USC Dornsife News

Controversy about celebrating Christmas is nothing new, the Puritans were opposed to Christmas celebrations as well. [4½ min read]

The Plymouth colony was neither the first settlement of pilgrims in America nor the largest. Why does it continue to have such a prominent place in the story of America? [4 ¾ min read]

In early American colonies, dissent would often lead to exile, a punishment founders considered as they framed the constitution. [5 min read]

The Pilgrims repeatedly thanked God for their good fortune, but without two earlier developments, the entire undertaking at New Plymouth would have likely failed, writes Peter Mancall of history and anthropology at USC Dornsife. [5 ¼ min read]

For centuries, European intellectuals had imagined a world beyond their borders populated by “monstrous races.” Christopher Columbus was no different, explains USC Dornsife historian Peter Mancall. [4 min read]

During a weeklong seminar, USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute, based at USC Dornsife, inspires 35 middle and high school teachers nationwide to teach their students about the latest scholarship on the early American experience.

Bookpacking in Louisiana. Examining art and culture in Cuba. Digging up ancient artifacts in Greece. Exploring hip hop culture in Paris. USC Dornsife students reap the educational rewards of travel — benefiting from a tradition that stretches back as far as ancient times.

The director of the Early Modern Studies Institute explores how the introduction of alcohol to Native Americans by European colonists helped shape the history of North America.