Interdisciplinary Studies

Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  

College Academic Services Building
(213) 740-2961
FAX: (213) 740-4839
Email: fliegel@college.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/interdisciplinary-studies
Faculty Director: Thomas Gustafson, PhD

Director: Richard Fliegel, PhD

Interdisciplinary Major

The interdisciplinary major allows students to create an individual, original major. It is a flexible option available when a combination of existing majors and academic minors does not adequately fulfill a student’s educational goals. With close advisement, students can build their own programs of study.

The interdisciplinary major is an intensive research program for students with a focused interest in a topic that requires study from more than one disciplinary perspective. Interdisciplinary majors are usually self-motivated students with good writing skills and an intellectual passion for a particular area of inquiry. Course work is selected to lead to a thesis project integrating the areas of research comprising the interdisciplinary major.

Admission

Admission to the interdisciplinary major is by application. Applications, which may be obtained from the program office, are considered by a special admissions committee. Interested students must have a GPA of 3.0 (A = 4.0) or above; those with less than a 3.3 are the exception. No one is usually admitted after the end of the first semester of the junior year.

Program Requirements

Students in the program must meet all graduation requirements of the college. When admitted, students establish an academic “contract,” which outlines each semester’s course of study through graduation. The contract includes a minimum of nine (4-unit) upper-division courses, distributed in at least two fields. The primary focus of the major should be in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. These areas of concentration must then be combined in a senior thesis or project, written under the guidance of a faculty committee.

Restrictions

Course prerequisites cannot be waived; admission to courses restricted to majors is subject to availability and direct negotiations; admission to departments and/or schools which have their own admission requirements must be processed separately.

Bachelor of Arts in Narrative Studies

See English  for a full description of the major.

Programs

• Contemporary Latino and Latin American Studies (BA)

• Critical Approaches to Leadership Minor
• International Health, Development, and Social Justice Interdisciplinary Minor

Courses

• INDS 100 Topical and Multidisciplinary Seminars
• INDS 101 Directed Research and Tutorials
• INDS 102 Field Study
• INDS 300 Topical and Multidisciplinary Seminars
• INDS 301 Directed Research and Tutorials
• INDS 302 Field Study
• INDS 400 Topical and Multidisciplinary Seminars
• INDS 401 Directed Research and Tutorials
• INDS 402 Field Study
• INDS 494 Senior Thesis