may choose to attend that school but will not be eligible for the dual degree. Second, students can apply to the dual degree by submitting an application to the law school during their first year of enrollment in the PharmD program prior to the law school's published application deadline. Students who elect this approach must apply through the School of Pharmacy. Students admitted to the law school using this approach would be offered admission to the dual degree contingent on passing all courses in their first year of the PharmD with a minimum 3.0 GPA. See the admissions section of the School of Pharmacy and the law school for specific requirements.

Degree Requirements

The professions of pharmacy and law are distinctly different, yet pharmacists are often involved in legal issues and lawyers frequently deal with pharmacy, drug, health care, product development and toxin-related matters. This dual degree program provides qualified students with an efficient mechanism for obtaining the expertise and professional credentials that will enable them to develop professional practices that bring together expertise in both areas.

Overall Requirements

A student is required to complete all work for both degrees within six years of the date of matriculation at the School of Pharmacy (PharmD) and five years of matriculation at the law school (JD). The entire dual degree program will take six years to complete. Dual degree students will be allowed to use 12 units of approved JD course work (elective or required) to meet 12 units of PharmD electives and 12 units of approved PharmD course work (elective or required) to meet 12 units of JD electives. A faculty qualifying exam committee will determine the exact program for each student, including the appropriateness of courses in one program used to meet elective requirements for the other program. A total of 212 units is required for the dual degree.

PharmD Requirements

Dual degree students must successfully complete 148 units of PharmD and acceptable JD units to receive the PharmD degree. The 148 units must include 136 units of required and elective pharmacy course work plus 12 units of JD course work deemed acceptable to meet PharmD elective requirements. Dual degree students should graduate with their PharmD degrees at the completion of the first semester of the sixth academic year of the dual degree program. Students will be eligible to sit for the Pharmacy Board Exams after completion of the PharmD degree requirements. However, dual degree students will not actually be awarded their PharmD degrees until they complete requirements for both degrees.

Juris Doctor Requirements

Dual degree students must successfully complete 88 units of JD and acceptable PharmD course work during the second to sixth years of the dual degree program to receive the JD degree. The 88 units must be composed of 76 units of JD course work, including satisfaction of the upper-division writing requirement and any other substantive requirements, plus 12 units of PharmD course work deemed acceptable to meet JD elective requirements. No JD credit will be awarded for PharmD course work completed prior to matriculation in the law school. Students cannot receive the JD degree under requirements for the dual degree program without prior or simultaneous completion of the PharmD degree.

Both professions require passing a state board or bar exam to practice the respective professions. Neither of these degrees requires a thesis or comprehensive final exam.

Recommended Program

PharmD/JD dual degree students will begin with the first year of the PharmD curriculum (36 units). During the second year, students will take the first year law core (30 units), plus 3–5 PharmD units. Due to the rigor of the law school core, pharmacy courses during the first year of law school are limited to non-science courses. The third through fifth years of the program focus on PharmD courses with sufficient law courses to maintain students' educational momentum in law. Students should complete their PharmD requirements during the fall of their sixth year of the program and their law course work also during the sixth year. Students must complete both degree requirements by the end of the sixth year of the program.
 

Application deadline (for PhD): December 1

The Political Science and International Relations program and the USC Gould School of Law jointly offer a dual degree program leading to the JD/PhD degree. Applicants must apply to the Political Science and International Relations program and the law school and meet the requirements for admission to both. 

In the first year students take 30 units of course work in the law school exclusively. The second and third years include a total of 40 units of courses in political science and international relations and 46 units of law. To earn the JD, all students (including dual degree students) must complete 37 numerically graded law units at USC after the first year. Students must complete a five-course core theory and methodology sequence. They must include a classics-oriented, two-semester political, social, comparative and international theory sequence (currently POIR 600), a multivariate statistics course (such as POIR 611) and a philosophies/methodologies in social inquiry course (POIR 610). Finally in their second, third or fourth year, they must take an approved advanced research methods course.

To obtain a PhD in Political Science and International Relations, students must pass the screening process. After the completion of required field course work with a grade of B or better, a substantive paper or USC MA thesis relevant to the program, students must take a PhD qualifying examination in two of their three fields of concentration. The third field will be completed by taking at least three courses and passing each with a grade of B or better. The final requirement, following successful completion of the qualifying examination, is a doctoral dissertation.