Winter 2006/07

A New Kind of Literacy

ouis de Berniéres wrote that love is a temporary madness. St. Augustine said that love is the beauty of the soul. Still, Lope de Vega said harmony is Lpure love, for love is a concerto. But what if you had to explain love in a picture? The assignment for the multimedia lab class had been to bring in a powerful image representing love. “We’re going to ask you to think visually in a way that you’ve never done before,” Allison de Fren told her class recently at Taper Hall. Each student sat at a large comput- er screen depicting images such as an iPod, the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album, a mother breast- feeding her baby and primates snuggling.

Bruce Zuckerman, professor of religion, holds up an ancient cylinder seal, while Georgiana Nikias, a senior majoring in archaeology and De Fren was a teaching assistant English, looks on. Nikias and her classmates do original research on the seal in a new multimedia course offered by USC College. in a pilot program launched this fall, dubbed Multimedia in the Core. The program extends USC’s multimedia pedagogy from a select group of stu- Technology + Teamwork = New Discoveries dents to the undergraduate community at large. This academic year, as many as 420 Students harness high-tech tools for new look at ancient seals students will take seven general edu- cation (G.E.) courses that offer hands-on experience in multimedia nside a darkened lab at University Village, two professors and a group of in USC College who is collaborating authorship. The program will expand students huddled around a computer screen depicting the image of a per- with UIUC religion professor Wayne next year. son or deity whose head resembled a fastener doohickey. Pitard. “But we have proven that this The enterprise is a joint effort “There’s the Wing Nut Man,” one student cracked. Everyone laughed, is wrong.” between USC College of Letters, Arts then launched into a discussion about the primitive-looking image and jot- The artifacts are cylinder seals & Sciences and the USC School of Ited down notes. Cinematic Arts’ Institute for A casual observer might dismiss the scene as one of the Multimedia Literacy (IML). A leader countless interesting research projects taking place at USC in undergraduate education, USC is Far right, every day. But take a closer look. These undergraduates from the image the first university to incorporate mul- USC College and the University of Illinois Urbana- dubbed timedia curriculum in a wide variety of Champaign (UIUC) are conducting original research on 3,000- “Wing Nut courses — from earthquakes to early Man.” to 4,000-year-old artifacts borrowed from a prized museum col- American Indian history. Only a few lection. universities offer a spattering of G.E. Such research is usually reserved for experienced scholars. courses involving multimedia projects. “The conventional wisdom is that undergrads are not able to do serious, used in Mesopotamia [modern-day “USC’s emphasis in multimedia lit- even groundbreaking research,” said Bruce Zuckerman, a professor of religion continued on page 6 continued on page 4

Learning in the Multimedia Age VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3

Podcasting Classrooms Nano Nose A Super L.A. Law, The Mongol Profs That Click PAGE 14 Starr Trojan Style Conquest of PAGE 8 PAGE 9 PAGE 21 PAGE 22 China PAGE 28 ZUCKERMAN PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING; SEAL IMAGE COURTESY OF BRUCE A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN has gone wireless. More than a dozen rooms have been transformed into On Change & Continuity sophisticated studio classrooms for technology-enhanced learning. More and more, College professors are using podcasts, videos, simulations and even ear Friends, the College. wikis to enrich their courses. Six months ago, USC This fall, among other accomplish- But this sea change has not dimin- President Steven B. Sample ments, we came tantalizingly close to ished the importance of the human and Provost C.L. Max Nikias attaining the goal of our Senior interactions that are at the very core of Dasked me to take on the interim Hiring Initiative — to hire 100 world- the college experience — a student deanship of USC College. I was hon- class faculty in a few short years. We visiting her professor’s office hours and ored to accept this opportunity, and also marked the halfway point in our finding a mentor; students working delighted to appoint one of the Tradition & Innovation fund-raising together on a project of original College’s finest professors, Hilary initiative, with nearly $200 million research; students going out into the Schor, to replace me as the College’s raised thus far. world to put their knowledge to work. Dean Peter Starr dean of undergraduate programs. In this issue of the USC College Technology is at its most powerful Transitions in leadership can be Magazine, you will see that the bal- when it serves as a supplement to the challenging. My predecessor Joseph ance implied in the title of our rich human interactions that make Aoun’s great success in increasing the initiative, “Tradition & Innovation,” analysis. In recognition of this, the learning at a premier academic institu- quality, stature and visibility of USC very much applies to the College’s College and the USC School of tion meaningful and lasting. College has made this transition an response to the increasing importance Cinematic Arts recently launched especially critical one. Now more of technology in the world of higher Multimedia in the Core, a pilot pro- Sincerely, than ever, we need to push on to education. gram that integrates the authorship ensure that USC College continues Living in the age of digital tech- and critical analysis of multimedia its rapid ascent into the very top tier nologies requires a whole new texts into the university’s general edu- of American research and teaching literacy: an ability to manipulate and cation curriculum. colleges. To stand still, or even to to analyze audio and visual texts, to At USC, the multimedia age has slow down, would be to compromise supplement competencies in the tra- arrived. All USC classrooms are now Peter Starr our ambitious vision for the future of ditional forms of writing and textual wired for the Internet. The campus Dean of USC College

USC College Taps Literature Scholar for Dean Post Hilary Schor leads College’s undergraduate programs

his summer, USC College USC Center for Law, History and working on a book about women, appointed Hilary M. Schor, pro- Culture. curiosity and novels, titled Curious fessor of English, as the new Her previous leadership experi- Subjects: Women and the Trials of dean of undergraduate pro- ence includes serving as chair of Realism. In 2005, she published a Tgrams. gender studies, director of the Center scholarly article exploring curiosity in Schor replaced Peter Starr, profes- for Feminist Research and past presi- Henry James’ novel The Golden Bowl. sor of French and comparative dent of the USC Academic Senate. She has written essays in compan- literature, who assumed the post of “As someone who has taught at ions to Dickens, Jane Austen and dean of the College on an interim USC since 1986, I appreciate the con- film, the Victorian novel and Victorian basis in July. tinuing strengths of the College as literature and culture, as well as essays In his letter to the faculty well as the new possibilities that come on Bleak House, Bastard Out of Carolina announcing the appointment, Starr with the bright, lively, imaginative and Victorian “character” trials. wrote, “Those of you who know students we’ve been attracting,” Schor received her bachelor’s Hilary know her as an exceptional Schor said. “These students bring degree in British and American litera- scholar of Victorian literature and cul- more to USC and expect more from ture from Scripps College in ture, a brilliant teacher and as fine an us — and I’m looking forward to Claremont, Calif., and her master’s institutional mind as we have at this working with them to diversify our and doctoral degrees from Stanford university.” curriculum and make undergraduate University, where she specialized in In her new position, Starr wrote, education at USC richer and more 19th century literature and culture, “Hilary will be instrumental in our challenging for all of us. I can’t think Hilary M. Schor drawing on work in intellectual histo- efforts to implement the new College of a better job right now.” ry, feminist studies and the history of Honors Society, the Multimedia in Schor’s scholarship focuses on nar- many graduate seminars and organ- the novel. the Core program and our undergrad- rative theory, as well as on law, ized conferences, the titles of which She has received numerous fellow- uate team research initiatives. property and the nature of subjectivi- include “Victorian Soundings,” ships and awards, including a John “But I dare say that she will also ty in literature, popular culture and “Victoria Redressed: Feminism and Simon Guggenheim Memorial be taking the undergraduate programs film. Nineteenth-Century Studies,” and Foundation Fellowship, Stanford office in directions not yet foreseen.” Schor, an avid scholar of Charles “Victorian Terror.” Humanities Center Fellowship, Schor holds a joint appointment in Dickens, is actively involved in the Her books include Scheherezade in Graves Foundation Fellowship and the department of comparative litera- University of California Dickens the Marketplace: Elizabeth Gaskell and USC Zumberge Faculty Research ture and is a professor of law in the Project. Known for her ability to the Victorian Novel (Oxford, 1992) and Fellowship. Gould School of Law. She is an active communicate the relevance of liter- Dickens and the Daughter of the House —Pamela J. Johnson member and past co-director of the ary titles to students, Schor has led (Cambridge, 1999). She’s currently (With reporting by Kirsten Holguin) PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING

2 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Tradition & Innovation One year after its official launch, USC College’s fund-raising initiative gathers steam

n September 2005, USC College other donors.” $20.06 — to the ini- publicly announced its largest-ever Among other gifts, Loker con- tiative. fund-raising initiative, Tradition & tinued her 27-year tradition of “Most new grad- Innovation, with the ambitious goal supporting the Loker Hydro- uates live on a tight Iof raising $400 million by 2010. carbon Research Institute with a budget, so we were Since the announcement, fund- 2006 surprise gift of $1 million. especially apprecia- raising has proceeded apace: The “Tradition & Innovation gives tive of their College received $46 million in gifts the faculty and students the sup- generosity and and pledges in the 2005-06 fiscal year, port they need to increase the interest in support- and $10.4 million in the first quarter pace of their innovative work,” ing their alma of 2006-07. To date, the initiative said Diane MacGillivray, the sen- mater,” has brought in almost $200 million Tradition & Innovation Torchbearers: ior associate dean for Making a Difference: MacGillivray said. Katherine Loker in pledges and donations, nearly half Steering Committee Chair Pat Haden and advancement in the College. Kristy Hawley its goal. USC College’s Diane MacGillivray. “And we’re seeing the impact.” (B.A., international relations and com- Said USC College Dean Peter scholarship grants awarded by the “To continue the forward move- munication, ’06) pledged her 2006 Starr, “The initiative owes much of its George H. Mayr Foundation, which ment, the initiative must reach out donation to the Center on Public success to the leadership of USC he chairs. beyond the College’s board leadership Diplomacy, an interdisciplinary col- trustees and members of our College Haden is especially thankful to all and draw support from a wider range of laboration of the College’s School of Board of Councilors. We’re very grate- of the donors who, as he said, have College supporters,” MacGillivray said. International Relations and the USC ful — their support and guidance has made his job easier. He points to “Larger gifts energize the initiative, Annenberg School for been absolutely key to our efforts.” Katherine Loker (B.A., English, ’40) providing essential momentum,” she Communication. Pat Haden (B.A., English, ’75) has as a prime example. said. “But we’re working to increase all “The center’s work is extremely played a leading role in the fund-rais- “Katherine is among the College’s levels of engagement and participation important in a world dominated by ing effort. A USC trustee and member most generous benefactors,” Haden among alumni, parents and other global media messages and 30-second of the College’s board, Haden serves said. “Her stalwart support, over so stakeholders, and to reach out to foun- sound bites,” Hawley said. as chair of the Tradition & Innovation many years, has been extraordinary. dations and corporate philanthropy.” “Donating was one small way to steering committee. The Rhodes There’s no doubt she’s made a differ- And even the youngest College contribute to a project that made an Scholar and former NFL quarterback ence in the advancement of the alumni are responding. Many members impact on my learning experience at has also supported the College initia- College — directly through her gen- of the Class of 2006 each contributed a USC.” tive through personal donations and erosity, but also as a role model for small but meaningful amount — —Wayne Lewis

Knowledge Crews Team Research Communities put undergrads on front lines of scholarship

team of sophomores and jun- to break this assumption down, on iors examines ancient artifacts the grounds that, whatever your age, for insight into how the exer- you only truly master a field when cise of power has changed you actively engage with it.” Asince antiquity. Another team ana- Geologists Lawford Anderson lyzes data from rock samples they and Scott Paterson teach “Geologic collected in Yosemite last summer. Wonders of Joshua Tree and Yet another group works with histori- Yosemite,” one of the five, year-long cal documents to chronicle the TRC courses. As part of the class, formation of communities in a num- they took an 11-person team to ber of Los Angeles locales. Yosemite this summer, where stu- The students may differ in inter- dents spent two weeks doing field ests and discipline, but they are all work. Back in the lab, students are part of USC College’s new Team analyzing rock samples they collect- Research Communities (TRC) pro- ed, and aim to create an accurate gram. Launched in fall, TRC seeks to geologic map of an area that previous- recast undergraduates as the producers, Sociology major Nicole Ball did original field research in Yosemite as part of a team in a ly has received scant scientific not just the consumers, of knowledge. new, year-long research course in geology. Other team research courses focus on history, attention. archaeology and political science. “The idea is that students in these “I hiked into Yosemite with very classes have a chance to work with fac- skills and carrying out their own inde- scholar community. little prior knowledge in geology,” ulty at the cutting edge of their pendent research.” “In academia, we’ve labored far said Nicole Ball, a sociology major and disciplines,” said Hilary Schor, dean of Schor leads the program first envi- too long under the assumption that art history minor in the course. “And I undergraduate programs in the sioned by Dean Peter Starr and undergraduates absorb knowledge, hiked out with an amazing wealth of College. “So the students are not only Michael Quick, dean of research, to that professors produce knowledge,” information.” learning from the best, but trying out engage more undergraduates in Starr said. “For the past few years, In Lynn Swartz Dodd’s course these ideas themselves, acquiring new research and build a larger student- many of us have been working hard continued on page 25 LOKER PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA WYMAN; TEAM RESEARCH COURTESY OF LAWFORD ANDERSON

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 3 Learning in the Multimedia Age

A New Kind of Literacy continued from page 1 that the College has been courageous eracy is very much a pacesetter within enough to jump in the academia,” said USC Provost C.L. water with us.” Max Nikias, who launched the pro- USC College Dean gram. “The very nature of literacy has Peter Starr was first to evolved dramatically in a short period take the plunge. As of time. I’m proud that we’ve placed dean of undergraduate USC’s intellectual community at the programs last year, forefront of efforts to understand and Starr worked closely guide these monumental changes.” with faculty, the Nikias called the program “a model provost’s office and for cross-disciplinary collaboration on other schools to estab- the part of our cinema school and the lish the new program. College.” Starr dismissed fears To support the effort, the College that a multimedia built two multimedia labs where stu- approach would some- dents can work and check out how replace text. He equipment such as digital cameras, elaborated on video cameras and sound-recording McCann’s comment. gear. “Go way back to Student Alexandra Lienhard, left, receives help from Allison de Fren, a doctoral student in critical studies who Inside the lab, the image covering is co-teaching the multimedia lab portion of Ed McCann’s philosophy class. Plato and the fears that 23-year-old senior Kirk Sullivan’s writing would replace computer screen depicted Britney memory, that writing Spears and Madonna during the and aesthetic sensibilities. tance of literacy in multiple forms of was dangerous because people would 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. “You have to switch your brain media. She credits Lucas — who said no longer remember,” Starr began. “Or To Sullivan, that image represented from what you’re used to doing, using that given today’s multimedia envi- a related fear, that writing would love. words,” Everett said. “It really does ronment, college students unversed in replace oral persuasion and dialogue. “It’s the moment before they make you think in a different way.” the language of the screen were not Well, it didn’t happen that way. embrace in a warm, passionate and Other courses this academic year truly literate — as the inspiration Writing came along and it became a loving kiss,” Sullivan said. include: “The Changing Pacific: behind creating the IML in 1998. technical tool that complements oral “Is that love, or just a result of Culture, History and Politics in the Lucas, a USC alumnus, shied away persuasion.” public relations people wanting to New South Seas,” “Earthquakes,” from taking too much credit. Starr said that the College remains make money?” asked de Fren, a doc- “Russian Thought and Civilization,” “That’s a bit like saying the “absolutely committed to affirming the toral candidate who teaches the lab and “The Ancient Near East.” Most Beatles invented the music of the importance of being able to communi- class with Jonathan Weil, a College professors were chosen because they ’60s,” said Lucas, who in September cate well in writing. graduate student in philosophy. have long used multimedia in their donated $175 million to the School of “These new technologies,” he said, “Never underestimate the amount classes; McCann was among a small Cinematic Arts — the largest single “are only going to enrich the tradition- of respect that these two esteemed group of professors that the IML first gift in USC’s history. “They were al form of communication.” artists deserve,” Sullivan replied. trained. part of a huge cultural groundswell, The courses, in fact, require consid- “Either you’re being sarcastic or Under the auspices of the IML’s or as John Lennon phrased it, ‘We erable writing. Creativity is coupled you’re very idealistic,” de Fren said. early classes, students created non-lin- were flags on top of a ship that was with an equally rigorous interpretive “I’m not quite sure which.” ear projects. Most notably, a few years moving.’ ” component. “You have all semester to figure it ago, a collaborative project on ancient Daley had envisioned that the In addition to computer narratives, out,” Sullivan said, grinning. Troy — an interactive 3-D model of teaching of multimedia literacy would McCann’s students analyze the The lab was part of Ed McCann’s the city made famous by Homer’s eventually reach the entire undergrad- images in written essays: What makes philosophy class. McCann is among account of the Trojan War — earned uate community. the image work? What attitudes does the six College professors participating awards for the College undergraduate “I’ve always felt that in order to it convey? Do you accept the attitudes in the pilot. He requires multimedia students and was featured in a New institutionalize this and accept multi- or question them? What is the histori- presentations for his course, “Love York Times article. Those early classes media literacy as a 21st century cal, cultural and social context of the and Its Representations in Literature, eventually became the model for the vernacular, we would have to incorpo- image? Philosophy and Film.” McCann’s IML Honors Program. rate and disseminate it within the McCann wants his students to course explores key works — Homer’s The multimedia language of the university,” Daley said. “I’m just glad understand the power of the language Iliad and Dante’s Comedy and the like screen is the current vernacular, so — that have shaped the European and weaving it into general education was American notion of love. a natural progression, McCann said. Olivia Everett, a 19-year-old junior The visual, he said, can be just as majoring in cinema-television and his- important in communicating ideas and tory, took McCann’s class last year as information as text. Pondering an part of a smaller pilot. She said inter- argument by skeptics that multimedia twining video, audio, graphics, may replace text, he was, well, philo- animation and text makes a project sophical. multilayered. “Poets, rhetoricians and philoso- “It’s a whole new ballpark when phers have argued about the true way using visual and sound representa- to communicate since the days of tions,” Everett said. “Images speak Plato and Aristotle,” McCann said. differently than words.” Elizabeth M. Daley, dean of the While more laborious than term School of Cinematic Arts and execu- papers, the broader medium, she said, tive director of the IML, recalled her enables a student to develop a rational conversation with filmmaker George For his multimedia project, senior Kirk Sullivan selected an image representing love that argument that also engages emotional Lucas, who emphasized the impor- depicted Britney Spears and Madonna during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING

4 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 of the screen, a language that most have been speaking since childhood. “There is a misconception that students brought up in a multimedia- “I see multimedia as a saturated world somehow are more sophisticated about it than older gen- powerful research tool for erations,” McCann said. “But what’s [students in] the sciences,” true is that they have never really stepped back and analyzed what said earth scientist they’ve been viewing all these years.” Daley stressed the importance for James Dolan, left, with students to analyze and deconstruct colleague Charles Sammis. their projects. In the 21st century, the truly literate read, write and under- Both are teaching an earthquake stand the language of the screen, she said, echoing Lucas. course as part of the “Multimedia literacy is not Multimedia in the Core revolutionary,” Daley said. “It’s fun- damentally evolutionary. It’s the way pilot program. in which communication is moving.” Lucas hoped that the teaching of multimedia would evolve “to a point when we talk about the literacy rate, it’s understood that means literacy in all forms of expression, not just text.” Getting the academy to accept the easy,” said Sammis, emphasizing the Anne Balsamo, director of academic Since its inception, the institute language of multimedia as an equal to value of working out equations on programs at the IML, said technology has trained more than 50 professors text has not been easy, Daley said. paper. “It’s hard to have a rigorous sci- can be used as a launching base. and 2,500 students to integrate multi- “You are asking people to make ence course that’s project oriented. “We see technologies as a platform media into their teaching, learning some pretty radical changes,” she Students miss the experience of quan- that students will use to explore their and research. But until now, only hon- said. “There has been suspicion in titative problem solving and the own ideas and explore their own voic- ors students and those in select the academic community. The acade- intuition that comes from working es,” said Balsamo, professor in programs benefited. my has embraced the visual. But with numbers.” interactive media in the School of The new program reaches out to we’ve been very slow to accept the In the end, Sammis realized that Cinematic Arts and gender studies in all undergraduates. Enrolled students fact that text, picture and sound con- multimedia could enhance his course the College. receive four credits for the core stitute the current vernacular.” without diluting quantitative content. James Dolan, associate professor of course and two more for the lab por- Multimedia course instructor “I view it as a skill students can earth sciences who is also teaching a tion. In the lab course, two teaching Charles Sammis, professor of earth use,” said Sammis, who is among the course in earthquakes as part of the assistants are on hand, from the sciences, was initially skeptical. seasoned faculty participating in the pilot program, agreed. College and the IML. In addition to “I did have reservations,” said pilot program. “They can become “I see multimedia as a powerful teaching the philosophy behind mul- Sammis, who has taught geology and more familiar with ways to present research tool for the sciences,” he said. timedia, they train students to use earthquake courses at the College for information. It’s motivational, certain- Moreover, Dolan called earthquake tools such as PowerPoint, Flash 30 years. ly. It’s a way to develop enthusiasm sciences at USC “the poster child” of Animation and wiki software. “Learning math and science isn’t for the sciences.” continued on page 6

