April 5, 2011 Zaria’s Fire: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Global Warming in Papua New Guinea 5 - 6 p.m. Herklotz Room, Doheny Memorial Library’s Music Library To secure your spot please RSVP to: tcc@college.usc.edu Walk-Ins welcome

Nancy Lutkehaus will discuss her upcoming return trip to Manam Island, Papua New Guinea. Manam is one of the most active volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Since her last visit to the island a major volcanic eruption in 2005 caused the entire population of 10,000 people to be evacuated to the mainland. Dr. Lutkehaus will discuss traditional adaptations to the recurrence of eruptions on the island and the disruption of these adaptations as a result of the incursions of the nation-state, globalization and climate change.

April 7, 2011 HUMANS, ROBOTS AND WAR Robotics, Warfare and Humanity 4 – 6 p.m. Doheny Memorial Library 240 To secure your spot please RSVP to: tcc@college.usc.edu Walk-Ins welcome

This program examines the changing definition of both humanity and of a soldier in our current moment. USC Dornsife College’s Douglas Becker (international relations) and Gary Watson (philosophy and law), along with Danny Hall (Soka-Gakkai International),  and Evan Wright (journalist and author of the HBO miniseries, Generation Kill) interweaving philosophy, law, religion, spirituality, literature and history as to how this rise of robotic warfare changes society’s perceptions of what constitutes a human and what constitutes a soldier.

April 15, 2011 Dehumanized Conference Techniques of Dehumanization and the Meaning of Being Human 12 – 2 p.m. Doheny Memorial Library 240 Lunch will be served.

USC's star students present their work.  Come hear:
- Jayson Kellogg on his portraits of USC students
- Elizabeth Trower on absent memories of the 1918 global flu epidemic
- Myles Lock on identity crisis in the European Union
- Ali Battat on Buddhism, forgiveness and the Khmer Rouge

The presenters at this conference share their insights and reflections on the things that make us human and how what is taken away reveals what is precious:  dignity, the right to participate in politics and society, the sanctity of religious or cultural traditions, justice, being remembered in history.

Events and details subject to change. For more information, email tcc@college.usc.edu.