USC Annenberg Magazine

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“What do you know about Kwame Nkrumah?”

The professor at the University of Ghana’s question stumped me. Truth be told, at that point in time Kwame Nkrumah was just a name to me. It was a name that I had seen floated around in regard to scientific socialism and Pan-Africanist philosophy and a name that I had seen on the street signs in Ghana — but a name, nonetheless. I will...

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...

Close your eyes and imagine your favorite character from popular culture. Think about who they are, what they value, and how they behave. Now, draw that character on a piece of paper and identify a problem or issue you currently see at home, school or in the community you care deeply about. How would the character solve the problem?

This “Characters, Problems,...

I waited for Spencer Topel in the dead of night, eight years ago, outside the only convenience store in Vermont. As his undergraduate research assistant at Dartmouth College, I agreed to help shoot a documentary for his sound art installation. I didn’t realize filming was only possible at midnight, without the shifting sun. The rumble of his four-cylinder sedan cut through the...

After 27 years in the TV news game, Mike Huckman was looking for a change. He followed the advice of longtime friends who worked in public relations, and switched paths to corporate communications, specifically the health sciences sector.

Huckman joined his first agency, MSL Global, in 2010. With the fresh territory came fresh challenges. Difficulties acclimating...

Aashna Moitra-Serrao knew exactly what she wanted to do with her career.

“It was either be part of the communications industry or event planning, so when I found public relations, it was the perfect blend of those two worlds,” Moitra-Serrao said. “I’m a little bit of a peacock myself so it was a match made in heaven.”

Moitra-Serrao grew up in...

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,...