A Semi-Comprehensive List of Creative Clubs on Campus
By: Lauren Liang ‘23
Following up on my article, Getting Involved in the Arts as a Non-Arts Major, this is a semi-comprehensive list of creative clubs on campus, organized by discipline.
I highly recommend following the clubs you’re interested in on social media! Besides their newsletters, this is one of the best ways to get updates about applications and events.
If you’re looking for more, check out the search function EngageSC, available via your MyUSC portal.
Dance
A K-Pop dance group on campus.
A student dance group focused on fundraising for Children’s Hospital LA.
A USC dance company founded in 2013 focused on contemporary and jazz dance.
Dance Call is a student-led group that holds mock musical theater dance auditions in a fun, low-stress environment.
Offering free hip-hop focused dance workshops.
Design
Innovative Design at USC (InnoD)
“Innovative Design is USC’s premier creative agency club! We are a community of designers, photographers, and web developers utilizing our skills to support other student organizations and their projects.”
This club focuses on teaching the principles of “design thinking.”
USC’s student run product incubator.
USC community dedicated to creating products for nonprofits.
Describes themselves as, “A community of students creating cool projects.”
Drama
Student run theater company devoted to putting on three plays each year.
This theater company, founded in 1996, produces exclusively student written plays.
This campus theater company is devoted to plays showcasing contemporary realism.
Student production company dedicated to lowering the barriers to entry of theater.
Student theater company created for underrepresented artists.
Film
Join a student run production company.
Asian Pacific Cinema Association (APCA)
Focuses on highlighting AAPI culture, cinema, and voices.
African American Cinema Society (AACS)
Organization devoted to creating community for Black film students.
Devoted to raising new voices and fostering diversity in film through events like industry coffee chats and community bonding events.
A space for students to gain more knowledge about screenwriting, playwriting, and acting.
Music
Ensembles are housed in Thornton and are audition-based; some are open to non-majors.
While you might need special clearance to join these classes, there are plenty of offerings that don’t require prior musical experience if you want to jump into learning an instrument while getting class credit.
Some Thornton electives even fill GE requirements, so be sure to check them out!
Elective 1:1 lessons in piano, strings, and voice
Anyone can apply for private music lessons in Thornton! Although space is limited and some instruments/styles are more competitive to receive lessons in than others, there is no audition required.
I’ve personally done 1:1 lessons in Voice and highly recommended it! As a bonus, if you’re enrolled in lessons, you’ll be granted access to the practice rooms in University Gateway, where there are also grand pianos to play.
FAM is a movement that aims to change the behavior in the music industry in favor of a more collaborative and positive approach.
Club for singers, songwriters, producers, instrumentalists, and all music creators at USC.
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