Memory Trove nurture more,” he said. To date, professors at the four uni- versities with access to the institute’s archive have integrated the testimony istening to Holocaust survivors sive visual history archive, which Providers.” into 37 courses. Other USC courses talk about miracles. That’s contains nearly 52,000 video testi- Student Emily Intersimone, a jazz are “Creating the Nonfiction Film,” what most surprised and monies of Holocaust survivors and studies major, said the testimonies “Genocide, Human Rights, and the inspired Raheem Parpia about witnesses. In the last year, it has helped her better relate to a difficult Media,” “Anne Frank was Not Alone: Lhis freshman seminar “Memory and emerged as one of USC’s most valu- subject. “The testimony brought an Holland and the Holocaust,” and History: Video Testimonies of the able multimedia resources. emotional truth that textbooks can’t.” “Terrorism and Genocide.” Holocaust.” So far, 11 USC classes use the A professor of history in USC “The institute’s move to USC puts “To be able to describe something archive testimonies, including College, Greenberg said that for him us in the position to support under- as miraculous in the midst of such Greenberg’s class, which asked stu- teaching a class in which visual histo- graduate and graduate education by suffering is amazing,” said Parpia, a dents to compare historians’ ry played a major role underscored offering the archive for use through- business major. descriptions of the Holocaust with the differences in the way students out the university,” said Greenberg, “Memory and History” is the first eyewitness accounts. learn today and how they did in past adding that he expects graduate stu- class to be taught at USC by historian For the course’s main project, stu- generations. dents from all around USC will find Douglas Greenberg, executive direc- dent groups searched the archive for “Learning to use a mouse and to the institute an ideal setting for their tor of the USC Shoah Foundation testimony related to specific topics, manipulate materials on a computer doctoral studies. Institute for Visual History and and then weaved the video clips into screen is part and parcel of their edu- —Talia Cohen Education. multimedia presentations. Student cation, like learning to read. I believe The course is among the growing projects included “Love and Sex it affects the way today’s students To learn more about the USC Shoah number to take advantage of the During the Holocaust,” “Miracles learn and express themselves. These Foundation Institute visit Shoah Foundation Institute’s exten- and Dreams” and “Civilian Aid are skills that universities ought to www.usc.edu/vhi. PHOTO BY BRIAN MORRI

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 5 Learning in the Multimedia Age

A New Kind of Literacy will help her get a job, she said. Technology + Teamwork classroom for years. continued from page 5 “If you can tell somebody, ‘I continued from page 1 “It’s nice to see that the world is learned how to convey information catching up with us,” Zuckerman said multimedia student involvement. He visually,’ that is really important in the Iraq] to certify purchases. Merchants with a grin. pointed to the Southern California job market today,” she said. “And it’s trading grain for a few goats, for exam- His students are examining the Earthquake Center (SCEC), based at really important in school today.” ple, would ask the customer to roll out seals with a level of detail only recent- the College, which each summer Steve Anderson, associate director a cylinder seal, which held an individ- ly possible. About 25 years ago, unites undergraduates from USC and of the IML honors program, put it this ual’s unique “signature.” Each Zuckerman and his brother, Kenneth, throughout the nation in an interdisci- way: “We want our students to signature was an intricate picture fine- developed the West Semitic Research plinary effort to develop cutting-edge become technically empowered citi- ly carved into a cylinder-shaped stone, Project (WSRP). Today, WSRP is the software used in earthquake research. zens. To be critical consumers and scenes such as a figure of a man stab- acknowledged world leader in Dubbed SCEC-VDO (Virtual active producers of media.” bing a lion while the lion attacks a advanced photographic and computer Display of Objects), the software Judith Jackson Fossett, associate gazelle. imaging of ancient objects and texts allows for three-dimensional viewing professor of English and American During purchases, a cylinder was — particularly the famous Dead Sea of earthquakes, faults and other seis- studies and ethnicity, said shaping an pressed like a rolling pin over wet clay Scrolls. They share the images mic activities around the globe. argument using images creates a dif- — the equivalent of a signed receipt. through the online InscriptiFact data- As more and more earth scientists ferent kind of history. “You say cumbersome, but for base. use the free software, they request “It creates a counter-history that them it was a revelation,” Zuckerman Sometimes dubbed the “Scroll additional capabilities from the next one wouldn’t normally see,” said said. “Sure beats trying to keep every- Brothers,” the Zuckermans and their summer’s team. Jackson Fossett who next year will thing in longtime “Our interns have conceptualized teach “African-American Popular their colleague, and developed a state-of-the-art visual- Culture,” a multimedia class she has heads.” Marilyn ization system that’s proving to be taught in a smaller pilot. From a pre- In this Lundberg, incredibly useful in earthquake sci- vious class, a project called unique helped the ence,” SCEC Director Tom Jordan “Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz” illus- research students said. trated the history of blackface collabora- photograph Inside a computer lab on campus, comedy. The images and sounds tion the seals. College student Kristy Akulliam chronicled racial stereotypes from the between The con- showed a visitor some of the SCEC- Amos ‘n’ Andy minstrel shows to two univer- ventional VDO program’s features. When a 3-D Looney Tunes cartoons to more cur- sities, photograph- digital model of a globe began rotating rent shows such as “Good Times” and students ic method on her computer screen, Akulliam “The PJs.” and their would have clicked on California. Red dots Images and sounds can effectively professors been to roll appeared at recently active fault lines. incite visceral reactions. pho- each cylin- She clicked on a dot for details about “These projects are providing a tographed der over magnitude, time, location, depth and kind of historical, theoretical and ide- 62 of the clay and waveforms. ological context to actually force the seals in a photograph “It’s similar to a MapQuest for viewer to interrogate their own posi- project that the impres- Two “rolled out” images of the cylinder seals creat- earthquakes,” said Akulliam, a 21-year- tion,” Jackson Fossett said. began last ed by Zuckerman. Top, a man stabs a lion, which sion, but old senior majoring in economics and Balsamo said that multimedia liter- summer. attacks a gazelle. Bottom, a man (right), likely the Bruce English. “Except more sophisticated.” acy is reshaping the way people think. The UIUC seal owner, speaks with a deity. Zuckerman Holly Willis, IML’s associate direc- “Students apply their knowledge, group trav- wanted stu- tor of academic programs, said the their skills, their creativities, their eled to Los Angeles and spent a week dents to analyze the actual surface of SCEC-VDO software tool is being enthusiasms to questions that are photographing the objects at USC. the seals. used in the earthquake class. A pro- going to vex us in the future and pro- This fall and spring, participants from So the entire surface of each cylin- gram goal is for students to develop voke all of us to ask more interesting the campuses 1,704 miles apart are der was photographed in one projects that ultimately will be viewed and nuanced questions about the analyzing the images and sharing their continuous, flat image. or utilized by others. world and about our culture,” she discoveries. Kenneth Zuckerman, Lundberg “We’re dealing with a different type said. “Questions we can’t even imag- “I’m confident in students’ ability and industrial designer John Melzian of student now,” said Willis, who is ine to ask now.” to play a major research role, especially developed the advanced photographic coordinating the program with the Lucas said the program “creates an when we give them powerful techno- technique, which involves adapting College. “Students now can adapt to environment where true collaboration logical tools,” said Zuckerman, whose panoramic digital cameras capable of so many areas of media. It’s a different can emerge. collaboration also includes Lynn taking pictures in 360 degrees. mindset. Students come in wanting to “The program is a prime example Swartz Dodd, curator of USC But rather than rotating the camera make an impact in the world. They’re of that process,” he said, “with USC College’s Archaeological Research around a seal, the camera remains sta- already doing it in [Web sites such as] building on the unique strengths of Collection. tionary while the seal is placed on a MySpace. They’re sharing music, shar- the College and the cinema school.” Zuckerman is among six USC platform, which slowly revolves. The ing movies. They’re collaborating on He added that students in the pilot College professors participating in a resulting detailed “roll-out” photo is content like Wikipedia. They want to program are developing skills that will pilot program, Multimedia in the in a digital form, so students may mag- do the same thing in their course have “immediate as well as life-long Core, in which as many as 420 under- nify and move the image around on a work.” applications. graduate students will take general computer screen to aid in their Sonia Seetharaman, 19, a biophysics “In four years, this group will go education courses that involve multi- research. major in her junior year, could relate. out into the world and become the media authorship. The joint endeavor “We’ll have the students’ research “Your project might be put out on a next generation of teachers, writers, between USC College and the USC work almost immediately available Web site for everyone else to see,” politicians, artists, businessmen and School of Cinematic Arts’ Institute for over the Web,” Bruce Zuckerman said Seetharaman, an IML honors stu- [business]women,” Lucas said. “As Multimedia Literacy is the first of its said. “This is an opportunity to show dent. “It’s really nice to be able to they put their knowledge to use, kind. (See Multimedia story, page 1.) the world that this can be done.” broadcast what I’m learning and take they’ll inspire others.” Students taking Zuckerman’s Zuckerman’s class differs slightly all the new information that I’m excit- —Pamela J. Johnson course, “The Ancient Near East,” from the others in the multimedia ed about, and get other people excited are participating in the pilot program, pilot program. His is coupled with about it outside school.” Visit www.usc.edu/college/news/multimedia although the professor has used another program launched this year — Her experiences with multimedia for an interactive version of this article. advanced computer technology in his the College’s Team Research Com- SEAL IMAGES COURTESY OF BRUCE ZUCKERMAN

6 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Wayne Pitard of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign reviews a detailed, digital image of a cylinder seal with, clockwise from top left, UIUC students Rebecca Bott, Aaron Graham and Kyle Garton, and USC students Georgiana Nikias and Kristin Butler. The team is building a digital library of the images of the ancient objects.

Below, one of the seals ready to be photographed.

Thanks to the Zuckermans’ high-resolution imaging tech- nique, a 3,000-year-old fingerprint of a Mesopotamian is just visible on the lower por- tion of this ancient clay tablet.

munities (TRC). (See story, page 3.) archaeology and ancient Near Eastern are showing that they The five TRC courses involve stu- artifacts and texts, Dodd directs the can.” dents and a professor collaborating on TRC course. “For the first day and a yearlong original research project. After Zuckerman and Dodd a half, our professional The cylinder seals, the focus of obtained an Andrew W. Mellon staff was doing all the Zuckerman’s yearlong project, were Academic Mentoring Grant at USC, primary work while the borrowed from a collection at the coupled with matching funds from students looked on and William R. and Clarice V. Spurlock UIUC, the project literally got rolling. took notes,” Lundberg Museum at UIUC. “This is the most complex research added. “By the end of Zuckerman was visiting the Illinois and teaching experiment I’ve ever the second day, our roles museum when he saw the assortment tried to do,” Zuckerman said. had reversed.” of 1,700 cylinder seals. He knew that The perfect lab in which to set up Inside the lab this in the mid-1950s Edith Porada, the the photographic equipment was summer, the enthusiasm 20th century’s leading expert on cylin- located. Zuckerman and his crew bor- was palpable. Kristin der seals, studied the collection and rowed space in Matt Gainer’s studio, Butler, 22, squeezed an planned to publish her research. But already packed with cutting-edge ancient seal between her gloved thrilled to be conducting original the volumes never materialized. imaging gear. Gainer, USC’s digital thumb and index finger, peered close- research on the seals. But the 22-year- “That’s when I hatched an idea,” imaging director, has helped guide the ly and knotted her brow. old student was already an Zuckerman said. project from the start. Studying fragments of an ancient experienced researcher. Nikias, along He enlisted the collaboration of “We wanted the project to move clay tablet that made up the original with Butler and Hannah Marcuson, Pitard, a friend since the mid-1970s forward,” Marje Schuetze-Coburn, “receipt,” the College junior and the placed first in the 2006 when Zuckerman worked at the dean of USC Libraries, said of locat- other students could barely make out Undergraduate Symposium for Semitic Museum at Harvard ing the space. “The work of this team the etching of a lion’s head. Scholarly and Creative Work in the University and Pitard was a Harvard of students will be saved for the long But when looking at a high-resolu- humanities category for a project that graduate student. term. They’re creating the digital tion digital image of the same object, examined a USC-sponsored excava- “We were looking for a good proj- library here for future scholars.” every tiny detail was illuminated — tion site in Israel. ect for our students to sink their teeth College Dean Peter Starr visited including a few surprises. “We hope to have our research on into,” Zuckerman said. “The Spurlock the lab when the seals were being “There’s the scribe’s fingerprint!” the cylinder seals published by the cylinders turned out to be ideal.” photographed. Zuckerman shouted. end of the school year,” Nikias said. Pitard and the museum staff locat- “We’ve always known that in cer- In clear view on the computer Zuckerman expects that students will ed Porada’s preliminary, unpublished tain fields — such as in mathematics screen was the loopy pattern of a fin- complete an online catalogue of the research on the seals. or theoretical physics — people at the gerprint left by the Mesopotamian ancient seals by spring’s end. “It’s like having Albert Einstein’s age of 18, 19 or 20 can do path-break- who had handled the wet clay more “This will be the most sophisticat- notes on physics,” Zuckerman said. ing work,” Starr said. “But we don’t than 3,000 years earlier. ed catalogue of cylinder seals ever “It gave us a big leg up.” generally think that people of that age “Send it to CSI and see if they can made,” Zuckerman said. “And our The pair sought to work with in fields such as archaeology or identify him!” Pitard joked. undergraduates will be leading the Dodd, a visiting assistant professor of ancient studies can do path-breaking Georgiana Nikias, a senior majoring way.” religion in the College. An expert on research. Bruce and other professors in archaeology and English, was —Pamela J. Johnson CLASS PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING; FINGERPRINT IMAGE COURTESY OF BRUCE ZUCKERMAN

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 7 Learning in the Multimedia Age

bered more than 300 students, had subscribed to the CHEM 203 podcasts One Lecture, To Go Please by the end of the semester. Other College professors are joining USC on iTunes U will put professors on their students’ playlists McKenna in producing podcasts. Audrey Li, professor of linguistics and East Asian languages and cultures, and Jane Iwamura, assistant professor of religion and American studies and ou see them everywhere at ethnicity, will offer podcasts of course

USC. Those trademark white Charles McKenna, professor of lectures via USC on iTunes U in the iPod earphones have become as chemistry, suggested that USC spring. ubiquitous an accessory for stu- become among the first iTunes Professor Susan Forsburg, director Ydents at USC as wearing the cardinal U campuses. This spring a pilot of the molecular biology doctoral pro- group of courses will make and gold. lectures available to their stu- gram, and her co-lecturers in BISC But don’t assume that every dents via podcast on the site. 502a began podcasting in fall 2006. plugged-in Trojan on campus is nod- At right, College student Although she has some concerns with ding along to the sounds of their Delyar Afshar and her iPod. the technology, she’s found that stu- favorite feel-good hits. dents love it. They just might be brushing up for “We started off by running a trial,” a midterm. Forsburg said, “and because of stu- Many professors supplement class- dent enthusiasm, we decided to room learning by offering students continue. Traditionally, we had little downloadable versions of their lec- dictation cassette recorders in front of tures as podcasts. Accessible using us blinking away. Podcasting gives us Apple’s iTunes software, podcasts are a way to make recordings accessible to pre-recorded audio and, in some all students.” cases, video that users can subscribe “I have been a big fan of audio lec- to and automatically download to tures,” BISC 502a student Prithiviraj their computers, or mobile devices Chellamuthu said. “The ‘profcast’ like iPods, as new lectures or helps me refresh my memory about episodes are published. important ideas I might have forgotten from the lecture. iTunes U “With the advent of new technolo- The university’s efforts to enhance Ku feels that this large-scale effort other password-protected content gies, we should really take full the traditional classroom experience will expand the reach of the universi- restricted to enrolled students, USC advantage,” he said. using technology will soon have a new ty’s instruction. on iTunes U provides the opportunity online home — USC on iTunes U. Ku said, “With USC on iTunes U, for a variety of podcasts available to The Future “The idea of this is that young essentially, we can extend learning and the public. Admission information, As young adults become more people are using iTunes anyway,” teaching beyond the classroom — any- alumni updates, cultural events and and more “plugged-in,” lectures pub- said USC College chemist Charles where, anytime.” news eventually will be available at lished as podcasts will go from being McKenna. “With a couple of clicks, “We are all excited about the USC on iTunes U. a novelty to an expectation, McKenna they can see what USC wants to show opportunities this new collaboration predicts. them.” will provide,” said Gene Bickers, asso- Faculty Feed “Many students’ reaction is, ‘Why The iTunes U program is a free ciate vice provost for undergraduate A Distinguished Fellow of USC’s haven’t you been doing this already?’” hosting service provided by Apple. It programs and a professor of physics in Center for Excellence in Teaching, McKenna said. “To them it’s natural, offers institutions of higher education a USC College. “Music and video McKenna is a podcasting pioneer at it’s normal, it’s obvious.” centralized “home” among its directory downloads are a part of every under- the College, and his enthusiasm for “That’s the future,” said William of podcasts, and provides an easier graduate’s life, and iTunes U will using new technologies is difficult to Tierney, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of interface for faculty to add their lec- enable us to bring the same technolo- overstate. He has used a number of Higher Education at the USC Rossier tures as podcasts. USC is one of the gies to bear in enhancing learning distance learning technologies in his School of Education and director of early adopters, joining peers such as outside the classroom.” course CHEM 203, “AIDS Drug the Center for Higher Education Stanford, UC Berkeley and Duke as Security of information is a top con- Discovery and Development,” which Policy Analysis. “The future is that iTunes U participants. cern for USC’s team; much of the he has co-taught with Amy Barrios, younger students are more comfort- McKenna first suggested the iTunes technical coordination involved in this assistant professor of chemistry. able with electronic media than even U partnership to the university’s project was to make sure the system is Each lecture given live is also today’s students, and certainly faculty administration late last fall. From there, secure. Authentication for administra- recorded for later posting on the class who are a generation older. plans were shepherded along thanks to tors, faculty and students logging in to Web site, and everything from the “So, really what we’re doing with a team effort coordinated by Suh-Pyng USC on iTunes U will be handled by submission of assignments to grading technology is enabling different ways Ku, the university’s chief technology the university. is done online via an interface created of learning, which is increasing the officer for enhanced learning and pro- To facilitate professors’ podcasting by McKenna and his colleagues. potential for learning rather than just fessor in the USC Marshall School of efforts, the USC Center for Scholarly “When we saw the iPod, we real- transferring it from one medium to Business. Technology has offered training and ized that we ourselves could create another.” USC on iTunes U couldn’t have mobile kits with equipment for cap- podcasts fairly easily,” said McKenna, “The administration in the College come to fruition without the work of turing lectures to interested faculty. In a professor of chemistry and pharma- has been very supportive of these many staff and faculty members, the past year a number of new multi- ceutical sciences. “And since we were efforts,” McKenna said. “They’ve had including the Faculty Advisory media classrooms have been built on already putting both audio and video the foresight and been willing to Committee for Technology-Enhanced campus, and USC now has more than versions of every lecture on our Web experiment with new techniques, and Learning (of which McKenna is a 30 multimedia classrooms outfitted for site, last fall we decided to implement to back that up with some resources. I member), the provost’s office, the gen- video conferencing, distance learning podcasting.” think the students are the winners as a eral counsel’s office and Information and recording podcasts. According to McKenna, about 15 result.” Technology Services. In addition to course lectures and percent of last fall’s class, which num- —Wayne Lewis PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING

8 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Putting Technology in Its Place — in the Classroom Faculty harness technologies to enhance learning in the humanities

n hour into a lecture on Levine — who for a notions of the origin of number of years has used species, historian Philippa Web-based software such Levine instructs her stu- as Turn It In, which Adents to take out their clickers. As helps prevent plagiarism students retrieve from their bags by checking student sub- small, remote control-like devices, the missions against both following prompt appears on a large Web content and the digital projection screen at the front of work of peers — sees a Taper Hall 101: “Given what you danger in glorifying tech- know of Linnaeus, do you think he’s: nology without also 1.) A monogenist; 2.) A polygenist; or understanding the ways 3.) I’m not sure I can answer that.” in which both faculty and Each student uses a clicker to reg- students need to be criti- ister a response and within seconds, cal of tools such as Professor Levine knows not only how Google and Wikipedia well the 167 students in “The that are now widely used Evolution Debates” have absorbed in academic settings. the day’s material but also how readily When it comes to they can draw connections between research papers, Levine concepts. Given what they’ve learned limits her students’ Students listen to Professor Philippa about Linnaeus, monogenesis and reliance on resources available Levine lecture on the historical ideas that polygenesis, 60 percent of Levine’s led to the theory of evolution. The lecture only on the Web: “I encourage students think Linnaeus’ ideas are in is punctuated by technology-enabled par- my students to be critical and keeping with monogenism — in other ticipation when students use clickers force them to remember that (pictured below) to check their compre- words, Linnaeus might have believed hension of the material on the fly. The the book and the peer- that human beings are descendants of results guide Levine’s instruction. reviewed journal are still a single pair of ancestors; 31 percent extant.” think his ideas are polygenist — these Levine has also discovered students find it likely that Linnaeus some unexpected benefits to believed human beings to be descen- implementing technology in dents of multiple, independent pairs her courses. For example, she of ancestors; and 9 percent of the stu- first began using Turn It In dents in the course aren’t too sure to simply to curb the temptation which camp the early 18th century to plagiarize, but soon found botanist and pioneering taxonomist that because the software does- might have belonged had he not pre- n’t distinguish between quoted dated the theories in question. and plagiarized material, it also Otherwise wary of multiple-choice can be used to assess just how questions for tests and quizzes in help faculty enhance student learning much original thought went humanities courses, Levine values the through new technologies. into writing a given paper. ways in which clickers help her infor- In addition to clickers, Levine Gene Bickers, professor of Philippa Levine has found some technolo- mally assess student learning and plans to implement a wiki in “The gies — such as the so-called clickers — physics and the associate vice provost rescue those who might be falling Evolution Debates” to help facilitate extremely useful in her history course “The for undergraduate programs, remarked behind. student collaboration and discussion. Evolution Debates.” that Levine is among several College “It’s an opportunity to find out She hopes that wiki software — the faculty members who have served as really, really fast whether you’re get- same technology that powers the pop- her sections of “Advanced Writing.” leaders in the use of innovative tech- ting through to students,” Levine said ular Wikipedia, an online Excited about the ways in which nology in classroom settings. “There of the clicker, or Personal Response encyclopedia that allows any visitor to technology can impact learning, both are technological possibilities out System, technology. “Some students add or edit content — will “be a good Levine and Inman Berens are also there that faculty just don’t know are shy. Clickers give them an oppor- vehicle for controversial and delicate thoughtful about the difficulties about,” said Bickers. “One of the tunity to say what they think without topics.” Levine plans to create pages instructors face as they put technology goals of TELIP is to provide informa- saying it. They give students in big for course readings, lectures and rele- to work for education. Inman Berens tion to faculty so that they know what lectures a sort of comfort — and it’s vant controversies so that students believes the student learning out- software is available to them.” fun for them. It’s almost like being on may freely discuss their opinions on a comes are ultimately worth the effort. For Levine, the clickers have a game show.” given subject. She sees the inherent challenges in proven nothing but useful to her class: Levine is one of two College facul- Kathi Inman Berens, a senior lec- using technology in writing courses — The second she knows that 40 per- ty recipients of funds provided by the turer in the College’s Writing Program distinguishing group from individual cent of her students don’t recognize Technology Enhanced Learning and a Fellow of the Center for efforts, for example — as surmount- Linnaeus’ ideas as monogenist, she Incentive Program (TELIP) to nine Excellence in Teaching at USC, also able: “Faculty and students will can quickly review Linnaeus’ key tax- USC faculty members. Through the received a TELIP grant this year. collaboratively evolve a model of e- onomic theories and see to it that program, USC’s Center for Scholarly Inman Berens envisions technology writing that meets the twin needs of none of her 167 students is left Technology provides the consultation, facilitating online discussion and the technology-infused critical thinking behind. training and equipment necessary to presentation of multimedia texts in and old-fashioned grades.” —Suzanne Menghraj PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 9 Learning in the Multimedia Age

