Majors & Minors

The joint Iovine and Young Academy and Marshall School of Business Bachelor of Science degree builds expertise at the intersection of human-centered design, technology, business innovation and culture so that students can develop integrative socio-technical creativity and business innovation techniques. The degree combines human-centric design and interactive computing skills with a strong foundation in business so as to prepare students for leadership careers in business innovation ranging from CEOs of their own ventures to strategists, chief innovation officers, chief technical officers and consultants for established business

Through the Academy's core, students develop a powerful mindset to analyze challenges, think across knowledge domains and synthesize diverse ideas to create new technologies, ventures and humane solutions for purpose-driven change. All students develop interactive computing skills as well as product design, modeling and prototyping skills. Through the Business core students build skills in business fundamentals including finance, management, economics, accounting, data analytics and statistics and entrepreneurship.  The Design Strategy, Management Strategy and Industry Practicum courses place students inside premier professionalizing experiences with leading industry collaborators. The IYA Innovation Quest and Greif Center Entrepreneurship courses and competitions allow interested students to develop and launch their own ventures. The fourth-year “Garage Experience” provides an advanced workshop environment for student teams to develop new products, systems and services, taking them from concept and prototyping to development and launch.  Throughout the program students are taught to think seamlessly across domains and to apply their technological, business and design skills in an integrative manner toward innovative problem solving. 

In addition , students will leverage IYA, Marshall and USC wide electives to develop technical skills for business innovation applications (modeling and simulations, artificial and augmented intelligence, digital twining) or for cross-cutting application areas such as extended reality, physical computing or health innovation.

The minor in business technology fusion is available to students in all schools and departments except business majors. This minor requires 20 units to complete. To enroll, students must have completed a minimum of 32 units of college-level course work and have a minimum overall GPA of at least 2.75.

The major in Central European Studies combines background in relevant languages (Russian plus either German or Polish, or more intensive study of Russian) with course work in international relations and the history, culture and politics of the region.

No longer an imperial backwater, Central Europe has risen from its Cold War stasis to become one of the world's most dynamic and important regions. Stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Balkan Peninsula, and from the Eastern lands of Germany to the Western regions of Russia, this onetime great-power battleground is now a vital trade and energy corridor, a mosaic of languages and cultures, a place of both successful state-building and persistent ethnic frictions, and a promising but still-precarious bridge between the former Soviet Union and the West. Central Europe rivals the Far East and Southwest Asia as one of the world's most strategically important regions — now, and over the coming decades. Those who master its history and politics, its economic, cultural and linguistic diversity, will be well positioned for fellowships, graduate work, business or analytical careers centered on this fascinating region.

The objectives of this interdisciplinary major are to provide students with: 1) the historical background and linguistic-cultural skills necessary for in-depth study of Central Europe; 2) knowledge of its main post-Cold War political, ethnic, and economic trends; and 3) understanding of current issues from nationalism and immigration to trade, military-diplomatic and alliance politics.

Requirements

The fundamental linguistic background of the major is Russian (12 units).

Students enrolled in this minor will be introduced to the rich traditions of ceramic practice — from wheel throwing to 3-D modeling — while encouraging the use of materials and methods as vehicles for individual expression in contemporary art. They will be exposed to lectures and readings in the history of clay and critical writings on the subject. A variety of classes is offered including beginning and advanced ceramics, wheel throwing, clay and glaze formulation, art and technology, modeling and mold making, sculpture, visual literacy and theory and criticism. As students advance in the level of their studies, they can choose to follow a traditional approach to clay and/or pursue exploration and experimentation with the medium including freedom to create mixed-media pieces or to bring technology in to their work. The goal is to create a strong foundation in clay significant to the career path of their choosing. The total number of units is required for this minor is 20.

In addition to the general education, writing, foreign language and diversity requirements for a degree in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the following courses are required.