Which are the best Thematic Honors classes and profs at USC?

i’m sure the whole program is fantastic, but i’m super interested in especially the great professors as i sign up to take my courses. if anyone has done TO before and has advice, it would be much appreciated!

I did TO and the classes actually vary by semester, but your first semester you have to take CORE 102 and CORE 111 the writing seminar attached to it. There’s a couple of sections and from what I’ve heard, they’re all pretty good. I took it with Professor Kemp and loved it, and I took another class with Professor Handley, who also does 102 and is great! Take a look at RateMyProfessor and see what people have to say, I think you should have received a list of class descriptions with all the professors (If not, DM me!). Writing seminars are mostly taught by PhD students, and you get assigned one based on the class and section you’re in.

My son is in TO and hasn’t received a list of class descriptions and professors; any suggestions on how we rectify this? Thanks for the help!

Hmm then maybe they’ll only get them during orientation? I honestly don’t remember when I got mine, as it was three years ago. However, if you go to classes.usc.edu and click on Fall 2018, under the Dornsife tab, you’ll find Thematic Option. Click on CORE 102, and you’ll see all the professors listed (and some have the books listed too). You can look the professors up on RateMyProfessor.

Honestly, all the CORE 102 cover roughly the same topics/time periods, so the only differences are the specific texts and the professors’ teaching styles.

@LayraSparks Hugely helpful, thank you!