Bringing Up (Cyber)Baby Innovative teaching tool is brainchild of psychologist Frank Manis

eet Joseph. He turned 18 The Virtual Child simulates something this summer. In the fall, most undergraduates will not have this honor student will experience with or access to — a be attending a very growing child. Mselective university on a baseball “College students don’t have a scholarship. An ever-inquisitive lot of contact with children,” said child, he showed an early aptitude Manis, a father of three daughters for math and science. He devel- who has taught developmental psy- oped an interest in writing and art as chology at the College for 25 years. a teen. “They are reading about the stuff in The road wasn’t easy, though. books, and what I wanted for them is Throughout elementary school, teach- to have what I have as a parent: to see ers urged his family to medicate the a child from birth to 18 years. But easily distracted child. In his moody they do it within one semester.” teen years, he and his father Typically, developmental psychol- worked through issues of alcohol ogy students are asked to observe use, reckless driving and drug children of different ages. The experimentation. Virtual Child presents an innova- All in all, of course, Joseph has tive, more accessible alternative. made his dad proud. “It fills a need that I thought But you won’t be seeing Joseph was always there,” Manis said. “We on the collegiate baseball diamond or talk about research but the students drowsily dragging himself across cam- don’t actually experience it directly. pus to early-morning classes. Frank Manis, a professor in the College’s psychology department, has developed The So it’s still book learning, abstract Joseph exists only on a computer Virtual Child, an interactive, online education tool simulating the child-rearing stuff. I thought, what better way to server at USC. He’s a “virtual child,” process. make it real than to actually say, ‘You a product of an online educational raise the child.’ ” tool created by USC College psychol- A Virtual Child’s “baby” starts with ogist Frank Manis and programmer certain randomly generated attributes Mike Radford. that form a predisposition toward a Manis recently published The “College students don’t have a lot of contact with children. certain type of personality and level of Virtual Child (Prentice Hall, 2006), a intelligence. Each will differ in traits text-based interactive simulation in They are reading about the stuff in books, and what I wanted for such as activity level, friendliness and which students play the role of a them is to have what I have as a parent: to see a child from birth verbal intelligence. parent raising a child from birth to “We can’t fully simulate a real 18. He road-tested it with his to 18 years. But they do it within one semester.” child,” Manis said, “so we picked cer- Psychology 336 class over the past tain dimensions that we know about four years, incorporating feedback in research and that students will hear —Frank Manis, professor of psychology, USC College from his students. about in the textbook. “Basically it’s an all-in-one pro- “The students’ parenting choices gram,” Manis said. “By going through slowly, gradually affect the child.” it, students can learn, ‘What does a The Virtual Child reflects the current typical 3-month-old do?’ Well, they state of research about the elements laugh; they show more interest in the slugger Joseph begins to play make- At certain milestones, The Virtual that influence a child’s development. environment. The books don’t often believe with his toys and sometimes Child provides feedback and advice It’s a complex mixture of biology, say that.” talks to himself. on a student’s choices via evaluations child rearing and the influence of Descriptions of situations and life The virtual parent may encourage of the child’s development. peers and culture as a whole. 1 events alternate with screens that Joseph to make the play more con- In Joseph’s case, at 2 /2, he paid a “Text books should have less of the prompt for multiple-choice “parent- crete by introducing blocks. Or visit to a child development special- traditional stuff,” Manis said, “and ing decisions.” he can join the child in his make- ist. The session yielded such more of the new dynamic stuff, which “The choices generally fall into believe games. Another choice is comments as, “Joseph was pretty is how genes and environment inter- three categories,” Manis said. to let him play on his own so as not cooperative with the other kids but act. The old theories don’t work.” “There’s the laissez-faire parent, the to interfere with the development of became somewhat aggressive over a So between nature, nurture and strict parent and the person who real- his imagination. Or the parent may favorite toy.” And, “Joseph is above culture, none wins out as a primary ly wants to match his parenting to the try to channel Joseph’s play away average in solving problems with influence in the development of a vir- child’s personality and needs.” from talking to himself and make more than two steps, and grouping tual child. Manis smiled. “Most people who it more interactive. objects together in categories. The “I tried to strike a balance,” Manis take my course choose the matching.” Manis’ brainchild was set for wide specialist recommended that you explained. “That’s actually the way Dealing with infant illness, potty- use in classes nationwide this fall. respond to Joseph’s interests.” the field is going. training, planning play time, the The Virtual Child is a companion piece Along the way, a student/virtual “The field started as just mother- eventual teenage battle for the car to Prentice Hall’s updated develop- parent is prompted with questions child. Now, we realize there are some keys — the virtual parent has many mental psychology textbook, and a relating her child-rearing experience kids who are more resilient. How do decisions to make. password granting access to the site is to the developmental theories she’ll these kids in bad environments turn For instance, at 18 months, future distributed with each copy. read about and hear about in lectures. out fine? And then there are kids who MANIS BY PHOTO PHIL CHANNING

10 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 are at risk. Their environment has to rhyming.’ It’s stuff that comes from problems that you need to solve using wider application of his simulation, be good for them to turn out OK.” my research over the years.” what you’ve learned in the lectures which was originally inspired by the Learning disorders, Manis’ In addition to his research expert- and your reading allow you to acquire electronic baby dolls used to show research specialty, also are built into ise, Manis’ skills as an instructor have a far greater understanding of the high school students the manifold The Virtual Child. There is a small-per- earned kudos. He is a Fellow of USC’s material. responsibilities involved in parenting. centage possibility that a given virtual Center for Excellence in Teaching “What’s especially wonderful — “It could be used with parents,” he child will have to struggle with (CET). In 2002, at the proposal stage, and rare — is that The Virtual Child said. “There are all kinds of books on dyslexia or attention deficit disorder. The Virtual Child received a highly allows students to interact with tech- parenting and all kinds of varying “It’s sneaky the way it happens,” competitive grant from the CET’s nology, while the technology itself advice, but nothing like this — noth- Manis said. “It doesn’t immediately Fund for Innovative Undergraduate remains transparent to a large extent. ing where you actually say: ‘You’re tell you your child has dyslexia. It Teaching. The technology is a facilitator to thinking of having a baby? Well, why starts saying things like, ‘Your child “It’s total student engagement,” learning. You really get to understand don’t you try this out for a couple of doesn’t want to listen to stories,’ or said CET Director Danielle Mihram. your child in a very personal way.” months?’ ” ‘Your child has trouble understanding “Having a virtual child and having And Manis sees potential for a —Wayne Lewis

Hooked on Learning Humans wired to crave new knowledge, USC neuroscientist posits

euroscientists have pro- variety of images, Biederman and his thinking about it, we pick out experi- posed a simple explanation research group found that strongly ences that are richly interpretable but for the pleasure of grasping preferred images prompted the great- novel.” a new concept: The brain est brain activity in more complex “All of us have felt the pleasure of Nis getting its fix. areas of the ventral visual pathway. acquiring information — a view of a The click of comprehension trig- (The data from the studies are being dramatic landscape, a conversation gers a biochemical cascade that submitted for publication.) with a friend or even a good magazine rewards the brain with a shot of natu- Biederman also found that repeat- article, can all be profoundly gratify- ral opium-like substances, said Irving ed viewing of an attractive image ing,” Biederman wrote in American Biederman of USC College. lessened both the rating of pleasure Scientist. “Human beings are designed “While you’re trying to under- and the activity in the opioid-rich to be ‘infovores.’” stand a difficult theorem, it’s not areas. He explains this familiar experi- Biederman believes his is the first fun,” said Biederman, the Harold ence by means of a neural-network study to present a neurological theory Dornsife Chair in Neurosciences and model termed competitive learning. of aesthetic experience. professor of psychology and comput- In competitive learning (also The theory, while currently tested er science. “But once you get it, you known as neural Darwinism), the first only in the visual system, likely just feel fabulous.” Neuroscientist Irving Biederman presentation of an image activates applies to other senses, Biederman The brain’s craving for a fix moti- many neurons, some intensely and a said. “There is, for example, a mu- vates humans to maximize the rate at greater number only weakly. opioid receptor gradient in the which they absorb knowledge, he said. sible and very simple mechanism for With repetition of the image, con- auditory system of the macaque mon- Biederman, a leading expert on aesthetic, perceptual and cognitive nections to the highly activated key. In macaques, the receptors are how the brain processes images who curiosity.” neurons become stronger. But these relatively sparse in the primary audi- has also explored why some images Biederman’s theory was inspired by activated neurons inhibit their weakly tory cortex and denser in the are considered more attractive than a 25-year-old, widely ignored finding activated neighbors, causing a net secondary auditory cortex.” others, discusses his theory in an arti- that mu-opioid receptors — binding reduction in activity. This reduction The American Scientist article cited cle he co-authored with Edward A. sites for natural opiates — increase in in activity, Biederman’s research Stanford University research from the Vessel in the May/June issue of density along the ventral visual path- shows, parallels the decline in pleas- 1980s that further strengthens American Scientist. Vessel, a postdoctor- way, a part of the brain involved in ure felt during repeated viewing. Biederman’s theory. The Stanford al fellow at NYU’s Center for Neural image recognition and processing. “One advantage of competitive research showed that people who nor- Science, was formerly one of The receptors are tightly packed in learning is that the inhibited neurons mally experience “chills” while Biederman’s doctoral students at USC. the areas of the pathway linked to are now free to code for other stimu- listening to certain compositions do Biederman hypothesizes that comprehension and interpretation of lus patterns,” Biederman wrote. In not have the same sensation while knowledge addiction has strong evolu- images, but sparse in areas where effect, these neurons are attuned to under the influence of naloxone, a tionary value because mate selection visual stimuli first hit the cortex. process new information. mu-opioid blocker. correlates closely with perceived intel- Biederman’s theory holds that the This preference for novel concepts Biederman’s findings may also ligence. Only more pressing material greater the neural activity in the areas also has evolutionary value, he added. have applications in distant fields, needs, such as hunger, can suspend rich in opioid receptors, the greater “The system is essentially designed such as the fine arts. For example, the quest for knowledge, he added. the pleasure. to maximize the rate at which you said Biederman, the art critic who The same mechanism is involved In previous work, he has used acquire new but interpretable informa- loves modern art may have been satu- in the aesthetic experience, state-of-the-art brain scanning tools to tion. Once you have acquired the rated by the classics. Biederman said, providing a neurolog- view the human brain in action. In a information, you best spend your time “They’ve experienced all the Old ical explanation for the pleasure we series of functional magnetic reso- learning something else. Masters and they don’t want to see derive from art and music. nance imaging (fMRI) trials with “There’s this incredible selectivity another one of those.” “This account may provide a plau- human volunteers exposed to a wide that we show in real time. Without —Carl Marziali PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 11 New Faculty

Faculty Hiring Initiative Drawing to a Close Successful effort brings USC College faculty to all-time high

aunched in 2002, the soon-to-be completed Senior Faculty department is now ranked as one of the two best in the world in the Hiring Initiative has enabled USC College to recruit a group area of philosophy of language), interdisciplinary visual studies and of truly remarkable scholars — experts in more than one dis- cognitive neuroscience, among other areas of study. Lcipline, pioneers in emerging fields and leaders in the reshaping of The addition of nearly 100 world-class senior faculty, as well as established fields. continued hiring at the junior level, has brought the College’s This year, the College welcomed 30 new senior and junior faculty tenure-track faculty to an all-time high of 494. members. Among these are seven scholars in marine genomics and “In growing our numbers, we have also grown more diverse, hav- biogeochemistry, whose expertise add to the College’s already con- ing made significant progress in the recruitment of women and siderable might in geobiology and computational biology. But the minority faculty,” said Peter Starr, dean of USC College. hiring push has also built new strengths in philosophy (the USC The College expects to announce its 100th hire in the spring.

Sergio Sañudo-Wilhelmy SERGIO SAÑUDO- PROFESSORS DAVID HUTCHINS WILHELMY Professor of Biological Sciences Professor of Robert Campany Ph.D., Biology, University Biological Sciences of California, Santa Cruz, Ph.D., Earth Sciences ROBERT CAMPANY (Geochemistry), Professor of Religion 1994 University of Ph.D., History of Religions, From: University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Chicago, 1988 Delaware, Newark David Hutchins 1993 From: Indiana University, From: Marine Sciences Research Center, State Bloomington University of New York at Stony Brook

ROBIN D.G. KELLEY ANDREW SIMPSON Professor of History and Professor of Linguistics and LOUIS GOLDSTEIN East Asian Languages and American Studies and Ethnicity IAN MORRI; HEFT PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY DAYTON; PASTOR UCSC REVIEW Professor of Linguistics Ph.D., U.S. History, Cultures Ph.D., Linguistics, University of California, Ph.D., Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1987 University of London, 1995 Los Angeles, 1977 From: Columbia University, From: University of From: Yale University, New London, United Kingdom New York Robin D.G. Kelley Andrew Simpson Haven, Conn. Louis Goldstein

SHERRY VELASCO Professor of Spanish and James Moffett JAMES MOFFETT Portuguese DOUGLAS GREENBERG Professor of Biological Sciences Ph.D., Spanish Literature, Professor of History Ph.D., Chemical University of California, Los Ph.D., History, Cornell Oceanography, University Angeles, 1992 University, 1974 of Miami, 1986 From: University of From: Survivors of the From: Woods Hole Sherry Velasco Kentucky, Lexington Shoah Visual History Oceanographic Institution, Douglas Foundation, Los Angeles Woods Hole, Mass. Greenberg

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

IN HEN JAMES HEFT MANUEL PASTOR L C The Alton M. Brooks Professor Professor of Geography Associate Professor of of Religion Ph.D., Economics, Biological Sciences and Ph.D., Historical Theology, University of Massachusetts Chemistry University of Toronto, 1977 Amherst, 1984 Ph.D., Chemistry, Harvard From: University of From: University of University, 1994 Dayton, Dayton, Ohio California, Santa Cruz From: University of Manuel Pastor James Heft Colorado, Boulder Lin Chen GREENBERG PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING; KELLEY LISA GAY HAMILTON; SAÑUDO-WILHELMY ALEXANDRA WYMAN; CHEN BR

12 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 ELENA PIERPAOLI Karla Heidelberg KARLA HEIDELBERG ANDREW CURTIS Associate Professor of Physics Assistant Professor of Associate Professor of and Astronomy Biological Sciences Geography Ph.D., Astrophysics, Ph.D., Marine Estuarine Ph.D., Geography, State International School for and Environmental Science, University of New York at Advanced Studies, Trieste, University of Maryland, Buffalo, 1995 Italy, 1998 College Park, 1999 From: Louisiana State From: California Institute of From: J. Craig Venter Andrew Curtis University, Baton Rouge Elena Pierpaoli Technology, Pasadena Institute, Rockville, Md.

ANNE MCKNIGHT Assistant Professor of East KATRINA EDWARDS Mary Elise Asian Languages and Cultures MARY ELISE SAROTTE Sarotte Associate Professor of Ph.D., Comparative Biological Sciences Associate Professor of International Relations Literature, University of Ph.D., Geomicrobiology, California, Berkeley, 2001 University of Wisconsin- Ph.D., History, Yale University, 1998 From: McGill University, Madison, 1999 Montreal, Canada From: Woods Hole From: Cambridge Anne McKnight Oceanographic Institution, Katrina University, United Kingdom Edwards Woods Hole, Mass.

JACOB ROSS Assistant Professor of Philosophy BRETT SHEEHAN Ph.D., Philosophy, Rutgers DENISE FERREIRA DA SILVA Associate Professor of History University, 2006 Associate Professor of Sociology Ph.D., East Asian History,

and American Studies and University of California, Jacob Ross Ethnicity Berkeley, 1997 Ph.D., Sociology, University From: University of of Pittsburgh, 1999 Wisconsin-Madison From: University of Brett Sheehan MARK SCHROEDER Denise Ferreira da Silva California, San Diego Assistant Professor of Philosophy Ph.D., Philosophy, Princeton MAARTEN VAN DELDEN University, 2004 Associate Professor of Spanish From: University of Jason Fulman and Portuguese Maryland, College Park Mark Schroeder JASON FULMAN Ph.D., Comparative Associate Professor of

LIZZIE MAUGHAN Literature, Columbia Mathematics University, 1990 Eric Webb Ph.D., Mathematics, ERIC WEBB From: Rice University, Assistant Professor of Harvard University, 1997 Houston Maarten van Delden Biological Sciences From: University of Ph.D., Bacteriology, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. University of Wisconsin- Madison, 1999

Paolo Zanardi From: Woods Hole PAOLO ZANARDI Oceanographic Institution, Associate Professor of Woods Hole, Mass. JOHN HEIDELBERG Physics and Astronomy Associate Professor of Ph.D., Physics, Universita Biological Sciences di Roma, 1995 XUELIN WU Ph.D., Marine Estuarine and From: Institute for Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, Scientific Interchange, Biological Sciences University of Maryland, Torino, Italy Ph.D., Developmental College Park, 1997 Biology, New York From: The Institute for University, 2000 John Heidelberg Genomic Research (TIGR), From: Salk Institute for Rockville, Md. Biological Studies, ASSISTANT PROFESSORS Xuelin Wu San Diego

Liang Chen Nayuta Yamashita JIA GRACE LU NAYUTA YAMASHITA Associate Professor of LIANG CHEN Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ph.D., Applied Physics, Biological Sciences Ph.D., Anthropology, Harvard University, 1997 Ph.D., Molecular, Cellular Northwestern University, From: University of and Developmental Biology, 1996 California, Irvine Yale University, 2006 From: Keck School of Jia Grace Lu Medicine of USC J. HEIDELBERG, K. WEBB PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA WYMAN; FULMAN, LU, YAMASHITA PHIL CHANNING; SCHROEDER PHOTO

