A self-described “special geek” who cut class to go the library, Megan Stielstra found her calling as an author and educator while poring over novels by J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood and Richard Wright.
“I was reading Black Boy , Wright’s memoir about growing up in the Jim Crow South,” Stielstra said. “In the chapter where he gets a library card, he describes...
The COVID-19 pandemic will remain the dominant topic for Americans in nearly every aspect of their lives in 2021, according to a survey in the USC Center for Public Relations ’ annual Relevance Report . When asked about news they will consume, 44%...
LAPD receives a flood of calls about landlord-tenant disputes during COVID-19.
On Sept. 1, police in Los Angeles responded to almost twice as many landlord-tenant disputes as they had on the day rent was due just one month before. Now, rent day is approaching again, and so is the potential for more confrontation, as the economy limps along due to the coronavirus, and...
The nonprofit media advocacy organization Define American , in collaboration with the Norman Lear Center Media Impact Project...
Daniel Alejandro Leon-Davis emigrated from Venezuela to Florida with his mother when he was 6 years old. Coming to the United States at such a young age, he says he grew up “feeling as American as everybody else.”
“Being an immigrant in Miami, or frankly even Orlando, where I graduated from high school, didn’t feel like being the ‘other,’” he said. “It felt like the norm. So, I didn’t...
We examine how our scholars and practitioners help shape and communicate the world of celebrity.
On March 20, musician Josh Groban hosted one of the first Billboard Live At-Home music sessions. Dressed casually in an Interlochen Center of the Arts baseball cap and sitting up...
In the midst of ongoing protests against racial injustice, a new study shows Hollywood movies perpetuate a lack of inclusive representation of those from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, girls and women, the LGBTQ community, and individuals with disabilities.
The...
According to a new study from the USC Center for the Digital Future , the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have profound effects on the lives, livelihoods and outlooks of Americans. This latest of two surveys finds that because of the pandemic, most Americans are not comfortable resuming daily life outside the home; a majority of...