Interdisciplinary Majors

The following majors were developed in our office but are overseen in other departments.  Learn more about each major by visiting the major’s website.

American Popular Culture

In this major, students learn to think critically about the images and assertions of the mass media and commercial culture from a variety of perspectives, as well as how the experience of popular culture interacts with questions of gender and ethnicity in the American context.

Health and the Human Sciences

Students interested in health professions explore diverse fields such as sociology, psychology, gerontology, gender studies and anthropology. It includes some courses that prepare students for study in medicine, nursing and other fields.

Intelligence and Cyber Operations

This major brings scholarship in international relations together with technical expertise in information technology to prepare students for a rapidly emerging field of scholarly activity and professional practice. Students are prepared to engage in the challenges and opportunities of their time such as the use of cyber technology to collect information and spread misinformation.

Interdisciplinary Major Program

The Interdisciplinary Major Program presents a special opportunity for students to take advantage of the University’s strengths in the professions and the liberal arts, by designing individual programs of study that cross the lines between traditional majors.

International Relations and the Global Economy

Students meet rigorous interdisciplinary training at the intersection of international relations and economics, preparing them for careers ranging from foreign policy and international development to international finance and political risk and analysis.

Narrative Studies

Based in the Humanities, coursework in this major focuses on popular culture, writing in narrative forms, narrative in cross-cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts. It draws on the resources of USC’s curriculum in the arts.

NGOs and Social Change

This major which 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.

Political Economy

Students in this major are prepared for engagement with global and regional questions that require analysis of economic and political causes and consequences, and provides a useful background for a wide variety of entry positions in the public and private sectors.
Spotlight

During Spring 2020, Intelligence and Cyber Operations students presented their cyber crime knowledge to perspective employers across the globe in a virutal mock trial.  

Read more about it on USC News.

Interdisciplinary Minors

The following majors were developed in our office but are overseen in other departments.  Learn more about each major by visiting the major’s website.  For advising questions, contact the USC Dornsife Office of Undergraduate Advising at advising@dornsife.usc.edu.

 

Consumer Behavior

This minor explores consumer thinking from the perspectives of psychology, marketing, economics, anthropology, sociology, and other departments interested in popular culture. Students learn about attitudes and impressions people form and how individual factors, culture, mass media, economics and social trends influence people’s decisions.

Early Modern Studies

This minor studies the literatures and cultures of Europe and the Americas from the late medieval period to 1800. It focuses on the interplay of literary and historical methodologies while promoting an area of study in a wide context.

Forensics and Criminality

This minor is designed for students interested in the study of law, in writing about crime and punishment, and in careers in the criminal justice system. It explores our system of criminal justice and the personal and socio-economic reasons people break the law.

International Health, Development, and Social Justice

This minor provides students with an understanding of the challenges associated with health care as an ethical issue in the international context. It focuses on the convergence of three large fields of inquiry, raising questions about their intersection.

Managing Human Relations

This minor is intended for students with an interest in human relations as a subject of study or professional goal. In addition to coursework in organizational behavior, social psychology, and management, this minor includes attention to questions of ethics and leadership.

Mathematical Finance

This minor is designed to introduce students to the intersection of mathematics and finance, including risk analysis and valuation, financial markets and the financial system.

Narrative Structure

This 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.

Photography and Social Change

This minor explores the potential of photography as an instrument of social change that allows individuals to document their circumstances, share their stories, and change their lives.  Students develop an understanding of theories of culture and cultural phenomena and have the opportunity to share personal narratives through digital media.

Political Organizing in the Digital Age

This minor is intended to help students engage in domestic political organizing and transnational social movements by creating websites, using pod-casting and other new technologies. It should help students secure internships and jobs with political and international organizations, and generally improve their abilities to change the world.

Resistance to Genocide

To resist genocide effectively, we need to understand its history — the factors that have brought it about and those that have enabled people to prevent, resist or recuperate from mass violence. This minor draws upon research in the causes, results and representations of attempted genocide as well as resistance to genocidal mass violence.

User Experience

The User Experience minor looks at users of all sorts of products and services and the psychology behind their experiences.  Students learn to think creatively across platforms and media while selecting courses from USC Dornsife, Marshall School of Business, Annenberg School of Communication, Viterbi School of Engineering, and Roski School of Fine Arts.

Contact Us

Dornsife Undergraduate Programs
undergraduateprograms@dornsife.usc.edu
213.740.2961