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 13 New Faculty

Nano Know-How Physicist probes the nanoworld to make a better chemical sensor

evices for detecting danger- ous substances can literally be lifesavers, in situations ranging from soldiers on the In the next few years Dbattlefield to luggage screeners at air- ports. Grace Lu hopes to see lab Yet chemical sensors now available versions of a sort of for such tasks have their drawbacks. For instance, they aren’t always sensi- “electronic nose” useful for tive enough to detect tiny amounts of sniffing out a wide range of a hazardous chemical. And once exposed, it can takes hours until they nasty chemicals, including are ready to sense again. nerve gas and various But research from the nanoworld, where individual molecules become explosives. “Ultimately, scientific tools for inventing miracu- we want to develop an lous micro-gadgets, is revealing new and better ways to recognize mali- ultra-sensitive and highly cious chemicals. selective chemical sensing At the heart of novel detection devices now on the drawing board are system that mimics the threads of metal oxide small enough mammalian olfactory system.” to fit through the eye of a needle too small to see. These “nanowires” are measured in billionths of a meter, or nanometers. A typical nanowire is In physicist Grace Lu’s explorations on the frontiers of the nanoworld, she uses this instrument to analyze the magnetic properties of wires about 50 nanometers wide — you about 50 nanometers wide — so small that you could fit 20,000 of them side to side within the eye of a full-sized needle. could fit 20,000 of them side to side within the eye of a full-sized needle. of transistor that responds to the pres- half an hour to many hours. With chemicals rapidly and, because it Making such nanowires and ence of various gases with exquisite nanowires, a voltage signal to the tran- could be quickly refreshed for reuse, embedding them in delicate electron- precision, thus acting as a powerful sistor drives away the chemical, repeatedly. ic circuitry occupies the creative chemical sensor. restoring the original sensing condi- Of course, the sensors and comput- energy of Jia Grace Lu, one of three Transistors are important compo- tion in a matter of minutes. (The ing elements in such devices require new scientists to join the USC nents of electronic circuits, controlling precise amount of time needed to electrical power, and once again College physics and astronomy the flow of information by regulating refresh the sensor can also be used to nanowires can help. In transistors, the department this year. The others are the transmission of electric current. In help determine the identity of the wires just lay flat, but Lu is investigat- cosmologist Elena Pierpaoli and Paolo transistors made with a zinc oxide chemical being detected.) ing other configurations in which the Zanardi, who studies quantum infor- nanowire, the presence of foreign sub- So far, Lu and her group have zinc oxide wires stand vertically in an mation sciences. stances alters the wire’s ability to focused on ways of making the zinc array that can serve as a tiny battery, Lu’s interest in physics was ignited conduct the current. Nitrogen dioxide oxide nanowires and demonstrating rechargeable by solar power. The bat- in childhood; she grew up in China in gas, for instance, will reduce how their sensing effectiveness in princi- tery would be small enough to a family populated by physicists, much current the wire conducts, ple. In the next few years, she hopes integrate on a single chip with the including her grandfather, father and whereas carbon monoxide will to see laboratory versions of working sensing unit and computing circuitry. several uncles. increase it. Different substances devices, each containing several sens- Besides sensing toxic substances, “Usually, they don’t encourage increase or decrease the current by ing units to create a sort of “electronic zinc oxide nanodevices could have girls to do hard science, but I was different degrees, so specific chemi- nose” for sniffing out a wide range of many other uses — in logic gates for fascinated by physics,” said Lu, cals can be identified by how much nasty chemicals, including nerve gas computer circuits, for instance, or as associate professor of physics and they affect the flow of current. and various explosives. Several sens- solar-electric cells or as photodetectors. astronomy. She knew she wanted to Zinc oxide also can be used as a ing units can then be embedded in Lu’s plans include making even be a scientist even before entering sensing material when in the form of electronic circuitry with computing smaller nanowires — only a few middle school. She came to the U.S. a thin film. But the nanowire struc- power to analyze the patterns in the nanometers across — from metals and at 14 for high school, and received ture studied by Lu has several transistor signals corresponding to var- semiconducting materials. Smaller undergraduate degrees in physics advantages over film sensors, mostly ious gases. wires would operate in the realm and electrical engineering from due to its larger surface-to-volume “We’re working on how we can where the rules of quantum physics Washington University in St. Louis. ratio. A small dose of nitrogen dioxide distinguish gases in a complex envi- take control. Experiments with such She earned her physics doctorate at gas on a thin film might diminish the ronment, not just a mixture of two wires will build the know-how essen- Harvard and most recently has pur- current by only 2 percent, much hard- gases,” Lu said. “Ultimately, we want tial for future applications in ultra-fast sued her nanoworld explorations at er to measure than the 50 percent to develop an ultra-sensitive and electronics and quantum computers. the University of California, Irvine. decrease observed in a zinc oxide highly selective chemical sensing sys- Eventually, Lu’s work may even lead Lu’s work on nanowires has nanowire. tem that mimics the mammalian to a better understanding of the focused on zinc oxide, which offers Nanowires also can be more quick- olfactory system.” nanoworld itself, paving the way for particularly attractive properties for ly reset to begin sensing again. For Battlefield soldiers could carry this even more useful nanoinventions in nanosensing and other devices. Zinc films, elaborate methods are needed kind of “electronic nose” in a cell the decades to come. oxide nanowires can be used in a type to cleanse the surface, requiring from phone-sized device to detect toxic —Tom Siegfried PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING

14 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Faculty Books

The Politics of Follicles and Culture of Coifs How hair styles shape African-American women’s sense of themselves

s Oprah Winfrey’s hair real? From urban comedy clubs where That question is at the heart of there’s an age-old tradition of poking From the Kitchen to the Parlor: fun at black hairstyles to seminars Language and Becoming in African where hair care professionals believe IAmerican Women’s Hair Care (Oxford they are divinely appointed to minis- University Press, 2006) a new book ter through hair, Jacobs-Huey spent by anthropologist Lanita Jacobs- six years studying the way black Huey. women talk about hair in everyday Oprah’s choice of hairstyle — settings. extensions, straightening, curly or Her observations provide a unique braids — was seen by many who insight into the politics of hair. took part in a month-long Internet For example, the afro — once a discussion as not only a personal cylinder of teased hair — was a con- expression but also an obvious politi- trast to the straightening and relaxing cal symbol. One comment suggested style that many prominent blacks that Oprah changing her hair could wore in the ’60s. By the ’70s, the cut be as significant as the fall of was more of a fashion statement than apartheid. a political one, and as a multicolored “Discussions about hair go to the pouf, it even became part of the

heart of the politics of African- Lanita Jacobs-Huey’s new book explores how African-American women’s hair styles — from disco craze. After years of falling out American women,” said Jacobs-Huey, cornrows to straightened waves — “speak” about issues of racial and gender identity. of favor, it once again has returned — an associate professor of anthropology but with little of the symbolism that and American studies and ethnicity ing gender and racial identity when hair “speaks,” how it shapes black once made it a target for some and a in USC College. “African-American making decisions about hair.” women’s sense of themselves and beacon to others. women face profound issues concern- Her new book explores the way their place in the world. continued on page 30

L’Année Terrible Exploring the origins and legacy of the Paris Commune

or decades, ideologues have vil- France — such as democratization, an ified the Paris Commune of evolving revolutionism and the devel- 1871 as a hotbed of madness, opment of capitalist logics of anarchy and confusion. commerce. FThe Communards — who over- In French literature, no work took the French government and explores the origin of confusion in briefly ruled France for 70 days the events of l’année terrible as fully before dying in a blaze of fire and and insightfully as Emile Zola’s La bloodshed — have been dismissed as Débâcle, Starr argues. barbarians, monsters, animals, ban- “Never had there been a greater dits, alcoholics and hysterics. And muddle, nor more anxiety,” Zola even perverts. writes in this 1892 novel about the In Commemorating Trauma: The Franco-Prussian War and subsequent Paris Commune and Its Cultural Paris Commune. Aftermath (Fordham University Press, The Communard insurrection 2006), USC College Dean Peter Starr against the French government offers a different take. occurred after the collapse of “What if we read confusion, not as Commemorating Trauma, which focuses on the Paris insurrection of 1870-71, is Dean Peter Louis-Napoleon’s Second Empire a sign of cognitive weakness but Starr’s second book about a defining moment in French political and cultural history. and France’s defeat to Bismarck’s rather as the metaphor for a general- Prussia. Fearing that a conservative ized malaise characteristic of a understanding of the cultural trauma Year?” majority would restore the monar- traumatic moment in late 19th centu- of 1870-71, a tumultuous period of In a book that is already required chy, revolutionaries formed a ry France?” said Starr, professor of French history that included the reading in a French history course at communal government. After fierce French and comparative literature, of Franco-Prussian War, siege of Paris the University of York in Britain, Starr fighting, French forces crushed the the premise of his book. and Paris Commune. explores what the representation of Communards, leaving about 20,000 Scouring literary, cinematic and “How,” he asks, “does confusion confusion in various works has to tell insurrectionists and 750 government historical works, Starr follows the define that founding moment we us about the forces of social upheaval troops dead. trope of confusion to gain a deeper have come to know as the Terrible that have effectively shaped modern continued on page 30 PHOTOS PHIL CHANNING

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 15 Faculty Books

There’s Something More About Mary USC College Bible scholar explores the life of Jesus’ mother

eligion Professor Ronald Hock opened a coffee table-sized art Rbook to a reproduction of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. Hock pointed to the figure at the right hand of Jesus in the 15th century painting, based on John’s gospel in which Jesus announces the Infancy Gospel has Jesus performing that one of his 12 disci- his first miracle as a newborn. That ples would betray him. conflicted with John’s gospel, which The New Test- says Jesus’ first miracle was turning ament scholar doesn’t water into wine. buy author Dan But Jerome’s real problem was the Brown’s argument in way in which the Infancy Gospel his bestseller, The Da explained the mention of Jesus’ Vinci Code, that the per- “brothers” in the canonical gospels. son at the place The references to Jesus’ brothers in signifying the most USC College Bible scholar Ron Hock mined the little-known, long-banned text Infancy Gospel of James for many of the gospels suggest Mary was insights into the life of Mary for his new book. beloved disciple is not a perpetual virgin. Jerome would- Mary Magdalene, and n’t have that. not John. Hock said. The document was the pregnant, Joseph resolves to leave her, “The issue of the day was what was “The iconography of John is always basis of many masterpieces by but an angel informs him that Mary the greatest form of Christian piety, is as a young, beardless youth,” Hock Renaissance artists such as Giotto di has conceived by the Holy Spirit. it normal marriage or is it celibacy?” said recently inside his USC College Bondone, Raphael and Robert In the Infancy Gospel, Joseph and Hock said. “Jerome was on the side of office. “When you look at the da Vinci Campin. Mary stop en route to Bethlehem, celibacy. He wanted Mary to be the picture of ‘The Last Supper,’ all the “It’s a lovely story,” Hock said. where a census has been ordered. role model for that form of piety.” other disciples have beards, and the “I appreciate the way it influenced Mary delivers a son — not in a stable Jerome explained that when Mark like. It’s John who’s to the right of Orthodox Christianity, directly. How but in a cave. and Matthew spoke of Jesus’ brothers Jesus. He looks a little feminine, but it influenced Latin Christianity, in- Deviating from the New and sisters, they really meant cousins. that’s only because he’s a youth.” directly, and how we can still see its Testament, this document says two Jerome didn’t like the Infancy Gospel Hock has strong opinions about influence in manger scenes and midwives visit the cave. After one explanation that the brothers were many issues swirling around the his- Christmas cards. We still unknowing- midwife claims a virgin has given Joseph’s sons from a previous mar- torical Jesus — the subject of a wave ly now pick up traits and details that birth, the other is skeptical. But when riage. So, the Infancy Gospel was of recent books, television programs, go back, not to Matthew, Mark, Luke she tries to examine Mary, her hand pushed aside. plays and films, including director Ron or John, but eventually to the Infancy begins to burn. A voice tells her to Despite the Western church’s pro- Howard’s big-budget thriller based on Gospel of James.” pick up the baby. When she does, the hibition, manuscripts survived. In the Brown’s novel. While the New Testament chroni- midwife’s hand is healed. seventh century, during the rise of An expert on the topic, Hock has cles Jesus, beginning with Mary and The Infancy Gospel further contra- Islam, many Christians fled Jerusalem appeared on public television pro- Joseph, the Infancy Gospel describes a dicts the traditional story. Rather than for Rome. They brought with them grams about Jesus’ life. But lately, childless couple whose prayers are Joseph leading Mary and the baby into their love and traditions surrounding he has turned his attention to Jesus’ answered when Anne delivers Mary. Egypt to escape King Herod’s soldiers, Mary, which dovetailed with the mother, Mary. In his book, The Banned The overjoyed couple vow to dedicate Mary is the hero. It says Mary Roman interest in Mary as a celibate Book of Mary: How Her Story Was their child to God. At 3, Mary is pre- wrapped the child in swaddling figure. The Infancy Gospel of James Suppressed by the Church and Hidden in sented to the priests in the Temple in clothes and hid him in a manger in reemerged. But longer, more detailed Art for Centuries (Ulysses Press, 2004), Jerusalem, where she is raised. Bethlehem. versions changed, among other things, the author explores the history of At 12, the high priest summons the The church shunned this gospel the birthplace to a manger and the Mary, including the Christian belief of widowers of Israel and tells each to because of one man, Eusebius attendance of an ox and a donkey. her virgin birth. bring a staff. One will take Mary as a Sophronius Hieronymus, known today Hock said that Joseph is most likely Hock’s book analyzes a long-forgot- wife. On the staff of one widower, as Saint Jerome, the patron saint of Jesus’ biological father. But little else ten document, the Infancy Gospel of Joseph, an old man with grown sons, a librarians and translators. Jerome was is clear about key points such as the James. Written around 150 AD by an dove appears. He is chosen. Joseph assigned to create the Latin Vulgate birth of Jesus. unknown Christian, it focuses on protests, arguing that he is too old, but Bible in 382 AD. “The truth is we don’t know the Mary’s life, beginning with her par- agrees after he is allowed to be Mary’s Jerome had several problems with circumstances of Jesus’ birth,” Hock ents, an elderly couple named Joachim legal guardian, rather than husband. the Infancy Gospel. First, it clashed said. “If Paul was right and it was an and Anne. While Joseph is out of town build- with Luke 2:7, which says Mary gave ordinary birth, he was probably born at Although excluded from the Bible ing houses, an angel tells Mary that birth to her first son and wrapped him home in Nazareth, with Joseph and and banned by the church, it may be she will have a divine child and is to in swaddling clothes. There was no Mary and family in attendance.” the most influential of all gospels, name him Jesus. Upon finding Mary mention of midwives in Luke. Also, —Pamela J. Johnson PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING

16 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING F study,” shesaid.“There’s always the the preferredwayofconducting a terns thatemerged. subject andthenevaluatingthe pat- inductive approach,examiningher hypothesis totest,Brandtookamore legal andmoralterms?” them? Whatdoesthatmeanbothin they continuetohaveaclaimover do statesrelatetothesepeople?Do their descendantslivingabroad?How increasing numbersoftheircitizensor of citizenshipwhenastatehas implications arethereforthecontent questions,” shecontinued.“What abroad,” Brandsaid. expand itstieswithnationals in time,astatedecidestoestablishor question ofwhy, ataparticularpoint Tunisia, LebanonandJordan. looks atstateefforts byMorocco, their borders.In their descendantsresidingbeyond managing relationswithcitizensand ministries charged with establishing government Middle Easternstateswere covering thatanumberof origin tohersurpriseatdis- region. within andoutsidethe processes ofemigration Middle Easternstatesinthe treatment oftherole which ispioneeringinits Press, 2006)—awork (Cambridge University Middle EastandNorthAfrica Emigration andtheStatein book, breaks groundwithher International Relations USC College’s Schoolof Brand comesin. from Arabstates. been devotedtoemigration contrast, littleattentionhas Americas andEurope.In sion anddebateinthe has stirredmuchpublicpas- ject ofimmigrationrecently Middle East expert takes reins of USC CollegeSchoolofInternationalRelations takesreinsofUSC Middle Eastexpert New Book,RoleforOutspokenScholar “For mostsocialscientists,it’s not Rather thanbeginwithaparticular “This leadstoanumberofother “I becameveryinterestedinthe Brand tracesthebook’s The newdirectorof That’s whereLaurie Citizens Abroad: riots inParis,thesub- cards intheU.S.to border wallsandID rom legislationfor Citizens Abroad , she religion andinternational relations. religion studies programsandenhancethatcombinethestudyof International Relations,planstorecruitnewfaculty, expandoverseas Laurie Brand,professorandnewdirectorofUSC College’sSchoolof faculty, weneedreinforcements.And to continuebeavibrantand active interest overthelastfewyears. Forus students, sowe’vehadasurge in relations isincreasinglyattractive to said. “Andamajorininternational very distinguishedpeople,”Brand first goalwillbetorecruitnewfaculty. her timeoverthenextfewyears. expects willtakeupagoodportionof kind ofproject—onethatshe work, Brandhastakenonadifferent textbooks. ining governmenthistoryandrelated “official” nationalnarrativesbyexam- North Africaincludeemigrantsin how statesintheMiddleEastand her currentprojectslookintowhyand kinds ofquestionsIpursue.” better orforworse,andIenjoythe that’s thewayI’vealwaysworked,for not figuredirectlyintothestudy. But lot ofinformationthatultimatelymay risk thatyoumayendupgatheringa “We haveamongourfacultysome In hernewroleasIRdirector, her While continuingherscholarly Building onthisemigrationwork, VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 7 NUMBER VOLUME numerous Fulbrightawardssupporting 1989. WhileatUSC,she’s earned she joinedtheUSCCollegefaculty in Palestine StudiesinWashington, D.C., Press, 1988). Arab World later publishedas munities inArabhoststates,andwas building inPalestiniandiasporacom- examined socio-politicalinstitution tive politics.Brand’s dissertation degree tododoctoralworkincompara- on aftershereceivedhermaster’s of Columbia’s MiddleEastInstitute. J.C. Hurewitz,whowasthendirector ate studyininternationalaffairs with University, whereshepursuedgradu- Brand enrolledatColumbia Arabic, thankstoapairoffellowships, Arabic, aswellHebrew. second language,shealsostudied program requiredstudentstotakea Georgetown University. Becausethe that ledhertomajorinFrenchat become alifelonginterestinlanguages Winter 2006/07 After astintwiththeInstitutefor Hurewitz convincedBrandtostay After ayearinCairostudying Brand cultivatedwhathas for facultyandstudents.” issues willbeveryexciting I thinkexaminingthese in otherpartsoftheworld. ly intheUnitedStatesand world thatIstudybutclear- not justinthepartof religion andpoliticsarekey of therelationshipbetween relations. gion andinternational develop programsonreli- Luce Foundationgrantto were awardedaprestigious Patrick James,whorecently for InternationalStudies, new directoroftheCenter sor, SteveLamy, andthe closely withherpredeces- tion inherfield. sees ascentraltoaneduca- students —somethingshe studies opportunitiesforIR develop moreoverseas with hercolleaguesto visits.” potential colleaguesoutfor we’ve hadanumberof we’re excitedbecause (Columbia University Raised inCincinnati, Said Brand,“Questions She alsowillbeworking She alsowantstowork Palestinians inthe USC &Sciences CollegeofLetters, Arts teach themtothinkforthemselves.” matter whatthecourseofstudy — ther developtheircriticalfaculties. anxious togetstudentsuseandfur- them inclass.Alotofusarereally variety ofpointsviewandtodiscuss kids tothinkaboutissues,reada own pointsofview, theideaistoget said. “Whileallprofessorshavetheir trination ofcenter, rightorleft,” she anybody’s purpose,whether it’s indoc- ty andstudentsshouldinteract. She’s gotadifferent ideaofhowfacul- push agivenagendauponstudents. the professor’s lecternasasoapboxto have afreerexchangeofideas.” zen meansbeingsilent.We haveto civics tosuggestthatbeingaloyalciti- standing oftheConstitutionorin said. “There’s nothinginmyunder- itarism areanti-American,”Brand that thoseofuswhocriticizeU.S.mil- political activities. the “mostdangerous”inU.S. list of100professorshedenouncesas David Horowitzincludedheronhis notably, conservativecommentator have createdsomecontroversy. Most foreign policyoutsideoftheclassroom cisms oftheBushadministration’s national learnedsociety. Middle EastStudiesAssociation,a served atermaspresidentofthe Senior FacultyAward andin2004 USC RaubenheimerOutstanding her researchoverseas,receiveda2002 “That’s whatthisisallabout,no “I don’t thinkindoctrinationserves Nor doesBrandbelieveinusing “I rejectentirelythesuggestion Brand offers noapologiesforher Brand’s antiwaractivismandcriti- —Wayne Lewis 17 Faculty Books

