Degree Requirements
GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
The university's general education program provides a coherent, integrated introduction to the breadth of knowledge you will need to consider yourself (and to be considered by other people) a generally well-educated person. This program requires six courses in different categories, plus writing, foreign language, and diversity requirements. For more details, visit the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences'
General Education Program page.
Course descriptions may be found in the
USC Catalogue.
MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
Note: These requirements are for new incoming Communication students only. Students already enrolled at USC who wish to earn a Communication degree should visit the Non-Annenberg USC Students page.Core Courses (Any four of the following five):
- COMM 200 Communication as a Social Science (4 units)
- COMM 201 Communication as a Liberal Art (4)
-
COMM 202 Introduction to Communication Technology (4)
- COMM 203 Introduction to Mass Communication Theory and Research (4)
- COMM 206 Communication and Culture (4)
Methods Core Courses (any two of the following three):
- COMM 204* Public Speaking (4 units)
- COMM 301L Empirical Research in Communication (pre-req.: COMM 200) (4)
- COMM 322 Argumentation and Advocacy (4)
* Note: COMM 204 can be used to meet the core requirement only if taken during the freshman or sophomore year. Students admitted into the COMM major with junior or senior standing may use COMM 204 to fulfill the core requirement if it is taken during the first complete semester as a major.
Elective courses (24 units):You must complete an additional 24 units of upper division communication course work (COMM 300-499).
OPTIONSGiven the breadth of the field and the range of expertise of our faculty, you may choose to focus your studies on any of a number of areas of communication. Four representative foci are listed here, with relevant classes for each.
- Media, Law and Politics
COMM 302 Persuasion
COMM 310 Media and Society
COMM 330 Rhetoric in Classical Culture
COMM 335 Rhetoric in Contemporary Culture
COMM 370 The Rhetoric of Ideas: Ideology and Propaganda
COMM 371 Censorship and the Law: From the Press to Cyberspace
COMM 388 Ethics in Human Communication
COMM 402 Public Communication Campaigns
COMM 411 Communication Criticism
COMM 412 Communication and Social Movements
COMM 421 Legal Communication
COMM 422 Legal Issues and New Media
COMM 489 Campaign Communication
- Organizational and Interpersonal Communication
COMM 304 Interpersonal Communication
COMM 308 Communication and Conflict
COMM 315 Health Communication
COMM 320 Small Group and Team Communication
COMM 321 Communication in the Virtual Group
COMM 345 Social and Economic Implications of Communication Technologies
COMM 375 Business and Professional Communication
COMM 385 Survey of Organizational Communication
COMM 480 Nonverbal Communication
COMM 486 Human and Technological Systems in Organizations
COMM 487 Communication and Global Organizations
- Communication and Culture
COMM 324 Intercultural Communication
COMM 325 Intercultural Britain: Media, History and Identity (London study abroad)
COMM 330 Rhetoric in Classical Culture
COMM 335 Rhetoric in Contemporary Culture
COMM 339 Communication Technology and Culture
COMM 340 The Cultures of New Media
COMM 345 Social and Economic Implications of Communication Technologies
COMM 350 Video Games: Content, Industry and Policy
COMM 360 The Rhetoric of Los Angeles
COMM 363 Media Consumption
COMM 364 Comparative Media: United States and the United Kingdom (London study abroad)
COMM 365 The Rhetoric of London (London study abroad)
COMM 384 Interpreting Popular Culture
COMM 395 Gender, Media and Communication
COMM 424 Millennium in the Media
COMM 425 Communicating Religion
COMM 450 Visual Culture and Communication
COMM 465 Gender in Media Industries and Products
COMM 473 Advanced Issues in Communication and Technology
- Entertainment, Communication, and Society
COMM 300 Foundations for the Study of Entertainment, Communication & Society
COMM 306 The Communication Revolution, Entertainment and the Arts
COMM 307 Sound Clash: Popular Music and American Culture
COMM 310 Media and Society
COMM 339 Communication, Technology and Culture
COMM 340 The Cultures of New Media
COMM 360 The Rhetoric of Los Angeles
COMM 372 The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture
COMM 382 Sports, Business and Media in Today's Society
COMM 383m Sports, Communication and Culture
COMM 384 Interpreting Popular Culture
COMM 395m Gender, Media and Communication
COMM 396 Fashion, Media and Culture
COMM 401 Audience Analysis
COMM 426 Religion, Media and Hollywood
COMM 430 Global Entertainment
COMM 431 Global Strategy for the Communications Industry
COMM 432 American Media and Entertainment Industries
COMM 440 Music as Communication
COMM 455 Advertising and Society
COMM 456 Entertainment, Marketing and Culture
COMM 457 Children and Media
COMM 458 Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment and the Arts
COMM 459 Fact and Fiction: From Journalism to the Docudrama (enroll in JOUR 459)
COMM 465 Gender and Media Industries and Products
COMM 466 People of Color and the News Media
COMM 467 Gender and the News Media
COMM 471 Communication Systems and Technologies
COMM 472 Telecommunication Strategic Analysis
COMM 480 Nonverbal Communication
COMM 498 Ethical Issues in Entertainment and Communication
COMM 499 **Special topics may be approved depending on the nature of the course.
If five of the above courses are completed, students may choose four units of these interdisciplinary electives for their upper division requirement.
COLT 365 Literature and Popular Culture (4)
CSCI 480 Computer Graphics (3)
CTCS 411 Film, Television and Cultural Studies (4)
CTIN 483 Programming for Interactivity (4)
CTPR 386 Art and Industry of the Theatrical Film (4)
CTPR 410 Movie Business from Story Conception to Exhibition (2)
ENGL 392 Visual and Popular Culture (4)
FA 350 Art Theory and Criticism (4)
HP 400 Culture, Lifestyle, and Health (4)
MKT 450 Consumer Behavior and Marketing (4)
THTR 303 The Performing Arts (4)