The Academy in the Public Square
Our Doors Are Open
The world needs new ways of thinking about complex problems. Yet, the unmatched potential for university researchers to generate solutions is often overlooked.
The Academy in the Public Square initiative encourages engagement between USC Dornsife faculty and communities beyond our institution. We’re swinging open our doors — becoming the go-to source for expertise. We’re offering new ways of thinking about complex issues affecting people and communities today. We’re communicating scholarship in ways that non-experts can actually understand. And, working with leaders across the public and private sectors, we are emphasizing the enormous value of research universities as society’s most productive and prolific driver of innovation.
Public Exchange
If your organization had a dedicated research arm with experts in just about any subject you could imagine, what problems would you be able to solve?
As the centerpiece of the Academy in the Public Square, Public Exchange amplifies social impact by making academic expertise more easily accessible than ever before. The first-of-its-kind hub connects leaders in the public and private sectors with the right team of USC researchers and streamlines the collaborative process, providing project management from start to finish.
Shaping the Conversation
USC Dornsife experts provide insights that shape and expand public discourse on complex issues of the day.
USC Dornsife Research in the News
What makes muscles contract? A physiologist explains how muscles move
As part of The Conversations’ “Curious Kids” series, USC Dornsife’s Kiki Crawford describes how an entire team of electricity, calcium, energy and proteins all work together to move your muscles.
What rising tensions with Mexico mean for the US
As the United States exerts growing pressure on Mexico, USC Dornsife political scientist Pamela Starr, author of The Making of Mexico, explains what Americans often misunderstand about the country next door and why the relationship matters.
The National Climate Assessment is broken – appointing Matthew Wielicki to lead it won’t help
What communities and businesses really need is information they can act on, with examples of what’s worked elsewhere and why — and what fails.
How the stomach helps the brain form memories
A newly discovered gut-brain connection turns meals into memories, and may offer novel ways to protect cognitive health.
Featuring Trump on US coins and bills would put America in rare company
A professor of international relations counted the sitting leaders on over 1,000 of the world’s banknotes and coins; almost every one of them is a king or a queen.
The secret war waged by ordinary Americans against hate
In his new book, USC Dornsife historian Steve Ross uncovers the forgotten story of civilian spies who infiltrated postwar Nazi and white supremacist groups — and risked their lives to stop them.
Heavy TV watching associated with smaller brain structures, study finds
Reduced volume was found in areas of the brain connected to memory formation, indicating a potential link between TV watching and higher dementia risk.
Dornsife Dialogues
Check out our series of stimulating online forums in which leading experts and distinguished alumni from USC Dornsife share new perspectives and research-based findings on timely topics. Now available in podcast form!
Complex Insights into Identity
USC Dornsife’s Viet Thanh Nguyen, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Sympathizer, contributes frequently to the public discourse about American culture — including pieces for The Atlantic, Time, The New York Times, and more. With his bestselling novel recently adapted into an HBO series, whole new audiences are engaging with his distinct voice.
The Guggenheim Fellow Shaping the Public Discourse
In any given year, Natalia Molina can be seen in dozens of national media outlets making her expertise accessible to a wide audience. The Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and Dean’s Professor of American Study and Ethnicity’s expertise explores current issues affecting communities representing many different backgrounds.
Molina’s work has earned her a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 2026 and a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2020. The Los Angeles Times called her book, A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community — which chronicles how immigrant workers shaped the neighborhood of Echo Park — an “essential Los Angeles book.” She was also part of the L.A. Civic Memory Working Group, a group convened by the mayor of Los Angeles’s mayor to make recommendations on how to preserve the city’s history.
Sought-Out Source
Ian Anderson, who recently earned his doctorate in psychology, explains how to navigate information on social media in published news articles and as a speaker at the Nobel Prize Summit. It’s work that earned him a USC Dornsife Communicator of the Year award.
Contact Us
USC Dornsife Office of Communication
1150 S. Olive St, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone: (213) 821-6797
Fax: (213) 821-6057
communication@dornsife.usc.edu