2009 News Archives > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A World All Their Own

December 23, 2009

Filmmakers are storytellers, but they are also architects and anthropologists. They must create whole worlds in which their stories can unfold. And the worlds they create must be coherent and believable, be they a… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: anthropology, communication, film, language, linguistics, movie, social sciences

Oscar Aparicio, associate professor of biological sciences in USC College, received a federal stimulus grant, which will support additional researchers and enable him to upgrade his equipment to the highest-quality technologies available for microarray data analyses. Photo credit Philip Channing.

Funds to Help in the Fight Against Cancer

December 23, 2009

Oscar Aparicio, associate professor of biological sciences in USC College, has received a $316,417 federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The award will enable him to hire a… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: biological science, biology, cancer, dna, federal stimulus grant, grant, natural sciences

Aravid Asok, assistant professor of mathematics in USC, has received a federal stimulus grant to advance his research, which applies newly developed mathematical tools to the theory of homotopy. Photo credit Taylor Foust.

Adding Funds to the Equation

December 21, 2009

Arriving in USC College in August, Aravind Asok, assistant professor of mathematics in USC College, has been awarded a $135,552 federal stimulus grant by the National Science Foundation. The grant will enable Asok to continue… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: grant, homotopy, math, mathematics, national science foundation, natural sciences

Study co-author Kenneth Nealson. Photo credit Philip Channing.

New Bacterial Behavior Discovered

December 17, 2009

Bacteria dance the electric slide, officially named electrokinesis, in a new study by USC geobiologists. The study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, describes a bacterial… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: bacteria, biology, energy, geobiology, natural sciences

Gordon Berger, USC College professor emeritus of history, receives the 2009 decoration of The Order of the Rising Sun from Junichi Ihara, consul general of Japan in Los Angeles.

Berger Honored by Japanese Government

December 14, 2009

An expert in U.S.-Japan relations, the USC College professor emeritus earned special recognition for advancing Japanese studies in various posts. Gordon Berger, professor emeritus of history at USC College, received the 2009… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: award, east asian studies center, history, humanities, japan

At USC, Mathew McCubbins will head an effort to create a new Ph.D. program that involves political economy, economics, law, and cognitive and computational science.

USC Taps Leading Interdisciplinary Scholar

December 9, 2009

USC has recruited Mathew D. McCubbins, a nationally recognized interdisciplinary scholar at the University of California, San Diego, to join the faculty in January as a Provost Professor. McCubbins will share appointments at… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: business, government, law, political science, politics, social sciences

Michelle Arbeitman of biological sciences received a federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to help advance the understanding of the molecular genetics of reproductive behaviors and physiology in fruit flies.

The Fly Could Prove Fruitful for Good Health

December 8, 2009

Michelle Arbeitman, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, has received a $325,148 federal stimulus grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The award enables Arbeitman to hire one… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: biological sciences, genetics, grant, natural sciences

University Professor Emeritus Stephen Toulmin, a renowned ethical philosopher in USC College, called for scholars to "come out of their self-imposed isolation and reenter the collective world of practical life and shared human problems." Photo courtesy of Donna Toulmin.

In Memoriam: Stephen E. Toulmin, 87

December 8, 2009

Stephen Edelston Toulmin, University Professor Emeritus and one of the most influential ethical philosophers of the latter half of the 20th century, has died. He was 87. Toulmin, the Henry R. Luce Professor for the Center for… more>

categories: research

tags: ethics, history, humanities, international relations, obituary, philosophy

Lawrence D. Piro, M.D. is a member of the USC College Board of Councilors and president and chief executive officer at The Angeles Clinic & Research Institute.

Dr. Lawrence D. Piro, M.D. on CBS show The Doctors

December 3, 2009

On Thursday, December 3 at 11 a.m., Lawrence D. Piro, M.D. will appear on the television show "The Doctors" on CBS. Piro, a member of the USC College Board of Councilors, is president and chief executive officer at The… more>

tags: natural sciences, television

Selma Holo, director of the USC Fisher Museum of Art and professor of art history, co-edited the new book, <em>Beyond the Turnstile: Making the Case for Museums and Sustainable Value</em>, which examines what museums must do to be indispensable to society today and in the future.

"Beyond the Turnstile": Does the World Need Museums?

December 1, 2009

Even before the financial crisis hit last year, top museum directors worldwide knew they were operating in a bubble that couldn't last."I think what happened was that everything just got out of control. Exhibitons got more and… more>

categories: research, faculty research

tags: art, art history, book, humanities, museum