Thematic Option

Return to: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

College Academic Services Building 200
(213) 740-2961
(800) 872-2961
Email: thematicoption@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/thematic-option
Director: Pennelope Von Helmolt, PhD

Lecturer: Trisha Tucker, PhD

Thematic Option, the university’s general education core honors program, is an alternative to regular core general education requirements. The program is interdisciplinary and provides a strong intellectual community.

The program teaches students to formulate ethical questions, to analyze and understand the reasoning behind views that differ from their own, to recognize the roles that historical, political and social forces play in matters of personal choice, and to express their views coherently in writing. Thematic Option can be arranged to fit any major.

To maintain small classes and allow for extensive discussion, Thematic Option is limited to 200 students each year. Students must be highly motivated, with a record of academic achievement. The average Thematic Option student has cumulative SAT scores above 2200 and an “A” high school GPA. The program is rigorous and requires extensive reading and writing.

Program Requirements

The Thematic Option honors curriculum consists of four interdisciplinary core classes taught around distinct themes: CORE-101 Symbols and Conceptual Systems: Thematic Option Honors Program ; CORE-102 Culture and Values: Thematic Option Honors Program ; CORE-103 The Process of Change in Science: Thematic Option Honors Program ; and CORE-104 Change and the Future: Thematic Option Honors Program .

CORE-111 Writing Seminar I: Thematic Option Honors Program and CORE-112 Writing Seminar II: Thematic Option Honors Program make up the eight units of writing to meet the university requirement. The classes are accompanied by individual, bi-weekly tutorials. CORE 111 , which requires concurrent enrollment with an affiliated CORE 102 , focuses on critical thinking and analysis, focusing on academic argument and reasoning through close reading of primary texts. CORE 112 teaches students to convey complex ideas and to advance sophistication of essay structure, grounded argument, and to identify and address specific audiences persuasively in academic discourse.

The core Thematic Option curriculum is supplemented by four additional courses taken from the General Education Program: one in Quantitative Reasoning, one in The Arts, one in Social Analysis, and one in the Physical Sciences. Completion of CORE 102 and CORE 111 with a passing grade satisfies the University’s General Education Seminar requirement.

Liberal Arts Modules

Liberal Arts Modules are a college-wide honors opportunity that bring together students with substantial training in their respective disciplines to study a common subject area using multiple approaches while participating in a cross-disciplinary dialogue.

Liberal Arts Modules provide a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary study with peers and faculty from different disciplines. The themes and topics change each semester depending on faculty participation. Students are exposed to different approaches to societal issues, gain experience working collaboratively with peers from other academic areas, apply their knowledge to new subject areas and focus sustained critical attention on disciplinary methods of inquiry.

A typical module includes four classes: three small seminars and one CORE 498 course. The program requires simultaneous enrollment in one of the three seminars and in CORE 498 , for a total of 8 units.

Students with at least junior standing and a major/minor GPA of at least 3.0 are eligible to apply. Preference is given to students pursuing double majors or other major/minor combinations in the liberal arts. Students graduating with a BA or USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences BS degree who complete a module and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 will have “Distinction in Liberal Arts” listed on their USC Transcript.

Requirements (8 Units)

Simultaneous registration in CORE 498 and a CORE 499 Special Topics class that is part of the Liberal Arts Module.

Programs

Minor

Thematic Approaches to Humanities and Society Minor

Courses

Thematic Option