Dr. Jonathan Leal

Assistant Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Jonathan Leal. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.

Biography

Jonathan Leal is a scholar, critic, and composer-producer invested in creative resistances in a bordered world. Raised in the South Texas border region known as the Rio Grande Valley, Leal creates integrative arts research projects that span media with a focus on place, memory, technology, and radical aesthetics. He is the author of 'Wild Tongue: Borderlands Mixtape' (Duke University Press, 2026) and 'Dreams Double Time: Race, Freedom, Bebop.' His work explores various themes such as Music Sound Studies, Transdisciplinarity, Relational Studies of Race and Ethnicity, and the aesthetics of the U.S.-Mexico border. Leal's research contributes to a deeper understanding of Chicanx and Latinx media literatures and modernity/coloniality in contemporary contexts.

Research Interests

Experience

Assistant Professor

2022-01-01 — Present

University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA

Tenure Track Appointment in the Department of English.

Postdoctoral Scholar

2020-01-01 — 2022-01-01

Society Fellows Humanities, University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA

Postdoctoral appointment focusing on humanities research.

Requirements for University of Southern California

Master Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Listening
Required:20
Reading
Required:20
Writing
Required:20
Speaking
Required:20
Total
Required:90
IELTS
Listening
Required:6
Reading
Required:6
Writing
Required:6
Speaking
Required:6
Overall
Required:6.5
GRE General
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Math, or Hard Science
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Official transcripts
  • Personal Statement
  • Resume/CV
  • Letters of Recommendation (not required for MS CS, but allowed)
Specialization Notes

GRE is NOT required for Master's applicants for 2025-2026.