Celebrating 125 Years A How-To for International authors from Spain, France, Italy, mer consultant to Fortune 500 compa- Rendezvous Commerce England, China and North Africa. nies, Jellison examines the five stages With Light: A In Negotiating From Christopher Columbus to less- of the change process and introduces Collection of Trade: er-known figures such as the his techniques to help employers Poetry and Developing Huguenot missionary Jean de Lery, guide employees to accept workplace Photographs Countries in the the anthology brings together first- changes quickly and effectively. (Figueroa WTO and hand accounts of places connected by Press, 2006) NAFTA the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Weighing Nature and Nurture showcases 21 (Cambridge oceans. The collection offers a global Why do some people develop psychi- poems by University view of travel at a crucial point in atric and renowned Press, 2006), world history, with accounts written substance use writer and John Odell, by non-European authors, including disorders and teacher Carol professor of two new translations. others don’t Muske-Dukes, and 30 USC-themed international relations, sheds light on — despite photographs by undergraduate three aspects of trade negotiations Practical Advice to Combat a their similar Robbie Kriences. Published by USC’s between governments: the strategies Social Blight family back- Figueroa Press as part of USC’s 125th developing countries use; coalition for- Despite the decline in nationwide grounds and anniversary, this book stands as a mation; and how they learn and crime, membership in street gangs life experi- testament to the university’s encour- influence other participants’ beliefs. continues to increase, writes Malcolm ences? In agement of intellect and imagination. The book should appeal to readers Klein, professor emeritus of sociology, Genes, Muske-Dukes is a professor of English interested in negotiation, international and his co-author, Cheryl Maxson, in Environment and Psychopathology: in the College. political economy, trade, development, Street Gang Patterns and Policies Understanding the Causes of Psychiatric global governance or international law. (Oxford University Press, 2006). In an and Substance Use Disorders (Guilford The City at Night Developing country negotiators and attempt to dispel commonly held mis- Press, 2006), Carol Prescott, professor Many have those who train them may find practi- conceptions about street gangs, they of psychology, and her co-author, written about cal insights on how to avoid pitfalls explain gang proliferation, the risk Kenneth Kendler, present the findings human and improve negotiating skills. factors in communities that lead to of the Virginia Adult Twin Study. The impacts on gang formation and why adolescents project involved more than 9,000 indi- the natural Inside Ethnicity and Activism join. They then examine current pre- viduals, and sheds considerable light world. But Through her vention and intervention methods — on the interplay of genetic and envi- Ecological masterful use which they declare ineffective — and ronmental factors to create risks for Consequences of archives offer tips for practitioners on how to disorders such as depression, eating of Artificial and extensive intervene and control gangs. disorders and alcoholism. Night Lighting interviews, (Island Press, Laura Pulido Getting Domestic — and Civic — Performance and Community 2006), edited has woven with the Great Teacher In 2005 Performance in America: by Travis Longcore, research assistant together D. Brendan Contemporary U.S. Culture and the professor of geography, and Catherine Black, Brown, Nagle, profes- Performing Arts (Duke University Rich, is the first book to consider the Yellow and Left sor emeritus Press, 2005), performance studies environmental effects of the inten- (University of of history, scholar David Román demonstrates tional illumination of the night. In it, California explores the vital importance of the performing leading scientists from around the Press, 2006), an illuminating study of Aristotle’s arts to contemporary U.S. culture. world review the state of knowledge third-world radicalism in Southern analysis of the Román, professor of English and on the subject and describe light’s California in the 1960s and 1970s. relationship American studies and ethnicity, looks specific impacts on a wide range of The professor of geography and between the at a series of specific performances living things, providing a scientific American studies and ethnicity skill- ancient Greek mounted between 1994 and 2004, and rationale for efforts to conserve the fully compares the ways in which the household and challenges the belief that theater, dark of the nighttime environment. Black Panther Party, El Centro de the state in dance and live music are marginal art Acción Social y Autónomo and the The Household as the Foundation of forms in the U.S. He describes the Asian Democracies Japanese-American collective East Aristotle’s Polis (Cambridge University pivotal role that the performing arts In Rising China and Asian Wind sought to realize their ideas Press, 2006). Nagle presents play in local, regional and national Democratization: Socialization to ‘Global about race and class, gender relations Aristotle’s ideas that the household communities, emphasizing the power Culture’ in the Political Transformations and multiracial alliances. This book provided great economic, political and of live performance to create a dia- of Thailand, China and Taiwan earned Pulido USC’s Phi Kappa Phi social resources contributing to the logue between artists and audiences. (Stanford University Press, 2006), Award for Faculty Excellence. success of the city, while the state Daniel Lynch, associate professor of offered its households a chance to Historical View of Visual Culture international relations, presents his An Early Modern Travelogue thrive. He offers a fresh look at The 19th century saw the growth of argument that democratization is an History pro- Aristotle’s political philosophy by new visual forms such as photography inherently international process. fessor Peter detailing the historical context within and cinema, and the development of According to Lynch, it is achieved Mancall’s which the philosopher worked. the modern city and consumer soci- within states through socialization and book Travel eties. In The Nineteenth-Century Visual ultimately allows entry to the global Narratives Tools for Workplace Change Culture Reader (Routledge, 2004), culture. He demonstrates this by from the Age Employees tend to resist changes in Vanessa Schwartz, associate professor exploring the democratization of both of Discovery: the workplace, writes Jerald Jellison, of history, and her co-editor, Jeannene Taiwan and Thailand. China, however, An Anthology professor of psychology, in Managing Przyblyski, bring together key writings resists democracy and the idea of glob- (Oxford the Dynamics of Change: The Fastest Path on visual culture. Among the 38 essays al culture on the grounds that it is a University to Creating an Engaged and Productive introduced by the editors, are “Baby’s Western ideal; Lynch contends that Press, 2006), Workforce (McGraw-Hill, 2006). Picture Is Always Treasured” (some the country’s stance is not likely to presents Jellison contends that leaders can once thought such photos were “stu- change. some of the most important travel make the change process much less pid”) and “Molding Emancipation” accounts of the 15th and 16th cen- taxing on employees by taking into (how patriotic artwork dealt with this turies. The narratives are written by account their emotional needs. A for- momentous event).

18 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 W

NEALSON PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING; BRETSCHGER PHOTO BY KIRSTEN HOLGUIN Grant supports developmentofbacteria-poweredfuelcells Grant supports Running onMicrobes carbon-containing compounds. cessfully fed75different typesof the currentflow. MR-1havebeensuc- would honeyoradeadfish—to make ordinary milkwouldwork,butso can usesuchawidevarietyoffuels— about theprojectisthatmicrobes the microbialfuelcellinvestigations. properties, andledtotheinitiationof esting andpotentiallyuseful of Energy, revealedmanyofitsinter- microbe, fundedbytheDepartment minum corrosionfree. even keepbrass,iron,copperandalu- clean uptoxicresidueinwaterand and itsrelativescan“breathe”metal, tion togeneratingelectricity, MR-1 a kindofmicrobialsuperhero.Inaddi- ered byNealson, 17 yearsandcounting.Firstdiscov- abilities havekeptNealsonenraptfor MR-1, amicrobewhoseextraordinary just anybugs.It’s of theUSCmicrobialfuelcellaren’t these microbialmachineswork. effort intounderstandingjusthow the USCconsortiumtolaunchamajor usable powersource.Thishasallowed microbial fuelcellfromgreatideato Initiative (MURI)granttotakethe Multidisciplinary UniversityResearch Nealson andhisteama$4.5million of ScientificResearchawarded use incombatzones. tiny insect-likesurveillancedronesfor poses, rangingfromremotesensorsto power suppliesforamultitudeofpur- that couldactasremote,portable develop bacteria-poweredfuelcells leads aUSCCollege-basedeffort to algae. pollution orbloomsofpoisonous mental sensornetworkthatmonitors fish-like unitsmightformanenviron- the ocean,hundredsorthousandsof refuel itselfbygrazingoff theland.In insect-like flyingmachinethatcan destined forlandfills.Orperhapsan incidentally producinglesssludge that usesitsownwastetopoweritself, and small. day findusesinapplicationsbothbig electrical punchsucceed,itmayone if aUSCteam’s efforts toharnessits proposed forcars? alternative energy sourcesnowbeing One ofthemostexcitingthings Original workwiththisunique Of course,thebacteriaatheart In 2006,theU.S.AirForceOffice Geobiologist KennethNealson Imagine asewagetreatmentplant The answerismicrobepower, and as anyofthecutting-edge energy andasingenious as renewablesolar hat’s cleanerthancoal, S. oneidensis Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is part oftheeffort todevelopanalterna- what shereallywantedtodo— be tems, theArizonanativefigured out software andfacialrecognitionsys- stints workingonmissileguidance ning ongoingbacktoschool.Butafter software anddataanalysis,wasn’t plan- for fiveyearswithagrowingresumein Engineering with Bacteria Engineering meters.” for this.Here,it’s allwithin 200 different kindsofexpertiseweneed go thousandsofmilestofindallthe else,” Nealsonsaid,“Iwouldhaveto USC scientists.“Almostanywhere team ismadeupalmostentirelyof Kyung Jang,andchemistrygraduate studentFederico Viva. Manohar,student AswinKarthik postdocJae microbiology few ofherkeycollaborators:materials sciencegraduate crosses disciplinesinherworkwithmicrobialfuelcells.A Materials sciencePh.D.studentOriannaBretschger, left, Orianna Bretschger, outofcollege In arareoccurrence,theproject VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 7 NUMBER VOLUME medium, electronsflowingthrough a different kindsofmetalinaliquid lab builtasimplebatterywithtwo corrosion causedbyotherbacteria. that MR-1couldprotectmetalsfrom tion withNealsonledtothediscovery Mansfeld, whosepreviouscollabora- worked withelectrochemistFlorian science. School’s Ph.D.programinmaterials for andwasacceptedintotheViterbi technologies. Impressed,sheapplied working onotherinnovativegreen USC Viterbi SchoolofEngineering gen. Shediscoveredscientistsatthe runs onliquidmethanol,nothydro- promising newtypeoffuelcellthat Winter 2006/07 In anotherjointproject,Mansfeld’s For thepastthreeyearsshe’s energy sources,andIgot improve thealternative I wantedtofindways that reallyinterestedme. of fuelresourceswasone Energy andrunningout facing asasociety?’ the majorproblemswe’re tive sourceofpower. College haddevelopeda Research Instituteinthe Loker Hydrocarbon where chemistsatthe into fuelcells,”shesaid. fuel cellinhislab. examines aprototypeofthe sensors. HereNealson planes andenvironmental include tinysurveillance small devicesthatmight fuel cellcapableofpowering neers developingamicrobial scientistsandengi- earth chemists, team ofbiologists, leads amultidisciplinary USC College’sKen Nealson “I thought,‘Whatare That ledhertoUSC, USC &Sciences CollegeofLetters, Arts Prakash said. the powerandefficiency evenmore,” cells, whichweexpectwillincrease newer designsforthemicrobial fuel also experimentingwithanumberof about 100timesmorepower. “We’re new parts,thefuelcellproduced cathode) inthefuelcell.With the and electrodes(theanodethe assembly thathousesthemembrane which addedabettermembraneand fuel cellprototypetoPrakash’s team, mercial, portablepowergenerator. way intolaptopcomputersandacom- This chemicalfuelcellhasfoundits cell developedattheLokerInstitute. highly efficient liquid-methanolfuel MURI team,istheco-inventorof USC Collegeandamemberofthe Chair inHydrocarbonChemistry Prakash, theOlahNobelLaureate microbial fuelcell’s efficiency. played acriticalroleinimprovingthe his graduatestudentFedericoViva light bulb. power adigitalwatchorrefrigerator range —aboutenoughelectricityto has systemsthatworkinthemilliamp energy production.Thegroupnow already madeprogressinkickingup bination ofapproaches,theyhave said. much asathousand-fold,”Nealson about, weneededtoincreasethatas current. erating onlyafewmicroampsof produced electricityveryweakly, gen- Kicking UpPower hands-on worktooptimizethem. fuel cellsandhasdonemuchofthe She buildstheprototypemicrobial bench inNealson’s bacteria-ladenlab. has spentmostofthelastyearather physics-trained engineeringstudent project: themicrobialfuelcell.The chance togetinvolvedintheirnext electric current. from organic materialandproducean ria infuelcellscanstripelectrons chemically inaregularbattery, bacte- ment. Muchlikewhathappens increased duringthe90-dayexperi- al battery, thepowersteadily MR-1 tothissetup,creatingabacteri- down. Butwhenresearchersadded runs forafewdays,andthen classes. Without MR-1,thebattery the setupusedinelementaryphysics wire fromonemetaltotheother— continued onpage 20 Bretschger broughtthemicrobial Chemist G.K.SuryaPrakashand Thanks totheteam’s useofacom- “For theapplicationswe’retalking The firstprototypesworked,but Bretschger, 28,jumpedatthe 19 Listening toBacteria current. ing totheanodeandthusastronger efficient pathwayforelectronstravel- filaments calledpili,offers amore work ofnanowires,actuallybacterial grid. Nealsonspeculatesthatthenet- the bacteriainakindofelectrical network oflivingnanowireslinking Academy ofSciences The ed areasonfortheincreaseinpower. and co-authoredbyNealsonsuggest- J. CraigVenter InstituteinSanDiego active bacterialcommunity. complex, organized andhighlyinter- known byscientistsasabiofilm— ated moreelectricity. Theslimeis on thefuelcell’s electrodeandgener- they formedapinkish,slimycoating the solidanodesurfaceforfourdays, bacteria wereallowedtogrowonto in aliquidmedium.Butwhenthe earliest studies,theMR-1weregrown tions inthefuelcelldevice.Intheir changing thebacterialgrowthcondi- some riseinpoweroutputfrom forebears. times theamountofenergy ofits will producehundredstothousands cally engineeranMR-1strainthat production, hewillbeabletogeneti- in themicrobe’s electricalcurrent the biologicalmechanismsinvolved Nealson hopesthatbyunderstanding most importanttopoweroutput. an attempttohomeinonthegenes strains they’vegeneticallyalteredin output oftheoriginalMR-1bugwith following upbycomparingthepower cal productioninMR-1.Histeamis thought toberesponsibleforelectri- challenge. logical andgeneticsolutionstothe Power GenesandLiveWires neering problem. should beastraightforwardbioengi- electrical outputofthefuelcells stood, heexpectsthatuppingthe major challenge.Oncethisisunder- produce usefulelectricenergy isthe interact withthefuelcellanodeto standing justhowthesebacteria for eachcell.Andheisdoingso ina ways toincreasetheelectronoutput fuel cell.Finkelalsoislooking at for theMR-1microbeslivingin the increase thesurvivaltimeandgrowth power. First,he’s studyingwaysto two strategiestoboostthebug’s ences intheCollege,isfocusedon assistant professorofbiologicalsci- guage ofgenetics,StevenFinkel, continued from page 19 Running onMicrobes 20 A 2006paperbyYuri Gorby ofthe In anothertack,theteamhasseen In 2002,Nealsonidentifiedgenes Nealson leadsthesearchforbio- Right now, Nealsonsaid,under- A microbiologistfluentinthelan- Proceedings oftheNational USC &Sciences CollegeofLetters, Arts report revealeda for theMR-1that—throughran- acidic environment,Finkelcan select said. Bygrowingthebacteriain an can toleratehighacidlevels,”Finkel would provefataltomostcells. inevitably, higheracidity, which electrons. Butexcessprotonsmean, that allowsthecellstoproducemore teria onaproton-richcarbonsource said, involvesgrowingtheMR-1bac- few nutrientsavailable. conditions, suchaswhenthereare a populationtosurviveeveninharsh repopulate anentireculture,allowing tageous mutationcanquickly more positively, geneticdiversity. system thatpromotesmutations—or tions, bacterialcellscanswitchona understand how, instressfulcondi- tion techniqueextensivelyto coli mutation andevolutionin mechanisms underlyinggenetic Finkel haslongstudiedthemolecular Excellence inGenomicScience, more electricity.” robustly, survivebetterorproduce want —theymaygrowmore cells thathavethequalitieswe “We arejustselectingforthose coming upwithasolution,”hesaid. what weknow, ordon’t know, in to usedirectedevolution. better, fasterapproach,hethinks,is can turnthem‘on’or‘off.’ ”Buta “Through geneticengineeringwe tron transport,”Finkelsaid. genes involvedintheprocessofelec- new way. “So weneedtofindtheonesthat One promisingdirection,Finkel In bacteria,onecellwithanadvan- A memberoftheUSCCenterfor “That waywe’renotlimitedby “We thinkweknowsomeofthe . Hehasusedthedirectedevolu- in totheunusualS For thisproject,he’stuning andgeneticengineering. ment ofmolecularbiology water-, soil-andgut-dwellingbacterium that’sbeenfundamentaltothedevelop- Co-investigator Steven Finkelusuallystudies Winter 2006/07 hewanella oneidensis Eschericia MR-1 microbe. MR-1 methanol fuelcell. he builttodemonstrate thepowerofhis fuel celldesign.Heholdsadevice,above, chemical fuelcellstobearonthemicrobial brings hisdecadesofexperiencedeveloping USC CollegechemistG.K.SuryaPrakash ing onlytoMR-1. way. We needtolistenthebugs.” solutions you’dnevergetanyother selective tool,hesaid,“youcanget single day. changes overmanygenerationsina so quickly, Finkelcanstudygenetic said. Andbecausebacteriareproduce advantageous mutations,”Finkel represented —includingcellswith bacteria witheverypossiblemutation fraction ofanounce,youcanhave — canoutcompeteordinarycells. domly generatedgeneticmutations VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 7 NUMBER VOLUME Eschericia coli Another elementoftheteam’s But thescientistswon’t belisten- As longasyouchoosetheright “Populations aresolarge thatina — theubiquitous use techniquesdevelopedforhis micro-scale powergeneration,will astronaut andworldauthorityon microbial fuelcells.Ronney, an Ronney’s lab,helpingtosetup and mechanicalengineerPaul working withtheteaminaerospace Finkel said. bigger orathousandtimessmaller,” how tomakethisathousandtimes the engineerswillstartlookingat current. Nealson, couldproduceanelectrical show thatMR-1,senttohimby MURI grant,Kimwasthefirstto USC andaco-investigatoronthe in Seoul.Nowavisitingscientistat Institute ofScienceandTechnology Fuel CellgroupattheKorean director oftheMicrobialEcology bial communitiesinfuelcellswhile device, beganstudyingmixedmicro- original prototypefortheUSCteam’s microbial fuelcellswhoprovidedthe other parameters. can’t use,orbychangingacidity down waste,byusingmaterialsMR-1 fuel cellperformance—bybreaking bacteria tothemixcanenhance study willbetoseeifaddingother microscopy —allofit,”shesaid. biology, genetics,electrochemistry, well asallofthedetails—micro- the bigpictureofwhat’s goingon,as onto ascientificproblem.“We have provides anunparalleledperspective Andreas LuttgeofRiceUniversity, which alsoincludesgeochemist with theinterdisciplinaryteam, question,” Nealsonsaid. team uniquelysuitedtosolvingthis that makesthismultidisciplinary design forthemicrobialfuelcell. model thatwillpredictanoptimal totypes tobuildamathematical will usedatacollectedfromthepro- investigators ontheMURIproject, Viterbi SchoolofEngineeringand co- engineer HaiWong, bothof the more fuelcreatingalarger, hotterfire. In fact,Bretschgerrecentlybegan “Once wehaveanoptimalcell, Byung-Hong Kim,aleaderin Bretschger notedthatworking “It isthemodelingcomponent Ronney andfellowmechanical more heatwhichsetsfireto (with reportingbyEricMankin) fuels tounderstandthe microbes livinginthe dynamics ofthe research oncombustion fuel cell. a fire:morefuelcreates unlike thatcreatedin bacteria multiply. More bacteriaeat with conventional more food,poten- feedback loopnot more electricityina tially producing Given morefood, —Eva Emerson

PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING College Commons

Neuroscientist Joins National Science Board Richard Thompson named to elite board that shapes U.S. science policy

n June, President George W. Bush tal form of learning. C.L. Max Nikias, USC’s provost and nominated prominent USC Made famous by Russian psy- senior vice president for academic College neuroscientist Richard chologist Ivan Pavlov with his affairs. “As an exemplar of USC’s Thompson to the National salivating dog experiments, clas- approach to aggressively exploring IScience Board. sical conditioning theory showed new scientific frontiers, Professor In August, the U.S. Senate con- that animals can be taught to Thompson will make invaluable con- firmed Thompson’s appointment to anticipate a reward. tributions. He brings the perspective what may be the most influential sci- In 2002, Thompson became of a top neuroscientist who under- ence policy group in the country. the first to identify and map the stands how cutting-edge science can The 24-member board directs the neural circuits involved in classi- best serve our nation’s immediate National Science Foundation and cal conditioning. and long-term interests.” advises the president and Congress More generally, Thompson Thompson served as director of on policy issues related to science and others have shown that the the USC neuroscience program from research and education. Thompson, brain saves a memory by 1989 to 2001, and is now the senior who underwent an exhaustive, six- strengthening the synapses, or scientific advisor to the College’s month security screening process, is connections between neurons. Neuroscience Research Institute. one of only five members from west Neurons also create new synaps- The author of a number of books and of the Rockies. es during the learning process, 440 research papers, his laboratory “It’s a very great honor to have which Thompson defines as the has had continuous federal research been appointed to the National creation of memory. His work has grant support since 1959, with current Dick Thompson will serve on the National Science Science Board,” said Thompson, the also looked at the effects of funding guaranteed through 2011. He Board until 2012. William M. Keck Chair in Biological behavioral stress, estrogen and is a member of three elite scientific Sciences and professor of psychology Thompson, a behavioral neurosci- aging on learning. societies: the National Academy of and biological sciences. “It is an entist, has spent nearly a half-century “The USC community was Sciences, the American Academy of extremely important job because the studying the physical basis of memo- immensely proud to have learned of Arts & Sciences and the American board plays a key role in establishing ry, specifically the memory involved Richard Thompson’s nomination to Philosophical Society. science policy in the United States.” in classical conditioning, a fundamen- the National Science Board,” said —Carl Marziali

retiring in 2004, he was named Kevin Starr Honored by White House California state librarian emeritus. He also has been a daily columnist for The San Francisco Examiner. University Professor awarded National Humanities Medal Starr is the author of nine books about California. His most recent is the one-volume California: A History SC University Professor (Random House, 2005). He’s now Kevin Starr was awarded working on the last of his seven-vol- the prestigious 2006 ume history of the Americans and the National Humanities Medal California Dream series, published by Uat a Nov. 9 ceremony at the White Oxford University Press. The Atlantic House. Monthly and others have called the Considered to be the nation’s lead- nearly 10,000 pages “a breathtaking ing expert on California history, Starr scope” of California’s history. Starr was credited for his lifetime of work also is writing Lift Up Your Hearts, chronicling the state as a scholar, jour- about the history of Catholicism in nalist and historian. America. “Kevin Starr is California’s living Among many honors, Starr is a archive, and he is also one of this recipient of a Guggenheim nation’s greatest treasures,” USC Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the President Steven B. Sample said. Commonwealth Club of California “He has distinguished himself as a and the Presidential Medallion of gifted writer, professor and historian USC. Earlier this year, he was honored USC College historian Kevin Starr accepted the National Humanities Medal from President whose vibrant and penetrating George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush at a Nov. 9, 2006 White House ceremony. with the Centennial Medal of the examination of the Golden State — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and those who have shaped it — is “I’m very grateful for this honor,” and organizations whose work has of Harvard University. unparalleled.” said Starr, who has taught at USC for deepened the nation’s understanding A fourth-generation San Franciscan, President Bush and the first lady 18 years and is a professor of history in of the humanities, broadened citizens’ Starr graduated from the University of Laura Bush presented the award to the College. “And I also want to engagement with the humanities or San Francisco in 1962 and went on to Starr and other distinguished scholars thank USC. I share this humanities helped preserve and expand America’s earn a master’s degree in history and a in an Oval Office ceremony. Starr was medal with USC.” access to important humanities Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard as accompanied by his wife Sheila, their The National Humanities Medal, resources. well as a Master of Library Science daughter Marian Imperatore and USC first awarded in 1989 as the Charles Starr served for 10 years as from UC Berkeley. Provost C. L. Max Nikias. Frankel Prize, honors individuals California state librarian. Upon —Orli Belman and Pamela J. Johnson THOMPSON PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING; WHITE HOUSE PAUL MORSE

