Undergraduate Diversity News > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

USC valedictorian Katherine Fu (left) and salutatorians Alexander Fullman and Julia Sabo Mangione are graduates from USC Dornsife. Fu will speak before the graduating Class of 2013 on May 17. Photos by Dietmar Quistorf.

Head of the Class

May 15, 2013

Katherine Fu: The Brain of the Matter It’s said that the study of the human brain is the last frontier in science. With that in mind, Katherine Fu, the class of 2013 valedictorian, is ready to chart new… more>

categories: undergraduate, undergraduate research, diversity, undergraduate diversity

tags: alexander fullman, class of 2013, human rights, international relations, julia sabo mangione, katherine fu, neuroscience, political science, salutatorians, valedictorian

The Fulbright Scholarship was established to increase the mutual understanding between the United States and other countries. USC Dornsife students and alumni who are 2013-14 Fulbright Scholars will study and teach throughout the world. Clockwise from top left is Joshua Rivkin, Italy; Travis Glynn, India; Megan Rilkoff, Laos; Andrew Ju, South Korea; Jonathan Truong, Vietnam; Molly Levine, Thailand; Jasneet Aulakh, India; Ana Lee, Portugal; Juan Espinoza, Mexico; and Abhishek Verma, Switzerland.

The Fabulous Fulbrights

May 10, 2013

10 exceptional USC Dornsife students have been selected for the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship, which awards them for academic achievement and commitment to cultural engagement. USC has been recognized as one of the top 40… more>

categories: undergraduate, research, joint educational project, undergraduate research, graduate research, diversity, comparative studies in literature and culture, graduate diversity, undergraduate diversity, community engagement, awards

tags: abhishek verma, ana lee, andrew ju, art, biological sciences, cy twombly, french, fulbright scholarship, history, india, international development, international relations, italy, jasneet aulakh, jonathan truong, joshua rivkin, juan espinoza, laos, media studies, megan rilkoff, mexico, molly levine, nuclear energy, overseas studies, poetry, portugal, rebecca braun, south korea, switzerland, thailand, travis glynn, vietnam

Arriving as a global health major at Keck School of Medicine of USC, Otana Jakpor decided to add a major in biological sciences in USC Dornsife after taking a Problems Without Passports (PWP) biology course at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Photo by Erica Christianson.

Hard Work Meets Glamour

April 15, 2013

A Southern California native whose father is Nigerian, Otana Jakpor visited Nigeria for the first time last Christmas. In addition to spending time with cousins and extended family she didn’t before know existed, the… more>

categories: undergraduate, undergraduate research, diversity, undergraduate diversity, community engagement, awards

tags: award, biological sciences, global health, otana jakpor, premed, problems without passports

Tory Holland, a senior in USC Dornsife, took advantage of the many scholarship opportunities at USC, some from the USC Alumni Association. Photo by Pamela J. Johnson.

Becoming Scholarship Savvy

January 16, 2013

USC Dornsife senior Tory Holland was holding down a job at the Joint Educational Project (JEP), working 15 hours a week supervising volunteers while taking classes as a double major. Some days, she worked and took classes… more>

categories: undergraduate, diversity, undergraduate diversity, community engagement

tags: academic scholarships, alumni scholarships, joint educational project, scholarships, tory holland

Every person has perhaps billions of bytes of information stored in long-term memory. Babies develop long-term memories for past experiences beginning at the age of about six months or even earlier.

Mind Games

December 18, 2012

As a child, how many of you memorized the planet names and order with this little ditty: My very elegant mother just sat upon nine porcupines. Although the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet renders this particular mnemonic… more>

categories: research, faculty research, undergraduate diversity, usc dornsife magazine

tags: alzheimers, cancer, fasting, memory, natural sciences, pollution, psychology, stephen madigan, university professor emeritus richard thompson, usc dornsife magazine

Going for the Goal

August 24, 2012

Soft-spoken and shy, sixth-graders Emily Cervantes and Nayely Gonzalez are best friends with a vision for their futures. Emily plans to be a fashion designer, Nayely an author. “I’ve actually had this goal for a… more>

categories: undergraduate, research, undergraduate research, diversity, undergraduate diversity, community engagement

tags: community, department of psychology, diversity, foshay learning center, going for the goal, margaret gatz, middle school, psychology, saint vincent school, social sciences, teaching, undergraduate, youth

USC Dornsife freshman Azmera Hammouri-Davis flashes a Trojan sign while her mother, Tamara Hammouri Mie, gives the pinky and thumb salute -- the symbol of aloha and hang loose in Hawaii. Inside the USC Pertusati Bookstore, USC Dornsife incoming transfer student Baron Barrera buys textbooks with his wife, Cayla Barrera. Photos by Ben Pack.

Brink of Life

August 24, 2012

Arriving at USC from Oahu, Hawaii, the first thing Azmera Hammouri-Davis unpacked was a Kukui nut lei, a traditional greeting gift she brought for her roommate. The state tree of Hawaii, the Kukui has a spiritual meaning of… more>

categories: undergraduate, alumni, diversity, undergraduate diversity

tags: class of 2016, diversity, move-in day, new academic year, new students, parents welcome, undergraduate, welcome picnic, welcome week

USC Dornsife senior Amy Rogers (right) and classmate Olivia White sampled a few ice cream flavors at Mateo’s Ice Cream in Los Angeles. The trip was one of several that Rogers made to restaurants, mercados and street vendors in neighboring cities throughout L.A. as part of lecturer in Spanish and Portuguese in USC Dornsife Sarah Portnoy’s course, “The Culture of Food in Hispanic Los Angeles.” Photo courtesy of Amy Rogers.

A Forkful of Culture

June 5, 2012

When the plate was set before her, USC Dornsife senior Amy Rogers timidly forked a piece of meat into her mouth and awaited her tastebuds reaction. The verdict: barbequed goat Oaxacan style was muy delicioso. “The meat… more>

categories: undergraduate, undergraduate research, undergraduate diversity, community engagement

tags: business, center for excellence in teaching, economics, immigration, nationalism, regionalism, sarah portnoy, social science, spanish and portuguese

That’s Right, You Earned a Fulbright

May 22, 2012

Six USC Dornsife students and alumni have been selected for the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship awarding them for academic achievement and commitment to cultural engagement. Established in 1946 and sponsored by the United… more>

categories: undergraduate, graduate, research, undergraduate research, graduate research, alumni, undergraduate diversity, community engagement

tags: american studies and ethnicity, art history, caitlin bradbury, economics, environmental studies, french, fulbright scholarship, humanities, international relations, latin american studies, natural sciences, overseas studies, social sciences

“Soon, my achievements will show who Adrian Toledo really is,” wrote Adrian Toledo, a senior at Manual Arts High School, in the essay portion of his USC application. Photo by Pamela J. Johnson.

Tears of Joy

December 23, 2011

For these high school students, the tiny mortarboard pins represented months of hard work and stick-to-itiveness. As their USC Dornsife mentors fastened onto their shirts and jackets the universal symbol for education, some… more>

categories: undergraduate, diversity, undergraduate diversity, community engagement

tags: community, jep, joint educational project, nai, neighborhood academic initiative, writing

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