Ask A Trojan: What’s the best class you’ve taken in your major and why?
Sophia – As a Quantitative Biology major, my favorite class so far has been QBIO-401 taught by Dr. Calabrese. It's a wonderful programming class for all levels with an emphasis on biological applications!
Jordan – I'm a Creative Writing major and my favorite class had to have been Introduction to Poetry Writing (ENGL 304) with Molly Bendall. Despite being a writer, prior to this class most of my experience has been in fiction and scripts; poetry was a new medium for me and very quickly became a favorite. Bendall made it approachable and showed me how creative I could be within it. I'll also throw in a class from my minor: Writing the Hour-Long Dramatic Series (CTWR 421) with Alexa Alemanni; getting to write your own original TV show is just awesome.
Lanie – I haven't had much time in my major at USC yet, but of the Music Industry classes I've talken so far, my favorite class is currently one I'm taking called Live Music Production and Promotion (MUIN 425) with Michael Garcia and Michael Kaminsky. The class is all about live music and how concerts come to be, and the final exam isn't a test but putting on your own live show with a group of other students. While I haven't gone to many sessions of this class, I'm excited to get to have such a hands on expereince with learning major skills that will expand my knowledge of a new part of the music industry. Garcia and Kaminsky make a great teaching duo, and I'm looking forward to having a great semester!
Dara – As much work as it was, PSYC 304 Sensation and Perception was really exciting for me. The reason I got into Cognitive Science was the opportunity to study the biological world—especially are relates to Human Biology. In this class (which I took with Clayton Stephenson) was great because I learnt about all the sensory systems and their functions—a topic that I fell in love with in secondary school. It involved a lot of reading though, haha!
Cherise – I'm a Theatre major with an Acting Emphasis and my favorite class so far has been Camera and Improv (THTR 250) so far. The teacher (Julian Conde) was really cool and he encouraged us to experiment with acting on camera and to just play around with our different ideas. We did self tapes, and we made a lot of projects where we acted on camera. It was similar to a film class because by the end we all had short films of ourselves that we made and we're proud of.
Ngai – I'm a junior, but I have only taken one journalism elective so far because of how our major is structured. And it was great — JOUR 469 Money Markets and Media with Gabriel Kahn made economics easy to understand (at last!), relevant to our daily lives and even interesting. For my other major of political economy, I enjoyed POSC 380 Political Theory with Anthony Kammas. The seminar style class forced me to think critically about power and society like never before. Both professors were relatively easy graders and there wasn't much work to do.
Angela – As a business major concentrating in marketing, I would say MKT 450 Consumer Behavior for Marketing is my favorite. It's a really interesting and fun class if you're into psychology or just how humans think and behave. You learn a lot and perhaps most importantly you learn about ethical marketing practices and how you might make consumers happier in the long run.
Kelsey – I'm a cognitive science major, and I'm really enjoying Ling 285: Human Language and Technology this semester. This class takes from many disciplines, from linguistics to computer science. Professor Washburn is super knowledgeable. Plus, Ling 285 is a GE-E!
Kristen – I am a freshman majoring in Business Cinematic Arts, and my favorite class thus far has been CTWR 404 (Foundations of Comedy) with Professor F.J. Pratt, a 2-unit elective. It is a fun, relaxing class with practically no homework, and each class we get to watch a film (examples include The King Of Comedy and Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and we often get guest speakers, including showrunners and writers of various shows!
Nancy – I am an IRGB and Film Production major and my favorite class so far is my practicum in Editing class with Dr. Giordano because I find that editing is one of my most favorite aspects of filmmaking. I really enjoy that she shows us visual examples of famous works and her own work to illustrate her point about editing techniques. I also really enjoy the creative freedom that comes with editing and I'm really excited to become a better editor.
Nathan – I'm a Biological Sciences major, and my favorite class would be CHEM 322B with Dr. Thompson because even though it's the hardest class ever, it helps you manage your time and teaches you the most interesting things in chemistry.
Sydney H – I'm an Intelligence and Cyber Operations major and my favorite class so far would have to be ITP 125: From Hackers to CEOs: Intro to Information Security. I took it with Joe Greenfield and he was a super chill, non-intimidating professor. Information Security seems boring but this class made it really fun and interesting to learn about. Also, the name of the class, mainly the hackers part, is what interested me the most at first.
Sydney F – As a chemical engineering major, my favorite class was probably Ted Lee's Introduction to Chemical Engineering class (CHE120). I enjoyed this class mainly because of the professor and the class pace. The material was also easy to digest and covered a variety of subjects from mass and energy balances to non-ideal gases.
Esther – Hands down, as a journalism major, it was JOUR 321 with Professor Meeks!! Not only was it super informative, but it was also the most engaging visual arts class I've ever taken. I loved the balanace between visual arts and journalistic storytelling— but most of all, Professor Meeks made the class a fun experience and a safe environment during COVID times as we took it online. All the projects we had made it onto my resume and really gave me something to be proud about!
Tamanna – As a journalism major, my favorite class so far has been JOUR 320 with Priya Krishnakumar. Its called Coding for Storytelling. I'm taking it right now. I had never taken a coding class before and was super intimidated going into it, but learning about web design has been so fun for me. Nothing about coding is intuitive to me, but the challenge is part of the fun of it for me. Coding and web design was never something I was looking at before in places of interest, but I'm so glad this class was a prereq for me, because it's opened my eyes to another path I can take in the future!
Catherine – The best class I've taken so far for my primary major, Game Art, is probably THTR 122 (Improvisation and Theatre Games) with Kirstin Eggers. While improv might not seem directly related to the technical aspects of game art, the creative principles and lessons learned (especially on how humans act physically, facial expressions, etc.) can definitely be applied. Improv is also applicable to so many other aspects of life, which was another reason why I loved it. In addition, Kirstin is such an amazing instructor!
Sanaa – I'm a freshman majoring in Biochemistry, and the best class I have had so far would be my WRIT 150: Health and Healing class taught by Dr. Pamela Albanese. I got to explore different perspectives in health and delve deep into my own relationship with wanting to pursue a career in health. Our class was small (~10 students), so I had the opportunity to build upon my interpretations from the assigned readings through discussions with my peers. For one of our writing projects, I got to watch a movie (Black Swan) and analyze how its motifs relate to a conversation about health in society, which is exactly the kind of writing I have been interested in. In high school, I was only allowed to write rhetorical analysis essays, but WRIT 150 opened my eyes to a world of writing outside the structure-filled, stoic five paragraph style writing to explore topics that have personal importance in an academic setting.
Badruddin – I'm a freshman so I haven't taken many major classes yet, however, my favorite class my first semester of freshman year was WRIT 150: Issues in Sustainibility with Professor Corinna Schroeder. I was never super into sustainibility but Dr.Schroeder broadened my understanding of sustanibility and helped me find a topic I was passionate about. Over the course of the semester my writing ability increased exponentially and having a grading contrant meant that I was never scared of trying something new with my writing style. The best thing about this class was definetely the professor. I had a really rough transition into college with a lot of extenuating circumstance but Dr.Schroeder really took the time to understand my situation and helped me succeed.
Amy – This class was for my East Asian Languages and Cultures Minor, but the Science Fiction in East Asia course with Professor Park has been by far my favorite. The course work was mostly just reading short stories and wathching Sci-Fi movies which didn't even feel like homework becuase I enjoyed reading and watching every assignment. The class was small and discussion based so it was also interesting to hear everyone else's opinions and analysis on the readings.