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 21 College Commons

ALUMNI CAREERS Legal Leanings Generations of USC College graduates find satisfaction, success in law careers

nside Judge Dickran M. Program, USC’s general edu- Tevrizian Jr.’s chambers, a cation honors program. single brick from the oldest “Everyone around you is public high school in so driven and so interested in ISouthern California held down the material,” Gooch said. papers on his desk. “The professors who teach Rescued from the rubble these classes are just amaz- that was once Los Angeles ing, top-flight professors.” High School after the 1971 Between her visits with Sylmar earthquake, the old, her fiancé in Texas and time chipped brick represents the at the law firm, where she senior federal judge’s devotion recently was part of a team and ties to the City of Angels, that closed a billion-dollar where he was born and has aerospace merger deal, she’s lived his entire 66 years. lucky if she can squeeze in a After Tevrizian graduated movie or dinner with a friend. from Los Angeles High “Frankly,” she said, “I School, his father — a market don’t have a lot of leisure owner who as a teen emigrated time as of late.” from Armenia — offered his oldest child some advice: “Son, Judge Dickran M. Tevrizian Jr. Quest for Knowledge you can go to any college you Back in downtown L.A., want, as long as it’s USC.” Brandon L. Paradise sipped a cup of On a wall, amid framed honors and including Ronald Reagan, who as a bustling Century City below and the half-decaf, half-regular coffee inside awards, Tevrizian’s 1962 bachelor’s governor appointed him to the Los Santa Monica Mountains. the high-rise building where he degree from USC College hung next Angeles Municipal Court in 1972. In 2002, Gooch graduated from works as an associate. to his law degree from the USC Then 31, Tevrizian was one of the USC College magna cum laude with Paradise, 27, recently moved here Gould School of Law. The distin- youngest persons ever appointed to a bachelor’s in political science and from New York, where he practiced guished judge, who will retire in early the judiciary. In 1989, President English. Three years later, she grad- law at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & 2007, is among many USC College Reagan appointed him to federal uated from Stanford Law School. Katz. After passing the New York graduates to pursue a career in law. court. She now practices corporate law State bar examination, he’s awaiting Tevrizian majored in finance and Tevrizian recalled when a young at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & his California bar exam results while accounting, graduating cum laude Reagan frequented his father’s mar- Hampton. practicing law at Sidley Austin LLP. before attending law school. He ket — where Tevrizian began Born and reared in Boulder, Colo., “L.A. is my home,” he said of comes from a family of USC gradu- working at age 12, sorting Coke and Gooch, 25, was on an early intellectu- returning to the city where in 2001 he ates, including his wife, Geraldine, Pepsi deposit bottles — after the al fast track. At 17, she was accepted received a bachelor’s in philosophy whom he met at 16 during an store moved to Crenshaw Boulevard. to the USC Resident Honors and economics, earning a 4.0 GPA in Armenian community church picnic. “He was a man’s man,” Tevrizian Program, and was college bound. both majors. Three years later, he “My dad owned a market in the said of Reagan. “A real gentleman.” She always knew she wanted to graduated from Yale Law School. West Adams District, close to the His fierce loyalty to the USC foot- practice law. continued on next page USC campus,” said Tevrizian, seated ball team is legendary. Unless he was “I wanted to be in a job that was in his chambers at the Roybal sick or away on business, he has been challenging and interesting,” Federal Building, downtown Los at every home game since 1958. His she said. “I wanted to be sur- Angeles. “So ’SC was always drilled fraternity buddies from the Beta rounded by bright people and into my head.” Theta Pi remain his closest friends. make a decent living.” The first Armenian-American USC undergraduates, he said, “are And she knew she didn’t appointed to the U.S. federal bench, going to have the best four years of want to be a litigator. Tevrizian helped to create the their lives.” “I like working in a more College’s USC Institute of Armenian collaborative atmosphere, where Studies. He is also establishing a An Early Start people are trying to reach the scholarship for inner-city and minority About 14 miles west of the Roybal same goal,” Gooch said. youths wishing to attend USC law Federal Building, Lauralee M. Gooch She felt at home in the school. gazed out her 16th-floor window to College’s Thematic Option “I think everybody has an obliga- tion to give back to their university, especially if you’ve been somewhat successful,” he said. “So, now it’s payback time.” This is the first in a series of articles about the His success was reflected in the wide variety of careers pursued by the alumni of framed photos scattered around his chambers. There were photos of him USC College. shaking hands with presidents, Brandon L. Paradise TEVRIZIAN PHOTO BY BRIAN MORRI/211 PHOTOGRAPHY; PARADISE P.J. JOHNSON

22 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 SCHOENHOFEN PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING W began readingPlatoonmyown,” Plato. and attendUSC. said. Hedecidedtofulfillhisdream and gotintoallofthem,”Paradise versity. Heacedhissenioryear. position himtoattendamajoruni- superior schoolsystemwouldbetter Fullerton, wherehebelievedthe and moveinwithacousin decided toleavehismother’s home down andquicklyexcelled.At16,he from hisbuddies,Paradisehunkered out ofreachforme,”hesaid. that aschoollikejustmaybe attending USC. on television,Paradisethoughtabout the Trojan marchingbandperform sophomore year. focused onacademicsuntilthat fied asgifted,hehadneverfully advanced classes.Althoughidenti- moved toChino,wherehetook mother, afurnituresaleswoman, me.” tress,” Paradisesaid.“Itnearlykilled tering heat. was joltedawakeonenightbyblis- apartment inRanchoCucamonga,he writings ofPlato. cal fireinhisboyhoodhomeandthe has somethingtodowithanelectri- and prosecutingbusinesslitigation world’s largest practicesdefending Found: WWII Journals Found: WWII Unabridged CombatMedicalDiary, Flight Surgeon:Completeand edited thewardiaryintoabook, The youngerGaillardcompiled and diary, hiddenformorethan60years. his mother’s deathin2001. alumnus didn’t seethejournalsuntil World War II.ButtheUSCCollege deployment inEnglandthroughout during hisU.S.ArmyAirForces had keptameticulousdailyjournal “In seventhoreighthgrade,I He attributeshisgumptionto “I appliedtoanumberofcolleges But inhisnewhighschool,away “I rememberthinkingtomyself About thattime,whilewatching Paradise, whowasthen15,andhis “I awokewithflamesonmymat- Living withhismotherinan How Paradisearrivedatoneofthe Then, hediscoveredhisfather’s Ernest GaillardJr. his father, Lt.Col. always knewthat illiam Gaillard Eastern petrochemicalengineering ing some20yearsdoingMiddle and economicsin1974.Afterspend- lor’s degreeininternationalrelations action.” defense boysthanwewereofenemy us weremoreafraidoftrigger-happy defense wasoutinforceandmostof Thestation all beenwaitingfor…. Today wasD-Day!Thedaywehave pivotal moments:“6June1944: or downloadableelectronicbook. which isalsoavailableasane-book, 1943-1944 “Stick toit.Justkeepfightingon.” room. were luckytohavealadies’bath- Now, theyhavecomputers.Then,we hard itisnow, butitwasn’t easythen. Veron-Foster said.“Idon’t knowhow ing acareerinlaw. advice toCollegestudentsconsider- Verdes, Veron-Foster sharedher in 1993. Angeles MunicipalCourt.Sheretired and in1970wasappointedtotheLos attorney inOrangeandL.A.counties, ating classof300.Shebecameatrial was oneoffivewomeninhergradu- College in1943.AtUSCLaw, she [department store].” 40 centsanhourworkingatBullock’s mother workedandIworked.made said. “ButIdid.Andmyadopted year-old retiredmunicipalcourtjudge into collegeweren’t sogreat,”the80- problem andthechancesofgetting ily tograduatefromcollege. determined tobethefirstinherfam- aunt andlivingnearUSC,shewas was 1,hermotherdied.Raisedbyan son whobeattheodds.Whenshe War II,isanotherstrong-willedper- attended USCCollegeduringWorld First inHerFamily influenced me.” mately the‘goodlife’powerfully results ingoodcharacterandulti- Republic Paradise recalled.“Plato’s ideainhis William Gaillardearnedabache- The day-to-dayentriesinclude “Work awfullyhard,”shesaid. “You havetowantitreallybad,” Now livinginRanchoPalos Veron-Foster graduatedfromUSC “At thetime,financingwasareal Juaneita M.Veron-Foster, who that acquiringknowledge (Author House,2005), VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 7 NUMBER VOLUME —Pamela J.Johnson port ofaGettyMemorialScholarship. 2006 inParisdoingresearchwiththesup- addition, D.C., whichawardsbothfellowships.In National GalleryofArtinWashington, Advanced StudyoftheVisual Artsatthe spend inresidenceattheCenterfor Early ModernRome.”Nextyear, shewill tation, “Tactile ReceptionofSculpturein Rome conductingresearchforherdisser- dence attheBibliothecaHertzianain European art.Thisyear, sheisinresi- and researchonpre-19thcentury Foundation Fellowship,supportingtravel received atwo-yearSamuelH.Kress Art toTravel Abroad. Fellowships forHistoriansofAmerican this year’s AilsaMellonBrucePredoctoral was selectedasoneofsixrecipients for theirdissertationresearch. received awardsallowingthemtotravel Three doctoralstudentsinarthistory Sake For Art’s Disney/ABC Writing Fellow nantly African-Americancast. network orbasiccablewithapredomi- 2007, willbetheonlytelevisionserieson “Lincoln Heights,”which,whenitairsin upcoming ABCFamilytelevisionseries, program, Sparksisalsoawriterforthe College’s Americanstudiesandethnicity includes a$50,000award.Astudentinthe in theentertainmentindustryand among themostprestigiousoffellowships approximately 2,500entries,isconsidered which selectsupto10fellowsfrom Student News Anthony Sparks historian livinginRedondoBeach. now afreelancewriterandmilitary and constructioncontractwork, heis Winter 2006/07 Anca Lasc spent thesummerof —Pamela J.Johnson petitive fellowship, The extremelycom- Writing Fellowship. Entertainment Disney Studios/ABC 2006-2007 Walt has receivedthe (B.F.A., theater, ’94) Anthony Sparks Doctoral student Linda Nolan Jason Hill USC &Sciences CollegeofLetters, Arts Schoenhofen Moving?” Shoves Back,IstheMountainReally Politicians. ANudgeForward,Two Two OddElectionYears, andActress Participation inJapan:GrassrootsAction, worked on“Women’s Political languages andculturesdoublemajor, the RiskforInjury.” entitled “Children’s PeerRelationsand Injury PreventionGrantforherproposal the winnerofLizettePeterson-Homer the AmericanPsychologicalFoundationas American PsychologicalAssociationand chology, wasselectedbyadivisionofthe fellowship thisyear. Fellowgradstudents also wonathree-yearFordFoundation Rivera, whoworkswithStevenBradforth, of NobelLaureatesandStudents. delegation tothe56thLindauMeeting Rivera asoneof22tomakeuptheU.S. National ScienceFoundationselected with NobelPrize-winningscientists.The city ofLindau,Germany, elbowto student foundhimselfinthemedieval days. ButinJunethethird-yearPh.D. chemistry lab,oftenclocking14-hour Waseda University, Tokyo InternationalUniversity. At Vietnamese CommunityinJapan”at studies doublemajor, lookedinto“The national relationsandEastAsianarea conduct research. undergraduate recipientstoJapan The EastAsiaScholarshipProgramsent Research inJapan Undergraduate LinguisticsResearch Articulating Robin Toblin Peers andInjuryPrevention August. her workattheprogramconferencein and ChandraReynolds,presented research withprofessorsMargaret Gatz She spentthesummerconducting Topics program. on AgingResearch Summer Training of MentalHealth’s National Institute ship fromthe received afellow- al student Psychology doctor- andMentalHealth Aging Distinguished ProfessorGeorge Olah. ship ofUSC’s ownNobelLaureate, attended themeetingundersponsor- Carsten Borek Chris Rivera Brilliant Minds Hawaii inDecember2006. Acoustical SocietyofJapan,inHonolulu, the AcousticalSocietyofAmericaand Harmony” atthefourthjointmeetingof Consonants inKinyrwanda’s Sibilant poster titled“TheArticulationof linguistics major, presentedaresearch Kabuki’s DisguisesDissected.” researched “TheGrandMasquerade: Asian languagesandculturesminor, international relationsmajorandEast in Japan,”while ment, studied“ReflectionsonGaming and culturesinteractiveentertain- double majorinEastAsianlanguages Saxum , apoliticalscienceandEastAsian Emily spends mostdaysinthe , adoctoralstudentinpsy- Celeste DeFreitas and Kim-Ngoc Le Michael Caloz Derek Peters Kenneth Hanson Emily Schoenhofen , aninter- Erica , a , an , a 23 College Commons

ALUMNI FOCUS medicine further.” In a way, she felt the same when she met Martinez. Lessons of Hope “I saw that same light of hope,” she said. “I knew he was different than the other kids. I couldn’t let that USC College alumna follows humanitarian calling go.” After Pakistan, Aga studied tuber- culosis at the Louis Pasteur Institute in Guadeloupe, and then among the n fifth grade, Hector Martinez homeless in San Francisco with struggled each time his teacher Stanford University. called on him to read aloud. “Roxanne Aga is a gem,” McClure The chubby 9-year-old with a said. “I have no doubt that this world Imass of curly black hair stuttered and is a better place with her in it. I take confused his d’s with his b’s. such pride in helping to train her. But Roxanne Aga, then a sophomore I did nothing in helping her become a reading tutor through USC College’s humanitarian. She had that when she Joint Educational Project, was paired walked through the door.” with Hector, a Vermont Elementary Aga refused to consider that she School student. helps change lives, such as in the case Nine years later, Martinez has lost of Martinez. his baby fat and stutter. But he still “It’s completely the opposite,” Aga has Aga, now 28 and a third-year said. “He’s changed my life. He’s the medical student at UC Davis. one who’s been a gift to me.” Throughout the years, Aga has As a doctor, she wants to continue taken Martinez to museums and working with underserved communi- theme parks, introduced him to liter- ties and in developing countries. ature and gotten to know his parents, “I’ll see where it takes me,” she El Salvadoran immigrants. Aga com- said. “But I’ll tell you one thing: I municates in Spanish with Martinez’s never want to lose that local connec- mother, who doesn’t speak English. tion; I want to work wherever I can Now a 19-year-old freshman at have a direct impact on people’s West Los Angeles College, Martinez lives.” credits his intellectual and personal This past summer, her medical growth in large part to Aga. quest took her to Geneva, where she “My big thing was reading,” interned for two months with the Martinez recalled of his boyhood. World Health Organization in the “Roxanne was assigned as my tutor. Department of HIV/AIDS. Aga was Now, books are a big part of my life.” among a dozen medical and public Martinez now enjoys the works of health students selected as a 2006 existentialist writers such as Albert Global Health Fellow. Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Franz The nine-year bond between USC College alumna Roxanne Aga and her mentee, Hector Upon her return to the U.S., Aga Martinez, is just one example of her goal of changing the world, one life at a time. Kafka. He writes poetry. But perhaps said she valued learning how health Aga’s greatest gift is that she instilled policy is developed on a global scale. in Martinez a passion for community to study tuberculosis meningitis can’t even describe,” Aga said. “I was- “But also to see how it translates to service. among Afghan refugees in Pakistan. n’t even in medical school yet, but I a single mother of three who’s living “I want to be about making a She did so, in part, to “connect with would go see her in the hospital every with HIV and shunned from her com- difference in the world,” he said. my roots.” Her father, a motel manag- day and every night.” munity because of her diagnosis,” she “Making a difference like Roxanne er, migrated from Pakistan. She could sense the young child’s said. does, one person at a time.” Her mother migrated from France, will to live. —Pamela J. Johnson Neuroscientist William McClure, a and growing up, “Every time I professor of biological sciences in the Aga preserved walked into her College, was an adviser for Aga, who that part of her room, there was a “I never want to lose that What’s News With You? in 2000 earned her bachelor’s degree family heritage glow of light in psychobiology. by becoming flu- local connection; I want to work around her,” Aga USC College val- McClure recalled when, as a jun- ent in French. said. “To have ues the close-knit wherever I can have a direct ior, Aga went on a summer scientific As a result of endured so much community creat- expedition to the island of Dominica scholarships, she impact on people’s lives.” at such a young ed by its in the West Indies, a mission spon- attended a pri- age .… She was students, alumni, sored by Helen Bing of the Helen vate French the strongest faculty and affili- and Peter Bing Foundation. school in West —Roxanne Aga, medical student being I had ever ates. That’s why

“She came back a changed L.A. through and USC College alumna encountered.” we’re interested in learning about what woman,” McClure said. “After that, 12th grade. When Aga you’ve been up to, and sharing it with she wanted to go on to do something Aga’s experi- squeezed the your College family and friends. If you that provided medical aid to impover- ences in Karachi, girl’s tiny hand, have some news you’d like to announce, ished countries, where it’s hell on Pakistan, marked a defining moment her seizures subsided. please send the information to Earth for all the people who need in her life. The trigger was a 3-year- “She knew I was there,” she said. [email protected], or mail it to: health care.” old girl who had such severe “When I touched her, she became a USC College Magazine Aga went on to earn her master’s meningitis she suffered from convul- little bit more calm. Those are the University of Southern California in public health at Tulane University sions and remained in a semi-coma. moments that you never forget. That ADM 304, MC 4012 in New Orleans. In 2001, she decided “She left an impact on me that I experience pushed me to go into Los Angeles, CA 90089-4012 PHOTO BY PHILIP CHANNING

24 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Alumni News Alum Elected to Community Council Serving the Community Paul J. Hartley, Jr. (B.S., naval science, ’45) was honored as Mr. San Diego 2006 SC alumnus Patrick French and German. His Ph.D. by the Rotary Club of San Diego. The Seamans has been elect- Patrick Seamans adviser, Robert Kaplan, professor Hon. Mayor Jerry Sanders presented the ed a representative on emeritus of linguistics, and history award at a luncheon at the Sheraton the Mid-City West Professor Paul Knoll, who served on Harbor Island Aug. 3. The annual award recognizes a man or woman “who has UCommunity Council, which repre- two of his academic committees, contributed outstanding community bet- sents residents and stakeholders in remain good friends. terment of the San Diego region in a the Melrose-Fairfax area of Los Steve Lamy, professor of interna- variety of ways, through his or her efforts Angeles. tional relations, remembered over a long period of time.” After 31 Seamans, who is deaf, has earned Seamans as a fearless debater. years in the Navy, Hartley retired as a three master’s degrees and a Ph.D., “He just jumped in,” Lamy said. captain. including a joint master’s in interna- “He wasn’t afraid to argue his point if Lasting Love tional public administration, public he didn’t think someone was right. Diana Berman Murphy (B.F.A. ’77) and policy and development from USC He was one of the best students in Bryan Murphy (B.A., political science, College’s School of International class.” ’77) celebrated their 25th wedding Relations and the School of Seamans was born premature anniversary on May 5, 2006. They met Planning, Policy and Development. in 1952, in a military hospital in while attending USC and are now the He earned his bachelor’s and Germany. He weighed four pounds. proud parents of four beautiful children. master’s degrees in architecture from At 2 days old, the infant developed a UC Berkeley, where he graduated fever. cum laude. Seamans, 54, has traveled Doctors gave him streptomycin — to 46 countries and has dual an antibiotic that would be banned a American and French citizenship. ning, administration and develop- year later for causing deafness. At USC, he earned his Ph.D. ment. He received his additional “So the same antibiotic that saved from the Rossier School of master’s in bilingual education. my life,” Seamans said, “also left me Education in international and At USC College, Seamans profoundly deaf.” intercultural education, policy, plan- became certified as a translator in —Pamela J. Johnson

