Directed Research (490x) is student-proposed, faculty supervised research that can be used to earn from two to eight units of elective credit. Students must conduct research under a professor, and must present their work (such as a paper, formal publication, demonstration/performance). Specific enrollment requirements may vary from department to department, however, directed research is usually intended for juniors and seniors who have excelled in the major and have developed a specific research interest.
In some departments, a directed research course may also satisfy a requirement for the major. Please contact your department for additional information and required paperwork in order to take these special research-for-credit courses.
Below you will find contact information and, if available, links to required paperwork for Directed Research, organized by department:
| Department | Course Number |
Online Resources | Contact Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iovine & Young Academy |
ACAD-490x | Amber Bradley | |
| Leventhal School of Accounting | ACCT-490x | Milli Penner (213) 740-4838 |
|
| American Studies and Ethnicity Dornsife College |
AMST-490x | aseinfo@dornsife.usc.edu (213) 740-2426 |
|
| Anthropology Dornsife College |
ANTH-490x | Sandra Dymally (213) 740-1900 |
|
| Archaeology Dornsife College |
ARCG-490x | Additional Resources | archaeology@usc.edu (213) 740-1696 |
| School of Architecture | ARCH-490x | Last Names A – Le Alexandra Retana (213) 740-2090 Last Names Li – Z Lisa Shimabukuro (213) 821-0746 |
|
| Art History Dornsife College |
AHIS-490x | Nicole Srednick (213) 740-2534 |
|
| Biological Sciences Dornsife College |
BISC-290 BISC-490x |
Undergraduate Research | Linda Bazilian (213) 821-1088 AHF 107D |
| Marshall School of Business | BUAD-490x | BUAD-490 Application | Office of Undergraduate Advising (213) 740-0690 |
| Chemistry Dornsife College |
CHEM-490x | advise@chemistry.usc.edu (213) 740-7036 |
|
| School of Cinematic Arts | CNTV-490x CTAN-496 CTIN-490x IML-490x |
Cinematic Arts Student Affairs Critical Studies and Film & Television Production (213) 740-8358 Daphne Sigismondi John C. Hench Division ofAnimation and Digital Arts (213) 740-3986 Sam Roberts Division of Interactive Media (213) 821-4472 Sonia Seetharaman Media Arts + Practice (213) 743-2198 Kristen Davis Division of Writing for Screen & Television (213) 740-3303 |
|
| Classics Dornsife College |
CLAS-490x GR-490x LAT-490x |
Ryan Prijic (213) 740-3677 |
|
| Comparative Literature Dornsife College |
COLT-490x | Dominique Moye (213) 821-4316 |
|
| Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism | COMM-490x COMM-494 JOUR-490x PR-490 |
Academic Forms | Undergraduate Advisement & Academic Services (213) 740-0900 |
| Kaufman School of Dance | DANC-490x | Cameo Beard | |
| School of Dramatic Arts | THTR-490x | Daniel Leyva (213) 740-1291 |
|
| Earth Sciences Dornsife College |
GEOL-490x | Undergraduate Research | Cynthia Waite (213) 740-6109 |
| East Asian Languages & Cultures Dornsife College |
EALC-490x | Christine Shaw (213) 170-3707 |
|
| East Asian Studies Dornsife College |
EASC-490x | Alexandria Eloriaga | |
| Economics Dornsife College |
ECON-490x | Shannon Durbin (213) 740-8335 |
|
| English Dornsife College |
ENGL-490x | Jose Perez-Guerrero (213) 740-2808 |
|
