Majors & Minors

This interdisciplinary minor is intended for students with an interest in story-telling who are majoring in programs and disciplines other than narrative studies. The minor, based in the humanities, provides opportunities for undergraduates to study story structure from the perspective of several disciplines. As with all minors, students must choose at least four courses (16 units) outside their major department and four courses (16 units) that are not being used to satisfy any other subject requirement.

Course Requirements: five courses (20 units)

Narrative Studies prepares students for the development and evaluation of original content for novels, films, theatre and other narrative platforms, but recognizes that the range of professional opportunities in literature and the performing arts is much wider than the roles of author, screenwriter or playwright. To recognize a good story, to critique, help shape, realize and transform it, requires a background in the history of narrative, crosscultural and contemporary models, and an understanding of the broader context of popular culture.

Narrative Studies assumes that an effective narrative will be adapted from the medium in which it first appears as new media become available. To prepare students for a future in which the platform is likely to change, the Bachelor of Arts in Narrative Studies allows students to study across the current platforms while concentrating on the techniques of effective construction common to them all.

This minor is an overview of Native American studies. We will study Indigenous intellectualism and resistance through Indigenous language revitalization, art, decolonization and political resistance.

Minimum Required Units: 20

Students choose five classes in American Studies and Ethnicity, or courses certified for American Studies and Ethnicity credit. The five courses are distributed as follows: two core requirement courses and three additional elective courses chosen from the courses listed below.

The minor in natural science will first provide students with a foundation in the basic sciences of physics, chemistry and biology. Each student will then build on these foundation courses by selecting a variety of electives to meet individual scientific interests and academic goals. Eighteen units toward the natural science minor must be completed at USC. This minor is not available to majors in the natural sciences.

Coordinator: David McKemy, PhD
Undergraduate Advisers: Pablo Lopez, pablol@usc.edu; Mia Kirsten Santos, mnsantos@usc.edu.

Grade Requirements:

A grade of C- or higher is required to count toward major requirements.

Program Requirements:

The major requires eight core courses and a colloquium (33 units) and four or five elective courses (minimum 16 units) for a minimum total of 49 units.

The degree requires a minimum of 128 units.

Coordinator: David McKemy, PhD

Undergraduate Advisers: Pablo Lopez, pablol@usc.edu; Mia Kirsten Santos, mnsantos@usc.edu. 

Grade Requirements:

A grade of C- or higher is required to count toward major requirements.

Program Requirements:

The major requires 14 core courses (minimum 53 units) and five or six elective courses (minimum 20 units) for a minimum total of 73 units.

The degree requires a minimum of 128 units.

Coordinator: David McKemy, PhD
Undergraduate Advisers: Pablo Lopez, pablol@usc.edu; Mia Kirsten Santos, mnsantos@usc.edu

Grade Requirements

A grade of C- or higher is required to count toward minor requirements.

News media and society is a journalism minor that explores the responsibilities, the influence, the ethics and the diversity of the news media. It explores the myths about news media in the United States and explains what the news media are, how they work, what they do wrong and what they do right, and why they are important to a society whose citizens depend on the free and unfettered flow of information. This minor will help all students in all majors to understand one of the most important and misunderstood forces in American society: the news media.

News media and society benefits every student at the university because it gives students a new appreciation and understanding of the news media that so much influence their lives on a daily basis.

This interdisciplinary program focuses on the roots of social conflict, on theories and methods for understanding them, and on the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and nonprofits that address them. To remedy social problems, we need to examine their economic, political and social roots, as well as the varied forms of organizations that aim to fix them. Students will engage in various methods of analysis, from investigations of everyday interactions to explorations of larger economic, political and social structures. In classrooms and internships, students will learn how people in NGOs and nonprofits promote new forms of citizenship and governance, aiming to protect the environment and to lessen the suffering of people around the world.

The major requires nine courses (36 units) chosen from the specific lists of requirements below. As with all interdisciplinary majors, students may double-count no more than three courses from this degree to satisfy any other major.

This four-course minor enables students to learn about the nonprofit sector — its organizations, philanthropy and voluntary action. See complete description in the USC Price School of Public Policy section.