Bryan Murphy (’77) and Diana Berman Murphy by exploring the lives of 14 key Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, Calif., Psychological Association at its annual (’77) at their 25th anniversary celebration. Palestinian and Jewish leaders. David since the program began in January 2002. meeting in New Orleans in August. The Hulme is a publisher of the quarterly Under his direction, the Palliative Care award is given to the most outstanding Chief Legal Advisor journal Vision and president of Vision and Bereavement Service received two paper in behavioral neuroscience or com- parative psychology authored by a scholar Darolyn Lendio (B.A., journalism and Media Productions, which has made national awards in 2006. The first was for within five years of completing their doc- political science, ’81) is the new vice several award-winning documentaries “Excellence in Healthcare and Aging” toral degree. Christian, now a president for legal affairs and university on Middle East history, archaeology from the American Society on Aging and postdoctoral fellow at the National general counsel for the University of and religion. the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative. Institute of Mental Health, published the Hawaii’s Board of Regents and adminis- The second honor, awarded by the award-winning paper, “Long-term tration. She served as city corporation Recruiting a Diverse Workforce National Committee to Preserve Social Storage of an Associative Memory Trace counsel in Honolulu and is a partner in Security and Medicare, was for the pro- Jeannine Raymond (Ph.D., statistics in the Cerebellum,” in the April 2005 the law firm of McCorriston Miller gram’s “Excellence in Service to and research methodology, ’83) was issue of Behavioral Neuroscience. She co- Mukai MacKinnon LLP. She earned her Seniors.” appointed assistant vice chancellor for authored the paper, which provided new law degree from Boalt Hall School of human resources at the University of evidence of the importance of the cere- Law at the University of California, Memorable Research Paper California, Berkeley in July. With more bellum in certain types of memory, with Berkeley. than 22 years of management experience Kimberly M. Christian (Ph.D., neuro- mentor Richard Thompson, W.M. Keck in public higher education, first in aca- New Principal science, ’04) received the 2006 Brenda A. Chair of Biological Sciences and professor demic affairs and then in administration, Milner award from the American of psychology in the College. Boris Morew (M.A., Slavic languages Raymond will lead several staff initia- and literatures, ’81) is one of two new tives to recruit and maintain a highly principals in the Madison School District qualified and diverse workforce. in Phoenix, Arizona. Previously, he was the superintendent of schools in the Fort Leadership Training La Bosse School Division in Montreal, Victor David Cota (B.A., sociology, ’98, Knowledge Crews Other TRC courses are historian Canada, and an administrator and teacher M.B.A. ’05) is one of the eight Hispanic Bill Deverell’s “Searching for in the Los Angeles Unified School university students from across the coun- continued from page 3 District. try selected to participate in the 2006 Community in Los Angeles,” political Ford Motor Co. Congressional Hispanic “Command and Control: The scientist Jeffrey Seller’s L.A.-focused Book: Identity, Ideology, and the Leadership Institute’s leadership pro- Archaeology of Power,” students will “Inequality and Governance in U.S. Future of Jerusalem gram in Washington, D.C. The program not only author an Internet publica- Metropolitan Areas,” and archaeolo- David Hulme’s provides internships in the legislative or tion for a museum Web site about gist Anne Porter’s “Community and (Ph.D., internation- executive branch of the federal govern- their investigations of ancient arti- Tradition, Past and Present.” al relations, ’03) ment, giving students firsthand new book, Identity, experience in public policy and the facts, but will also mentor students in The format gives students the Ideology, and the chance to interact with appointed and the general education course, “The chance to “step up and take initia- Future of Jerusalem, elected officials. Ancient Near East: Culture, tive,” said Danielle Gard, a classics was published this Archaeology, Texts.” Swartz Dodd, a major in Porter’s course. Her class- Excellence in Healthcare past September. visiting assistant professor of religion, mate Eduardo Castellon agreed: “It The book examines Jay Westbrook (B.S., biology, ’80), M.S., has guided the work of dozens of gives us autonomy but within arm’s the roles of identity R.N., CHPN, has served as the clinical undergraduate researchers in the length of a supportive group.” and ideology in the search for a resolu- director for the Palliative Care and College’s archaeology lab. —Kaitlin Solimine tion to the final-status issue of Jerusalem Bereavement Service at the Valley SEAMANS PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 25 College Commons

Building People Out of Paper Acclaimed author Salvador Plascencia continues his education in literature

f you’re looking for Salvador “Of course, there were certainly Plascencia, you can find him little details that I stole and kind of around page 103 of his debut updated.” novel, The People of Paper And then there’s the presence of I(McSweeney’s, 2005). It’s there that the author as a character in the book, a character named Smiley pulls at a a nod to the ever-popular, and rough spot in the papier-mâché sky increasingly controversial, memoir. and climbs into the author’s bedroom. “It was playing on everybody’s The People of Paper tells the story of obsession with memoir and reality — the heartbroken Federico de la Fe what’s real and what’s not,” and his war against the all-seeing Plascencia said. “I don’t agree with power that he blames for life’s indig- this idea that reality must align with nities, including his wife’s departure. the written experience. I think ulti- The character takes on the author. mately if the word’s good enough, it Having quelled his creations’ coup, can withstand the lie. the flesh-and-blood Plascencia is safe “We’re not reporters, we’re fiction to continue his doctoral studies in writers.” USC College’s elite literature and cre- ative writing program. The Heart of the Matter Salvador Plascencia, a doctoral student in USC College’s literature Of course, all the tricks of style, Higher Learning and creative writing program, has earned kudos for his imaginative, narrative and typography in The People What brings a young genre-defying first novel, The People of Paper, which came out in of Paper could have fallen flat. But paperback this fall. author to the English the novel displays the essential ele- department’s graduate ments that make literature work: program? Arts and the very mentioning writers such as Kurt strong storytelling and real heart. “Aimee Bender and T.C. first fiction award Vonnegut and This is Not a Novel It deals with essential human Boyle are here, so that was from the Paul and author Robert Markson, Plascencia themes: the loss of love, the search pretty exciting,” Plascencia Daisy Soros places his work into a literary tradi- for meaning, and questions of identi- said. “I love living in L.A., Fellowship for tion that dates to the middle of the ty and authenticity. so it helped that USC is New Americans. 20th century. There’s beauty. There’s ugliness, close to home. And also, I Born in Mexico “It was the people I read,” not least in the book’s portrayal of its wanted to be schooled as and raised in El Plascencia said. “At that point, I author in the wounded-animal throes a literature student in an advanced Monte, Calif., Plascencia did his knew more about experimental litera- of heartbreak. There’s humor. And program. undergraduate work at Whittier ture than traditional literature, so I there’s sadness — strands of it shoot- “It just lined up — the Ph.D. pro- College and received his M.F.A. from wrote what I loved — or I tried to ing through every character. gram was perfect for me.” Syracuse University in New York, mimic what I loved.” “The sadness became a commodi- Plascencia’s mentors at USC also where he completed his first novel. The People of Paper also plays with ty,” Plascencia said. “I was anxious attest to this ideal fit. genre. about it, but that anxiety didn’t enter “Sal is a writer with a vision. He ‘I Wrote What I Loved’ The book is rife with elements of the story itself until one of the later came to us fully formed,” said Boyle, Plascencia’s use of bold, self-con- myth and fantasy. Much of the book drafts. Once the anxiety was there, it renowned novelist and Distinguished scious devices associated with is set in a version of El Monte all came together for me. It was my Professor of English. “There is a experimental fiction has headlined reimagined to replace its suburban own private anxiety, but I commodi- deep and wildly original myth-mak- much of the critical response to The and retail/industrial landscape with fied that too.” ing in Sal’s work — People of Paper is People of Paper. fields of flowers and strawberries. After selling out a series of small an accomplished and distinctive work The novel’s narration quickly and The cast includes an origami woman print runs with highly regarded inde- of art that creates a new universe for deftly switches perspectives among a who leaves paper-cuts on her para- pendent publisher McSweeney’s, The readers, much in the way of García large cast of characters. A typical mour’s bodies and a living saint People of Paper saw wider release as a Márquez’s Cien Años de Soledad.” chapter may give voice to the omnis- hiding behind a wrestler’s mask. paperback in November via Harvest, “Sal brings a really fresh, smart cient narrator, a precocious little girl A particularly gushing review has an imprint of educational publisher sensibility to the program,” said with a taste for limes, her lovelorn described the author as a “savior of Harcourt. Aimee Bender, English assistant father and even the digital brain of a magical realism,” a genre associated This fall, Plascencia was on leave professor and author of last year’s mechanical turtle. On more than one with Latin American authors wherein from the university to concentrate on story collection Willful Creatures occasion, characters pause to contem- the supernatural coexists with the his dissertation, a hybrid analytic and (Doubleday, 2005). “In workshop, he plate the reader. everyday world. creative work. He spent his days often said something no one else had Along the way, two characters Plascencia acknowledges this burning through books by authors addressed about language. His work develop the ability to mask their influence, but also credits what he’d from Boyle to John Fante, examining rejuvenated everyone with its lively thoughts from the author, covering learned from his own family’s story- their treatment of Latino characters. risks and balance of emotion and segments of text in black. Elsewhere, telling. He’s also fomenting an idea for his imagination.” when a romantic rival of Plascencia- “It’s not literally the stories,” next novel, which he may or may not Plascencia has earned more than the-character is mentioned, the name Plascencia said, “but the modality. integrate into his USC dissertation. his share of noteworthy accolades is literally cut out of the page. The community story where every- Plascencia offered a cryptic synop- over the years, including a 1996 Plascencia isn’t necessarily com- one is affected, with elements of sis: “It’s a book about three newly Award in Fiction from the National fortable being tagged as a witchcraft and religion and how they discovered oceans.” Foundation for Advancement of the postmodern maverick, though. By integrated with everyday life. —Wayne Lewis PHOTO BY PHIL CHANNING

26 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 The Mind’s Map Maker Neuroscientist Tapped for Award funds work on ultimate animal brain atlas Endowed Chair

y his own calculation, USC “We’re basically down to the hong- Zhong-Lin Lu College neuroscientist Larry hardest part now — the lateral hypo- Lin Lu, Swanson has spent the last 29 thalamus, which is the densest and co-direc- years working to create a most interconnected part of the brain. tor of the Bdetailed map of the brain, one that It’s an anatomical area, but its effects ZDana and reveals the complex wiring that are somewhat diffuse. People under- David Dornsife underlies some of the most funda- stand everything that’s around it, but Cognitive mental animal behaviors. little about the lateral hypothalamus Neuroscience Thanks to a new merit-based itself.” Imaging award, Swanson will be able to contin- The lateral hypothalamus makes Center, has ue his long pursuit of the ultimate up less than 1 percent of the brain by been named the William M. Keck brain atlas into the near future. weight. But, Swanson said, “we Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience in Swanson has received the Senator believe this area deals with some of USC College. The chair, which is Jacob Javits Award in the Neuro- the most complex and important endowed by the W.M. Keck sciences for the second time in his functions of the brain — the emo- Foundation and awarded for a five- Larry Swanson career. The prestigious award from tions, attention, appetite, other year term, honors Lu’s remarkable the National Institute of Neurological drives. It’s just so small physically achievements in studies of how the Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) pro- neuroanatomists, whose earlier work and so big functionally, it’s been very human brain works. vides up to seven years of research has challenged old concepts of brain hard to figure out.” A professor of psychology and funding. organization. After five years of study, his team biomedical engineering, Lu studied “The Javits Award recognizes The award will allow Swanson and has identified almost 30 distinct sub- physics before turning to neuro- extraordinary research that has the his team to not only continue their parts, and has discovered functions of science. Through Lu’s study of the potential to better thousands of lives,” research into the neural networks that at least two of these. One appears neural activities that underlie disor- said Story Landis, NINDS director, in mediate motivated behaviors — the important in flight or fight behaviors ders like dyslexia and amblyopia — the announcement of the six 2006 “basic drives” that control behavior in and another in eating and drinking. as well as the brain processes that winners. relation to hunger and thirst, defense, “In the last few years, everything govern commonplace activities like Investigators cannot apply for the and reproduction and parenting in has finally started to open up” in this vision, decision-making and learning Javits Award — NINDS staff and animals — but also to explore new area of the brain, he said. — he has illuminated not only how members of an advisory council select directions. The Javits Award is especially the brain handles information, nominees from the pool of grant “It’s a very long-term project to fig- gratifying, Swanson noted, because but also how these processes might applicants, based on past productivity ure out the wiring diagram of the winners are selected by “the hardest improve through training and and innovation. brain,” said Swanson, the Milo Don critics in the world — anonymous practice. In selecting him, NINDS called and Lucille Appleman Professor of reviewers.” “Zhong-Lin is both an exceptional Swanson one of the nation’s leading Biological Sciences. —Eva Emerson cognitive scientist and an exceptional teacher,” said Hanna Damasio, the Dana Dornsife Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience. “The fact that he is also a physicist makes him an out- through these chairs.” standing asset to USC.” Coupled Chairs Antonio Damasio, who has Irving Biederman, a professor of reshaped scientific understanding of psychology and computer science emotions, memory, language and deci- who formerly held the Keck Chair, sion-making, leads the USC took one of Lu’s graduate seminars n fall, psychology Brain and Creativity Institute. on functional magnetic resonance professors Antonio The Dornsifes’ earlier imaging. Biederman, the Harold and Hanna $8 million gift established Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience, Damasio were the Dornsife Cognitive praised his colleague’s world-class Iinstalled as the David Neuroscience Imaging research on motion perception and Dornsife Chair in Center, which helped lure computational models of attention, Neuroscience and the Damasios to USC. his important role in the creation of Dana Dornsife Chair “Professors spend years the Dornsife Center and his excellent in Neuroscience, raising funds to conduct their teaching. respectively. A $5 mil- research while trying to earn “Zhong-Lin did a great job,” lion gift from Dana tenure, all with the ultimate Biederman said. “In a single semes- and David Dornsife, a goal of appointment to an ter, he was able to take students with USC trustee, estab- endowed chair,” Dana no background in neuroimaging and lished the endowed Dornsife said. teach them the principles of physics chairs. From left: USC President Steven B. Sample, Dana and David Dornsife, “The gift was pivotal and neuroscience that underlie the “Antonio and I are Antonio Damasio, Dean Peter Starr and Hanna Damasio at the installa- coming just as we began methodology by which one designs a working science tion ceremony. the Tradition & Innovation and interprets experiments. By the couple. Dana and Initiative,” said Dean Peter end of the semester, Zhong-Lin’s David are a working philanthropy brain-imaging pioneer who directs Starr. “The Dornsifes’ generosity students were able to conduct neu- couple. I think this is a perfect sym- the Dornsife Imaging Center. “It is helped build our momentum.” roimaging experiments themselves.” metry,” said Hanna Damasio, a an honor to be associated with them —Kirsten Holguin —Suzanne Menghraj SWANSON PHOTO BY CARIN BAER; LU PHIL CHANNING; DORNSIFE CHAIR STEVE COHN

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 27 College Commons

Exploring Khan’s Legacy on Women’s Lives Mellon Fellowship supports study of how Mongol conquest changed China

ettine Birge was in use are in the Mongolian language, ninth grade when mostly in epigraphs. Visual culture her grandmother was an important part of Mongol asked if any of the rule. And recent archaeological finds Bgrandchildren could accom- are changing the perception of the pany her on a trip to Asia. Mongol empire. None of the older grand- “With additional training, I’ll be in children could make it. But a position to include visual materials Bettine, a math whiz who in my analysis,” Birge said. “And I’ll had never traveled, eagerly be able to incorporate fully into my volunteered. That long-ago research the new perspectives archae- sojourn through Japan, ology offers.” Hong Kong, Taiwan and Birge earned her bachelor’s degree Singapore profoundly in East Asian studies and Chinese impressed the youth, now history from Princeton University, an associate professor of where she also met a student who East Asian languages and would become her husband, Peter cultures, and history at USC Lee, now a China business consult- College. ant. She received her master’s degree Birge wrote Women, in European history from Cambridge Property, and Confucian University and a Ph.D. in East Asian Reaction in Sung and languages and cultures from East Asian scholar Bettine Birge holds up a decorated shoe once worn by a Chinese woman during the Yüan China (960-1368) now-banned tradition of foot-binding. Columbia University. (Cambridge University She has two new books in the Press, 2002), and has shed works. One new light on the alarming treatment “On the con- addresses gender, of women in China — and how for- trary,” Birge said, ethnicity and sta- eign rule became the catalyst. “the Mongol inva- tus under the For the next two years, Birge will sion fomented Mongol rule as step up her research by mastering the profound changes seen in the legal Mongolian language and following the across Chinese arena. The other route of the Genghis Khan conquest society.” will explore the into China, studying archaeological Specifically, the wider social impli- excavations along the way. USC Mongol occupa- cations of the College has been awarded an Andrew tion drastically legal cases, incor- W. Mellon Foundation New transformed porating analyses Directions Fellowship, to be used by China’s marriage of textual and Birge for her work. The $208,000 and property laws visual materials. award will help her to further dispel pertaining to While conduct- myths in the communist state, where women. Prior to ing research in the trafficking and sale of women as the Mongol-Yüan Birge, (backrow, second from right) shown here at an evening fire with her research crew, China and brides or into prostitution, and female dynasty, women’s spent the summer studying in Mongolia. Mongolia this infanticide are commonplace, accord- rights had been summer, Birge ing to Birge. improving, moving away from property control, personal autonomy, found time to celebrate the 800th “[My research] puts a different Confucian ideals, Birge said. control of reproduction and rights of anniversary of the founding of the perspective on prevailing belief sys- But women’s financial and person- widows entered a contested sphere of Mongolian state with its president, tems regarding women,” Birge said al autonomy was dramatically altered conflicting values,” Birge said. Nambaryn Enkhbayar. inside her office, examining a deco- during the Mongol rule. Power was “[These conflicts are] seen in legal Birge’s husband and their 8-year- rated, tiny silk shoe once worn by a shifted from the woman and her fam- challenges and court battles leading old son, Henry, met her in Mongolia. Chinese woman during the agoniz- ily to her husband’s family. Among to long-term changes in the law.” Henry, whom Birge affectionately ing, now-banned tradition of foot other iniquities, this power shift In addition to funding her field nicknamed Adventure Boy, was no binding. paved the way for the practice of research, the fellowship has allowed stranger to exotic trips. When he was “Many practices are not Chinese widow chastity in late imperial China. Birge to expand her expertise beyond 5, he journeyed through the back traditions as professed to be,” she said. “The emergence of the cult of traditional Sinology. Birge, who roads of Western China by bus with “So, it’s no longer a valid argument for widow chastity, thought to represent speaks and writes fluent Chinese, his mother and her colleagues. maintaining such inequality.” traditional Chinese Confucian val- Japanese and French, and commands The dirt roads were so rugged and A USC College scholar since 1990, ues,” Birge said, “actually owed good German, is now studying the bumpy that the bus shook violently Birge’s research centers on the much to the foreign occupation.” Mongolian language –– classical and during the 16-hour daily rides across Mongol invasion of China in the 13th Social attitudes toward women modern. She also has learned more the countryside. century. Western and Chinese schol- deteriorated and extended into later about visual culture and archaeology. “It was an extremely grueling ars have long believed that the dynasties, she said. All of these areas are key to Birge’s trip,” Birge recalled. “Henry was the Mongol conquest had no lasting effect “In the 13th and early 14th cen- research on the Mongolian empire. only one who didn’t get sick.” on Chinese culture or social structure. turies, issues of marriage, incest, Many of the source materials she will —Pamela J. Johnson BIRGE PHOTO BY PHILIP CHANNING; RESEARCH CREW ER DONG QIANG