| Environmental Studies Dornsife College |
ENST-490x | Natalie Inouye (213) 740-7770 |
|
| Viterbi School of Engineering |
ENGR-490x |
||
|
AME-490x | AME-490x Contract | Irice Castro (213) 740-5353 |
|
ASTE-490x | ASTE Directed Research | info@astronautics.usc.edu (213) 821-5817 |
|
BME-490x | Christopher Noll (213) 740-0335 |
|
|
CHE-490x PTE-490x |
Karen Woo (213) 740-2227 |
|
|
CE-490x | CEE Directed Research | CEE Student Affairs (213) 740-0587 |
|
CSCI-490x | CSCI Directed Research | Steve Schrader (213) 740-4779 |
|
EE-490x | Jaime Zelada (213) 740-4447 |
|
|
ISE-490x | Crystal Conley (213) 740-7549 |
|
| French & Italian Dornsife College |
FREN-490x ITAL-490x |
Jessica Kanoski (213) 740-2534 |
|
| Gender Studies Dornsife College |
SWMS-490x | Jeanne Weiss (213) 740-2792 |
|
| Geography Dornsife College |
See “Spatial Sciences” | ||
| Davis School of Gerontology | GERO-490x | Jim deVera (213) 740-1729 |
|
| History Dornsife College |
HIST-490x | Melissa Calderon (213) 740-1657 |
|
| Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Studies | see “Keck School of Medicine” | ||
| Human & Evolutionary Biology Dornsife College |
EXSC-490x | Laura Ames (213) 740-2480 |
|
| International Relations Dornsife College |
IR-490x | Katrina Miranda (213) 740-0772 |
|
| Jewish Studies | Leah Hochman (213) 765-2114 |
||
| Kinesiology Dornsife College |
see “Human & Evolutionary Biology” | ||
| Linguistics Dornsife College |
LING-490x | Nicole Srednick (213) 740-2534 |
|
| Mathematics Dornsife College |
MATH-490x | Arnold Deal (213) 740-2400 |
|
| Keck School of Medicine | HP290x HP-490x MEDS-490 |
Undergraduate Research HP-290/490 |
Stephen Perry 213 821-1688 |
| Middle East Studies Dornsife College |
MDES-490x | Renee Almassizadeh (213) 740-2796 |
|
| Multidisciplinary Activities Dornsife College |
MDA-490 MDA-494 |
Richard Fliegel (213) 740-2961 |
|
| Thornton School of Music | MPGU-490x MPKS-490x MPEM-490x MPPM-490x MPST-490x MPVA-490x MPWP-490x MSCR-490x MTAL-490 MTEC-490x MUCD-490x MUCH-490x MUCM-490x MUCO-490x MUEA-490x MUED-490x MUHL-490x MUIN-490x MUJZ-490x SCOR-490 |
Office of Student Affairs (213) 740-4721 |
|
| Narrative Studies Dornsife College |
MDA-490 MDA-494 |
Jose Perez-Guerrero (213) 740-2808 |
|
| Neuroscience Dornsife College |
NEUR-490x | Toni Richardson (213) 740-3800 |
|
| Occupational Therapy | OT-490x | Joanne Park (323) 442-2822 |
|
|
Pharmaceutical and Regulatory Science |
RXRS-490 | Randa Issa (323) 442-2018 |
|
| Physics & Astronomy Dornsife College |
ASTR-490x PHYS-490x |
Vahe Peroomian (213) 740-2386 |
|
| Political Science Dornsife College |
POSC-490x | Kiki Miller (213) 740-3445 |
|
| Psychology Dornsife College |
PSYC-490x | Undergraduate Research | Vivian Hsu-Tran (213) 740-6163 Ingrid Popper (213) 740-2204 |
| Price School of Public Policy | PPD-490x | Undergraduate Research | Josephine Le (213) 740-2172 |
| Religion Dornsife College |
JS-490x REL-490x |
archaeology@usc.edu (213) 740-1696 |
|
| Slavic Languages & Literature Dornsife College |
SLL-490x | Susan Kechekian (213) 740-2735 |
|
| Sociology Dornsife College |
SOCI-490x | Stachelle Overland (213) 740-8851 |
|
| Spanish & Portuguese Dornsife College |
SPAN-490x | Jessica Kanoski (213) 740-2534 |
|
| Spatial Sciences Institute Dornsife College |
GEOG-490x SSCI-490x |
Ken Watson (213) 740-8298 |
|
| Theatre | see “Dramatic Arts” |