Undergraduate Education Offerings in Addiction Science

New Minor in Addiction Science

 The minor will focus on scientific study of the nature, causes, consequences, prevention, intervention, and treatment of the broad spectrum of addiction-related problems. Students will also acquire an understanding of how addiction science can bridge the gap between science, practice, and policy, to educate and be educated by those impacted by all addictive behaviors, including both substance and non-substance addiction. The courses in this minor take a real-world approach, recognizing that addictive behaviors exist within a complex environment involving commercial-economic, political, cultural, and social forces.

Required Courses (12 Units)

RESEARCH TRACK

HP 250: Introduction to Addiction Science (4 units) AND

HP 490X: Research Units (4 units over 2 semesters) OR

RXRS-490: Directed Research (4 units over 2 semesters; 2 units per semester)

AND

4 units selected from the following courses:

HP 410: Issues in Prevention and Cessation of Drug Abuse (4 units) OR

RXRS-302: Pharmacology and Drug Development1 OR

RXRS 414: Buzzed – Drugs of Addiction (4 units) OR

RXRS 405: The Addicted Brain (4 units)

 

 

 

GENERAL TRACK

HP 250: Introduction to Addiction Science (4 units) AND

8 units selected from the following courses:

HP 410: Issues in Prevention and Cessation of Drug Abuse (4 units) OR

RXRS 414: Buzzed – Drugs of Addiction (4 units) OR

RXRS 405: The Addicted Brain (4 units)

Electives (8 units):

Any of the above courses, OR

RXRS-302: Pharmacology and Drug Development2 (4 units)

SOWK 617 – Substance Related Behavioral Addictive Disorders and Recovery (4

units) OR

Psyc 426: Motivated Behaviors and Addiction (4 units)

HP 340L: Health Behavior Statistical Methods

1 Pre-req for RXRS-490

2 Pre-req for RXRS-490

New Course!

HP 250:  Introduction to Addiction Science

This course examines current studies of the nature of various forms of addiction and abuse in the context of individual and cultural use. The course takes a transdisciplinary  approach to the study of addiction science. Themes of this course include:

  • Addiction as a brain disease (the pharmacology and neuroanatomy of addiction and dependence)
  • Addiction as a chemical process,
  • Addiction as a public health problem (characteristics of addiction as elucidated in ethnographies, epidemiological studies, and biomedical research),
  • Addiction as a heritable process (genetics and epigenetics),
  • Addiction as a sociological process (the history of drug addiction, theories of addiction  treatment and recovery, international and national drug policies related to addiction).

The course will examine these facets of the addiction process and apply these theories to the study of specific classes of substance and non-substance addiction, including e-cigarettes and tobacco products, sedatives, alcohol, stimulants, opioids, cannabis, hallucinogens, and behavioral addictions (sex and love, pornography, self-harm, gambling, food addiction). The course will conclude with discussion of the prevention, treatment, and recovery from addiction, legal and ethical issues, and hot topics in the area of addiction science. These themes will be presented in ways that are designed to lead to lively discussions during class.

Faculty:

Jessica Barrington-Trimis, PhD, MS, MA

Assistant Professor, Preventive Medicine

USC School of Medicine

jtrimis@usc.edu

church3

Terry David Church, DRSc, MA, MS

Assistant Professor, Department of Regulatory and Quality Sciences

USC School of Pharmacy

tdchurch@usc.edu

Questions? 

Please contact:

Reid Whaley, MPH
Institute for Addiction Science
rwhaley@usc.edu