28 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 for the Promotion of Science Rwanda several times to document sur- the primary source of federal support for Faculty News Postdoctoral Fellowship. During the fel- vivors’ stories. Last summer, Miller the nation’s museums and libraries. Starr, lowship, she plans to complete a book on returned to Rwanda for the ninth time a University Professor who is state librari- nuns and nunneries in medieval Japan in four years to conclude a study on how an emeritus of California, is one of five New Directions (tentatively titled Days of Song and nongovernmental organizations are assist- new members appointed and will serve , Prayer: Hokkeji and the Reinvention of ing genocide survivors in Rwanda as on the board through 2009. Starr was also Xiaobing Tang Xiaobing Tang professor of East Female Monasticism in Medieval Japan). part of a grant from the Templeton recently elected to chair the USC Asian languages and She also plans to start a new project on Foundation through the Metanexus Libraries Committee, a permanently sit- cultures, was the Buddhist and Christian evangelism in Institute. ting faculty advisory council. recipient of a 2005 contemporary Asia. Faster is Better Innovative USC College Professors Mellon New On the Move Directions Chemist Chongwu Zhou’s research on USC College professors earned five of 11 Fellowship grant. Archaeologist carbon nanotubes, which have the poten- awards presented by the USC Fund for Tang, who teaches Anne Porter’s tial to make faster computer circuits than Innovative Undergraduate Teaching. The and conducts research in 20th century research into the silicon-based nanotubes, was highlighted fund, administered by the USC Provost’s Chinese literature, art, intellectual history way people lived in the April issue of Scientific American. Office and the Center for Excellence in and public culture, used the grant to and governed Teaching (CET), received 21 proposals, study the art of printmaking at the USC themselves in the Nobel Laureate Cites Need for each of which reflected “the desire to stay Roski School of Fine Arts. Near East 5,000 Partnership in touch with how students learn and years ago is receiv- Chemist and Nobel Laureate George A. what they need to succeed,” CET PINK Names Top Cancer Researchers Anne Porter ing much Olah addressed 45 students who traveled Director Danielle Mihram said. Award- PINK magazine has attention. Recently in Lyon, France, she from China and eight other countries to winning USC College faculty members selected geneticist spoke on the relationship between receive M.B.A. degrees from the global were: chronology, social collapse and the emer- , Susan Forsburg, executive M.B.A. program offered by Jack Feinberg professor of biolog- gence of the Amorites. Porter, an USC Marshall School of Business in col- professor of ical sciences, as assistant professor of religion, art history laboration with Jiao Tong University in physics and elec- one of the top nine and classics, has been invited to give lec- Shanghai. The program was created for trical engineering, women in cancer tures on death and burial practices at managers seeking a U.S.-style M.B.A. for “Physics of Art research. An elect- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, education, and also serves USC’s large and Medicine,” a ed Fellow of the Susan Forsburg La Sapienza University in Rome and alumni base in Asia. During his com- variant of an intro- Stanford University, as well as at the Los ductory physics American Association for the mencement speech, Olah commented on Jack Feinberg Advancement of Science who has been Angeles Biblical Archaeology Society and the close relationship between science course that helps recognized by the Leukemia & the California Museum of Ancient Art. and business: “It is as important to create students discover the principles of Lymphoma Society and an American a viable product as it is to properly devel- physics through experiments in both Quality of Life Cancer Society grantee, Forsburg studies op a sound economic and marketing medicine and art. the control of the cell cycle — specifical- Philippa Levine, professor of history, strategy for it. That is why scientists and Albert Herrera and William ly how chromosomes are duplicated and has been awarded a grant from the business people must work together to McClure, professors of biological sci- segregated — in a remarkable yeast Borchard Foundation Center on Law solve our energy problems.” ences, to pilot a redesign of “General model she helped to pioneer. “Since an and Aging. The foundation’s mission is Biology: Cell Biology and Physiology” — underlying cause of cancer is uncon- to help improve the quality of life for Energy Efficiency Wins Prize a class of over 300 students. In the trolled cell division, [Forsburg’s] work is elderly people. redesigned course, the professors will The Society for replace large lectures with videotaped the underpinning for other scientific pur- Information suits,” PINK reported in its June/July presentations of the basic course material, First Tribulation, Then Triumph Display has award- 2006 issue. and lead smaller groups of students in ed the Jan expanded discussion sections. Rajchman Prize to Elinor Accampo’s New Book: Philippa Levine, professor of history, Mark Thompson, Blessed Motherhood, Bitter Fruit for “The Evolution Debates.” Students professor and chair in the course participate in staged discus- Historian and gender of chemistry, and Mark Thompson sions recreating earlier arguments in the studies scholar Elinor Thompson’s centuries-old debate on evolution. Accampo’s new research partner Stephen R. Forrest of the Levine has also incorporated wiki and book, Blessed University of Michigan for their research other technologies into the course. Motherhood, Bitter on organic light-emitting diode, or Megan O’Neil, Fruit: Nelly Roussel OLED, technology. Thompson and assistant professor and The Politics of Forrest’s work led to the discovery of of art history, for Female Pain in Third phosphorescent OLED technology, which “History of World Republic France, was makes cell-phone, TV and other displays Arts in Los recently published by more energy-efficient. The Rajchman Angeles.” Instead Johns Hopkins University Press. The prize is awarded for an outstanding tech- of students viewing book combines Accampo’s scholarly inter- nical achievement in or contribution to Donald Miller, left, nominated Naphtal slides of art, this ests in French social and cultural history research on flat panel displays. Megan O’Neil Ahishakiye and his Rwandan orphan organi- survey of global and the relationship between feminism zation for a prestigious international prize, artistic traditions takes students to objects and reproductive rights, providing a biog- Leader of the Small World heightening awareness of children’s rights and buildings in Los Angeles. raphy of Roussel (1878–1922), a French issues. Robert Bau Robert Bau, pro- Mathematicians feminist and birth control advocate. fessor of chemistry, Gary Rosen, has been elected Cymra Haskell, A Pathfinder in Foreign Policy Donald Miller’s nomination of the AOCM, an association that organizes president of the Chunming Wang Patrick James has been named the children orphaned by the Rwandan American and Mohammed Distinguished Scholar in Foreign Policy genocide, has helped the organization Crystallographic Ziane for Analysis for the International Studies secure the World’s Children’s Prize for Association (ACA). “Freshman Association, 2006–07. The award is given the Rights of the Child (WCPRC). The ACA works to Calculus as a Chunming Wang annually for lifetime achievement in the More than 6,000 children are part of the promote interac- Laboratory study of foreign policy. James, a professor AOCM and help each other with food, tions among scientists who study matter Science: Training in the Mathematical of international relations, will be honored clothes, schooling, housing and health- at the atomic level. Bau formerly served Sciences for the 21st Century,” which for the award during a panel discussion of care. The $40,000 WCPRC award will as vice president of the association. integrates computers into freshman cal- his career at the ISA conference in be used to rebuild homes that were culus, using real-world problems in Chicago in spring 2007. destroyed in the 1994 genocide. Starr Named to National Library Board finance, forensic science, biology, music and art. Miller, professor of religion and soci- The U.S. Senate recently confirmed the Medieval Monasticism ology, met AOCM founder Naphtal presidential nomination of historian Scholar, Citizen, Scientist Lori Meeks, assistant professor of reli- Ahishakiye, whose entire family was Kevin Starr to serve on the National gion and East Asian languages and killed in the genocide, at a conference Museum and Library Services Board. The Gerontological Society of America cultures, is spending the 2006-07 aca- three years ago. Deeply moved by The 24-member board advises the has bestowed its prestigious Donald P. demic year in Japan, thanks to a Social Ahishakiye’s story and determined to Institute of Museum and Library Kent Award upon Margaret Gatz, pro- Science Research Council/Japan Society assist the AOCM, Miller returned to Services, an independent agency that is continued on page 30

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 29 College Commons

continued from page 29 that improve the chances of living a Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Wounded (Graywolf, 2005). “Wounded is a fessor of psychology, gerontology and dementia-free old age. Gatz also leads the Technology Initiative to develop their brilliant re-imagining of the Western and a preventive medicine. The award recog- College’s graduate program in clinical one-act draft of Dark Matters into a sophisticated examination of race and sex- nizes the scholar “who best exemplifies psychology and aging, one of the few full-length play. The play is about two uality, done with exemplary finesse and the highest standards for professional U.S. programs of its kind. She will deliver particle physicists and a musician. Actors lack of pretentiousness,” the judges said. leadership in gerontology through teach- the Kent Lecture at the 2007 society’s Marlene Forte, Tony Plana and Gregory “Everett’s beautiful and remarkably eco- ing, service and interpretation of annual meeting. Itzin performed stage readings of the nomical prose style packs an enormous gerontology to the larger society.” Gatz is play at the Pasadena Playhouse in July. amount of action and emotional develop- well known for her studies of dementia Physicist, Playwright Partner ment into a small number of pages.” in Swedish twins, which look at risk and 2006 PEN Literary Award Everett is the author of 16 books, includ- protective factors for Alzheimer’s disease Clifford Johnson, professor of physics, In December, Percival Everett, professor ing American Desert, Erasure and Glyph. and Parkinson’s disease. She aims to and Oliver Mayer, assistant professor of English, received the 2006 PEN PEN Center USA began the annual identify and publicize lifestyle changes of theater, received funding from the Literary Award in fiction for his novel awards in 10 categories in 1982.

L’Année Terrible sions identified in Zola’s novel, “the The Politics of Follicles racial and societal implications that go continued from page 15 melancholic confusion of the reason- continued from page 15 along with their choice, Jacobs-Huey able and the feverish, of ‘us’ and said. In La Débâcle, ‘them,’ is clearly the “The afro was a symbol of racial “What people do and say through Zola meticulously most significant.” consciousness during hair care can shed light details the disarray of Commemorating the Black Power move- on how members of a a French army ill- Trauma is Starr’s sec- ment. Wearing an afro cultural group use hair provisioned to the ond book to delve in the ’70s said, ‘I am more broadly as a signi- point of lacking a into a key moment in proud to be black and fier of status,” she said. map of their own French political and I have a political “I examine black hair as nation and led by a cultural history. His stance,’ ” Jacobs-Huey a window into African- “shadow emperor.” earlier Logics of Failed said. “But it evolved American women’s The novel’s pro- Revolt: French Theory and was appropriated ethnic and gender iden- tagonist, Maurice After May ’68 as a style marker and tities.” Levasseur, repeated- (Stanford University lost its significance. In Jacobs-Huey grew up ly addresses the Press, 1995) examines the new millennium, hearing these kinds of theme of confusion. the cultural effect of it’s not cylindrical or debates and conversa- For example, at the the supposed failure perfect. It’s free-spirit- tions at her mother’s start of the battle of Sedan, which of the revolutionary moment of May ed and purposefully so. It’s less a salon in Oakland, Calif. resulted in the emperor’s capture, 1968 in France, when a series of stu- testament to black pride than black So is Oprah’s hair real? Jacobs- Levasseur reflects upon “the confu- dent strikes briefly threatened to aesthetics. And it’s meaning is Huey doesn’t know. But she does sion and final chaos into which the overturn the government of Charles increasingly subject to the eye of the know that the answer matters a lot to army was falling, with no chief, no de Gaulle. beholder.” some and not at all to others. plan, pulled in every direction, while In his next book, Starr will explore What does that mean for African- “One of the most important lessons the Germans were making straight for how paranoia continues to define the American women? That while they I learned from this journey is that their goal with their clear judgment products of contemporary American may choose a style because it’s easy to sometimes hair is just hair and some- and machine-like precision.” culture. care for or fits a certain lifestyle, it can times hair is not just hair,” she said. Starr concludes that of all confu- —Pamela J. Johnson still be hard for them to ignore the —Edward North-Hager

Psychologist John Horn, 77, Dies

ohn L. Horn, a psychology profes- relates to changes in cognitive ability. Horn received his baccalaureate sor in USC College, died on Aug. He collaborated on numerous studies degree from the University of 18. He was 77. with his wife, Penelope Trickett, a Denver, where he studied psychology, Horn was best known for his professor in the USC School of Social mathematics and chemistry, graduat- Jgroundbreaking work in the field of Work. ing Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to psychometrics, the measurement of He was elected a Fellow of the earn his Ph.D. from the University of human cognitive ability. The research American Association for the Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1965. of Horn and his well-known mentor, Advancement of Science in 1969. In Horn returned to the University Raymond B. Cattell, led to the 1992, the Society of Multivariate of Denver as a faculty member, revamping of the field’s paradigms. Experimental Psychology recognized where he taught, won many honors The Cattell-Horn theory of multi- Horn with its Lifetime Achievement and conducted his innovative ple intelligences, developed and Award. research until 1986, when he joined validated in a series of studies begun Horn displayed a strong social con- the faculty at USC College. At the in 1966, postulated distinct types of science and commitment to serving time of his death, Horn was still intelligence — dubbed crystallized his community, dedicating time active in research and had plans for a intelligence (or acquired knowledge) throughout his career to efforts to help pair of books on research methods. and fluid intelligence (or problem- those suffering from alcohol and drug Horn is survived by his wife, four solving skill). This theory has been addiction. children, two stepchildren, five described as the most empirically John Horn, Sept. 7, 1928–Aug. 18, 2006. “In many ways, John was a tower grandchildren and sister. In lieu of grounded theory of cognitive ability of strength, physically, mentally, emo- flowers, memorial contributions may and now is widely accepted. tionally and spiritually, and he used be made to the John L. Horn Horn’s diverse research interests human lifespan and research method- his powers to help other people,” said Foundation at the San Pedro and included the impacts of alcohol use ology. In recent years, Horn had Jack McArdle, a USC psychology pro- Peninsula YMCA. and abuse, cognitive ability over the focused on identifying how lifestyle fessor and former student of Horn’s. —Wayne Lewis HORN PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK MCARDLE

30 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 of commander. He is survived by his earning his doctorate from USC, Young USC College of Letters, Obituaries daughter, son, two grandchildren and two joined the faculty at the University of Arts & Sciences great-grandchildren. North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he was Board of Councilors an emeritus professor of quantitative psy- Doris Tennant Westcott, 98, (B.A., chology at the time of his death. A leader Robert F. Erburu, Chairman physical education, ’30) died May 16. Sue Anne Murphy, 80, (B.A., sociology, in psychometrics, Young developed soft- Joan Abrahamson Westcott was USC’s first Helen of Troy. ’47) died June 22. Murphy worked as a ware for statistical analysis and data Jay V. Berger With a master’s in education from USC, social worker and a reporter before raising visualization such as the visual statistics Robert D. Beyer she became a pioneering principal of her family. She worked at the Rancho program ViSta. He authored or co- George N. Boone Compton High School in 1953, one of the Santa Fe library from 1974 until 2004. She authored five books, including last year’s Gregory Brakovich first women to hold such a position. She is survived by her husband, Sylvester; and Visual Statistics: Seeing Data with Dynamic Robin Broidy hired the district’s first African-American four sons, 10 grandchildren and three Interactive Graphics. Young is survived by teacher in the 1960s. Her marriage to for- Susan Casden great-grandchildren. his wife, Patricia; his son, Matthew; mer USC football player Jack Westcott Richard W. Cook Matthew’s mother, Bepi Pinner; and four ended in divorce. Tennant Westcott fund- James S. Corfman stepchildren, five step-grandchildren and ed several scholarships at USC, and was Robert Dockson Donald R. Belmont, 86, (B.A., political two sisters. honored at a campus memorial service in Allen Gilbert science, ’54) died June 8 in Bellingham, September. Ilene Gold Wash. After graduating high school in Jana Waring Greer Inglewood, Calif., Belmont worked Horace P. Bowser, Jr., 47, (B.A., mathe- Patrick C. Haden as a clerk for the Federal Bureau of matics, ’83) died June 7, in Austin, Texas. Mary Carter Frontis, 91, (B.A., history, Gary R. Hooper Investigation, and eventually became a A software engineer for 20 years, Bowser ’35) died May 8. Orphaned at age 15, Janice Bryant Howroyd special agent, working in Texas, Louisiana earned numerous awards and patents dur- Frontis graduated from high school at 16, and California. He served in the U.S. ing his career. Most recently, he worked at George “Chip” Hughes completed her B.A. at 20 and earned a Army Air Corps in WWII, before complet- Advanced Micro Devices. Bowser was a Stephen G. Johnson master’s in education from USC by 21. ing his degree at USC. After leaving the passionate member of his local reggae Suzanne Nora Johnson Frontis married and taught third grade in FBI, he ran a private investigation firm. music community. He is survived by his David Y. Lee San Diego. An active member of her com- He is survived by his wife of 63 years, fiancée, Darlene Jackson; son, Bryan; and Katherine Loker munity, she received a 20-year service Ann; and two daughters and four grand- mother, father and sister. Liam McGee award from Meals on Wheels, among children. Philip Morais other honors. She is survived by a son, Robert Osher two daughters, seven grandchildren and L.M. ‘Bill’ Stephenson, 63, who taught Gerald S. Papazian four great-grandchildren. Charles Whitesell, 70, (B.A., psychology, organic chemistry at USC from 1978 to Lawrence Piro ’58) died Aug. 9 from complications of 1983, died Aug. 26 in Philadelphia. Prior Debra L. Reed leukemia. Whitesell graduated from the to his illness, he was the vice provost for Milton G. Rector, 88, (B.A., sociology, Alicia Smotherman USC School of Law in 1961. An attorney, research and graduate policy at Drexel ’40) died June 24. The former president Glenn A. Sonnenberg he served as president of the Westwood University. Under his direction, Drexel’s and CEO of the National Council on Rosemary Tomich and Glendale Bar Associations and the funding for sponsored research grew to Crime and Delinquency, Rector was a rec- Glendale Unified School District. He is more than $100 million. Stephenson ognized leader in criminal justice, serving survived by his wife, Ginger; daughter, earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from on many federal, state and local commis- Administration Catherine Peatross; sons Charles II and Caltech in 1968, and went on to hold sions. He was appointed by presidents Peter Starr, Dean Stephen; and mother, brother and five positions in academia, government and Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and grandsons. industry. At USC, he was a founding Michael Quick, Dean of Research Nixon to a post in the United Nations’ member of the Loker Hydrocarbon Wayne Raskind, Dean of Faculty Social Defense Section. Rector also Research Institute. He is survived by his served in the Navy in WWII and later in Hilary Schor, Dean of Undergraduate Forrest W. Young, 65, (Ph.D., psychology, wife, Mary Jo Grdina; and daughter, sister the Naval Reserves, retiring with the rank Programs ’67) died April 9 in Pittsburgh, Penn. After and aunt. Jennifer Wolch, Dean of Graduate Programs Roger D. Stewart, Senior Associate Dean for Administration and Planning Diane MacGillivray, Senior Associate Dean Young Men, Big Dreams never seen Antonio so excited about “I learned how to set short-term as for Advancement continued from page 32 going to school.” well as long-term goals,” he added. David D. Houser, Senior Associate Dean of Business and Finance Loggins said she had a heart-to- “Short term, I want to go to high School English teacher and one of sev- heart with Antonio after his school and finish high school. Long USC College Magazine eral local instructors and coaches schoolmate, Devin Brown, was shot term, I want to get a college educa- recruited for the program, challenged and killed. “This program gives tion.” Eva Emerson, Editor the students: “So, does anyone here Antonio focus,” she said. “And it gives Before the closing event, Tammara Pamela J. Johnson, Senior Writer think they’re going to be a pro player?” him more strong male role models.” Anderson, JEP executive director, and Kirsten Holguin and Wayne Lewis, Thirteen-year-old Antonio Loggins On Cromwell Field, Cornell Ward, Denise Woods, NFL Impact Program Staff Writers raised his hand and declared: “I’m regional director of the NFL’s Junior manager, gift-wrapped the duffle Contributing Writers: Orli Belman, Eric Mankin, Carl Marziali, gonna be a pro.” Player Development program, instruct- bags, T-shirts and shorts each partici- Suzanne Menghraj, Tom Siegfried, It isn’t just Antonio’s imposing ed the youths. Ward said he witnessed pant received. Kaitlin Solimine frame that gives him confidence. a tremendous turnaround in the stu- “They started out wearing a Letitia Franklin, Administrator Echoing many participants, the eighth dents. façade, acting tougher than they really Kathy Yoshihara, Designer grader at Audubon Middle School has “It was a testament to the great job were,” Woods said. “They ended up Paul Napolitano, Copy editor overcome plenty of adversity in his the teachers were doing in the class- loosening up and just being kids.” short life. room,” said Ward, who is also head Anderson said a highlight was the USC College Magazine is published three Antonio was 7 when his grandpar- coach at Los Angeles Southwest inspirational speeches by former NFL times a year by the USC College of Letters, ents, who were raising him, died. His College. “One student who didn’t fol- players. Arts & Sciences at the University of aunt, Rita Loggins, a single mother low instructions in his classroom wasn’t “The guest speakers really hit Southern California. Permission to quote or with three children, took in Antonio allowed to play football. It was a real home about how important it is to republish is given freely. Attribution to “USC College Magazine” is appreciated. and his older sister. But the family has awakening for him.” take your studies seriously,” Anderson struggled. Loggins worries about Brothers Jesus Garcia, 13, and said. “One talked about how he was Antonio getting caught up in neigh- Hulices Garcia, 12, said they were sur- cut [from the team], but he didn’t Please send all correspondence to: borhood violence. The program prised at the emphasis on academics. have his bachelor’s degree. He told USC College Magazine c/o Letitia Franklin seemed an enriching way for her “Coming here really opens your the students that they can take away ADM 304 nephew to spend part of his summer, eyes,” Jesus said. “Playing football is your privilege to play football. But no Los Angeles, CA 90089-4012 she said. not just all the glory that you see on one can take away your education.” [email protected] “I’m loving it,” Loggins said. “I’ve TV. It’s work, study, study, work, study. —Pamela J. Johnson

VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 Winter 2006/07 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences 31 University of Southern California Non-Profit Winter 2006/07 3551 Trousdale Parkway, ADM 304 Organization Los Angeles, CA 90089-4012 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED U.S. Postage Paid University of Southern California INSIDE: • Information Junkies Page 11

• Scholars on the Shelf Pages 15-18

COMMUNITY FOCUS Young Men, Big Dreams USC College and NFL team up in summer program for inner-city youth

lthough exhausted after her graveyard shift, Judy Jefferson was determined to attend the closing ceremonies of the ANational Football League’s Impact Program at USC. “Sure I’m tired, but how could I miss this? I’m here to support my son,” Jefferson said of 11-year-old Joseph Jefferson, an Audubon Middle School seventh grader. Joseph was one of nearly 100 youths participating in a pilot sum- mer program sponsored by USC College’s Joint Educational Project (JEP) and the NFL. The three-week day camp for inner-city youths combined lessons in character building, academics and football. It ended July 28 with a cere- mony that included awards, prizes and a visit from USC football head coach Pete Carroll. “You kids are real special,” Carroll told the students during the closing ceremony. “You’ve made it through Riki Ellison, USC College alumnus and former San Francisco 49er line- backer, coaches Andrew Butler, 13, of Audubon Middle School and Patrick this program. You’re kind of like Bowden, 13, of Foshay Middle School on Cromwell Field. Trojans now; you’re in our blood.” Riki Ellison, a USC College alum- fies local, low-income, minority Judy Jefferson’s nus and former linebacker for the San youths who are prospective college son, Joseph, was Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders candidates. The center’s Talent encouraged. “I’m who organized the camp with JEP, Search program then tracks selected probably going to go said he envisioned expanding to all students from sixth grade through into the NFL,” 32 NFL-affiliated cities. high school. Counselors help prepare Joseph said noncha- “This went beyond my expecta- the students for college. lantly. “Then I’ll tions,” Ellison said. “The boys were Most students were identified retire from the NFL engaged. We hope to double our through USC Talent Search — but and become a police efforts here at USC next summer.” not all. officer.” Cornell Ward, regional director of the NFL’s Junior Player During the ceremony, Ellison Wayne Lewis, an Audubon Standing in front of Development program, USC football coach Pete Carroll and Denise Woods, NFL Impact program manager, during closing encouraged the youths. “Make your teacher, contacted JEP when he a chalkboard, former ceremonies. dreams come true,” he urged. “Make learned about the camp and “begged NFL player Reggie society a better place.” his school in.” The school underwent Grant warned students about the ball but in academics, in character. USC was an ideal choice for the a tragedy last year when 13-year-old odds of making it into pro football. You have to have the heart.” pilot, Ellison said, because of its Devin Brown was gunned down by a “To make it in the NFL, you have After emphasizing the rigorous expansive community-service infra- police officer. Lewis believed the to be the best of the best,” the former school work that goes along with the structure. The USC Educational program would instill confidence in cornerback for the New York Jets said glory, Grant, now a South Gate High Opportunity Programs Center identi- students shattered by the death. in a booming voice. “Not just in foot- continued on page 31

32 USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Winter 2006/07 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 PHOTOS BY PHIL CHANNING