Muslim Inclusion and Empowerment: from Hollywood to Higher Education
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Since 9/11, Muslims have occupied the U.S. public and political spheres as threats to national security, as victims of hate crimes, as targets of torture and war, and as a community to be included in diversity initiatives. This insightful panel will explore Muslim inclusion and representation in a variety of contexts, including education, politics, and the entertainment industry. Shafiqa Ahmadi is an associate professor of Clinical Education at the Rossier School of Education and the co-director for USC’s Center for Education, Identity, and Social Justice. She is an expert on diversity...
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Mending America: Overcoming Our Political and Cultural Divides
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
In light of the growing divisions among Americans, this panel will address the intersection of culture and politics in society, how we can better understand divisiveness, and find common ground. Geoffrey Cowan is an award-winning writer, television producer, and University Professor and Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He is the author of several books, including Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary, See No Evil: The Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence...
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Laughing Matters: The History and Power of Comedy
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Comedy can be seen and experienced in many forms—onstage, on screens, and even in hospitals. Like laughter, its effects are contagious and its power spills over onto all of us. This panel of experts, comedians, and expert comedians will talk about the history of comedy and its potential to create change. Wayne Federman is a stand-up comic, actor, author, comedy writer, professor, and Emmy-winning producer. He has appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and has his own stand-up special on Comedy Central. He is the author of...
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Net Zero: California Climate Policy and The Future of Energy
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
California, the nation’s leader in clean energy and climate policies, has set an ambitious goal to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2045. But what will it take? How might the policies affect the availability, reliability, and price of power consumption? This panel will address the political, technological, economic, as well as human and societal factors that play into our energy system and explore what must do to achieve our energy goals. Moderator: Genevieve Giuliano is a Distinguished Professor and the Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government at the USC...
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Confronting L.A.’s Housing Crisis
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Increasing rents and home prices, gentrification, and historic inequities have contributed to a major housing crisis in Los Angeles. Yet, L.A. has a rich residential legacy that includes innovative housing design, successful housing developments, and leadership in historical preservation. Panelists will draw upon their interrelated recent books on housing, architecture, and preservation to offer compelling approaches to help address L.A.’s housing crisis. Frances Anderton covers Los Angeles design and architecture in print, broadcast media, and public events. She is the author...
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BONUS EPISODE: Queer Bodies: Gender and Power in Art and Society
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Academics, artists, and authors will have a wide-ranging conversation exploring gender, sexuality, queerness, and the body in art, culture, fashion, and society. Topics will include, but not be limited to, an inside look at being a professional dominatrix, queer performance art and theory, and fabulousness as resistance. Chris Belcher is a writer, professor, book coach, and assistant professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Writing at USC. Under her working name, Natalie West, she edited the acclaimed anthology We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival. Her debut...
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Supporting Mental Health and Developing Resilience for Youth Today
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Growing up has never been easy, and today’s children and young adults must also face modern anxieties stemming from the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, threat of mass shootings, pressures of social media, and looming specter of climate change. Experts will discuss factors that are exacerbating the mental-health struggles of youth today and how we can better support their wellness and resilience. Broderick Leaks is the Vice Chair for Student Mental Health, director of Counseling and Mental Health, and licensed clinical psychologist and clinical associate professor of...
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Crossing Borders: Stories of Struggle, Survival, and Community
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
This discussion will explore a wide range of immigrant stories and experiences, including Vietnamese refugee girlhood, community-building for Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles, and the role of Black migrant women’s labor in the construction of the Panama Canal. Lan Duong is associate professor in Cinema and Media Studies at USC. She is the author of Treacherous Subjects: Gender, Culture, and Trans-Vietnamese Feminism and co-writer of Departures: An Introduction to Critical Refugee Studies. Her debut collection of poetry, Nothing Follows, is forthcoming (April...
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Neurodiversity: Lived Experience, Advocacy and Allyship
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
This panel will include a variety of perspectives on neurodiversity and developmental disabilities, from autism to schizophrenia. Experts will share their research as well as personal experiences and discuss how to support neurodiverse children and adults and create a more equitable and inclusive society. Sneha Kohli Mathur is the author of Understanding the Lived Experiences of Autistic Adults and a lecturer of Applied Behavior Analysis and Psychology at USC. Considering herself an ally to the disAbility and Autism communities, she started Spectrum Success to support...
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Why extreme weather, not climate change, drives concerns about water safety
IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series
Access to safe drinking water is a pressing global issue, with approximately 2 billion people currently lacking consistent access to this fundamental resource — a sobering statistic that is projected to soar to 5 billion by 2050. We caught up with researchers Wändi Bruine de Bruin, a Provost Professor of public policy, psychology and behavioral science at the USC Price School of Public Policy and the Department of Psychology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Joshua Inwald, a USC psychology doctoral student, whose research focuses on the relationships between...
info_outlineAs an undergraduate majoring in history at USC Dornsife, Tracy Walder had planned to become a teacher. Until the CIA recruited her. Not long after graduating, the former sorority sister known for dressing in pink was wearing camouflage fatigues, toting an assault rifle and hunting down Al-Qaeda as a counterterrorism field agent in the aftermath of 9/11. Returning to the U.S., she made the almost-unheard-of-transition to the FBI, where she continued to take down bad guys out of the L.A. field office. Walder sat down with USC Dornsife historian Peter Mancall, divisional dean for the humanities, to discuss her larger-than-life career as a spook — and why she left that life behind to return to her first love: teaching history.
Dornsife Dialogues
Join us for stimulating online forums in which leading scholars and distinguished alumni from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences share new perspectives, research-based findings and fresh insight on timely topics. The free events are open to the entire USC community and general public. https://dornsife.usc.edu/dornsifedialogues/