Get ready to see some new faces around USC Annenberg this fall as the the School of Journalism welcomes Peggy Bustamante and Amara Aguilar and the School of Communication welcomes Bob Levy and Annie Maxfield.
Peggy Bustamante, who has worked at USC Annenberg for the past year, will be teaching courses on the fundamentals of web development, including HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The courses will serve as a basis for investigating interactive and multimedia storytelling, data-driven news application development, data journalism and visualization. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from Harvard University, where she also worked in the News Office as a web application developer for nine years. Bustamante also worked for a number of print publications up until the mid-90s, at which point she made the transition to digital platforms, recognizing the need to adapt to the rapid changes in Journalism, then and now. “It’s a tumultuous time in journalism but also an exciting one,” said Bustamante, who was also a news application developer for Digital First Media up until last month. “We have a rare chance to redefine journalism for the coming century, and USC Annenberg is well positioned to take the lead in that transformation.”
Amara Aguilar joins USC Annenberg after working as an assistant professor of Journalism at Saddleback College. She has also taught multimedia and journalism courses at Pierce College and California State University, Long Beach. As a freelance writer and designer (for both print and web), Aguilar’s work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, as well as in collaboration with independent multimedia projects. She also recently launched Evolve Media, a media consulting and development company. At USC Annenberg, Aguilar said she plans to focus on mobile and tablet development and design, as well as journalism innovation. She added that she looks forward to coming to USC Annenberg “at such an exciting time in the media industry and journalism education.”
Bob Levy brings to USC Annenberg 30 years of American television experience. He was the Executive Vice President of Alloy Entertainment for 11 years, during which he opened the west coast office of Alloy, a young-adult transmedia company, and produced hit teen shows “Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and “Pretty Little Liars.” He also worked at NBC for 10 years, first in on-air promotion writing and producing, then in programming. Because of new digital platforms, Levy said the Entertainment Industry is “undergoing as rapid a phase of evolution.” “Everything's up for grabs in ways it hasn't been since its inception,” Levy said, adding that he’s excited to interact with the “generation that will be reinventing that industry and ancillary industries.”
With a new building, new classes and new faculty members, it’s bound to be an exciting year at USC Annenberg.
