During the day, I go to classes and learn about the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the evening, I go back to my apartment to call my family and make sure they are still alive.
The end of America’s longest war was announced on Aug. 30, 2021. While the Taliban celebrated its takeover of the Afghan government, the deteriorating situation left hundreds...
Near the end of her senior year in college, Christine Alabastro faced a choice: Either take a business management job that didn’t feed her creative passions or face the unknown after graduation. Anxious about her future, she shared her concerns with her mother, Cynthia,...
In the face of information overload, the USC Annenberg community cultivates media and news literacy among K-12 students.
“I’m a girl, but I’m not weak.”
“I’m Asian, but I don’t play piano.”
“I’m Mexican, but I’m not an immigrant.”
These are the voices of South Los Angeles teens confronting stereotypes they face every day in the media. They documented their...
My quiet quest to find home away from home.
There’s something familiar and embarrassing about going to Chinatown. Maybe it’s the embarrassment that’s familiar, or the familiarity that’s embarrassing.
Either way, walking up to the peeling and artificially red wooden gates of new Chinatown in Los Angeles reminds me of the times I asked my grandpa...
From performance to business and scholarship, the love of music shapes lives and livelihoods.
When Jeremy Hecht was 17, he wrote a song hoping to save another teen’s life. Hecht had already been dabbling in posting his own music videos on YouTube and built a decent following. So, when a classmate shared a video link of a youth who was planning to take his own life, Hecht knew he had...
How values-driven artificial intelligence can reshape the way we communicate.
Mike Ananny walked his dog this morning. He did so with no expectation of privacy.
“I know that I was subject to a wide variety of cameras, whether it’s Ring doorbells, cars driving along, or even city traffic cameras,” he said. “I didn’t choose to participate in...
A masked Medusa turns the coronavirus into stone while rapper Cardi B yells, “Coronavirus!” A 16th-century Florentine duchess is transformed with the TikTok “party” filter and paired with Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch” track. Nude Greco-Roman male sculptures are set to Todrick Hall’s “I Like Boys” — just in time for Pride festivities in June.
All of these TikTok posts came from the real-world...
Reflections about Russian soul and American reality.
The soft strum of a guitar resonates in my ears. Gusts of winter winds whistle through the mountains. My family, along with several other Russian families, huddle around the warmth of the cabin fireplace. Stars glisten through the windows. The fire crackles.
My earliest musical memories come from childhood camping and ski...