About Our Events
CPF hosts free events all semester. Every one of them is open to USC students, and most are open to the public.
Political figures come to campus for on-stage conversations. Fellows host lunch discussions. Students debate each other. Practitioners sit down with students over coffee to talk about how they built their careers. Conferences bring in national panels on democracy, climate, and the election cycle. Nothing costs money and only needs registration.
Political Conversations
Notable politicians, campaign operatives, and policy experts come to campus for an on-stage discussion with Center Director Bob Shrum or Co-Director Mike Murphy, followed by student questions. Recent guests include former Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Senator Adam Schiff, and former Senator Joe Manchin. The series runs in partnership with the USC Dornsife Political Science and International Relations (POIR) Department.
Career and Professional Devlopment
CPF runs regular career events open to every USC student:
- Coffee Talks bring a working professional into SOS B15 for an hour with students. Recent guests have included judges, city officials, nonprofit directors, journalists, and USC alumni a few years out. Students in POSC 395 attend as a course requirement, and the talks are open to everyone else too.
- Resume writing workshops with CPF staff, focused on public sector and political roles.
- Mock interview practice with the CPF team, with individual feedback
Pizza and Politics
Free pizza and small-group conversation with CPF Fellows in SOS B15. Fellows talk through current events, their careers, and whatever students bring up. Open to USC students, faculty, and staff. See our Fellows page for more information.
Dialogue and Debate
Constructive Conversation workshops, run with Urban Rural Action, teach students how to hold a hard conversation across real disagreement on topics like free speech, artificial intelligence, and housing. CPF also hosts the annual Trojan Democrats versus College Republicans debate, watch parties for major political moments, and the Unify Challenge College Bowl, which pairs USC students with students at other universities for one-on-one video conversations across political difference
Conferences and Lectures
- The Warschaw Conference on Practical Politics is CPF’s flagship annual conference, most recently “America 250: Young or Old Democracy?“
- Climate Forward brings policymakers, scientists, and advocates together on climate politics, held around Earth Month with the USC Wrigley Institute.
- The Herbert G. Klein Lecture on civic and community leadership.
- Book talks with authors including Jeffrey Toobin, Peter Turchin, and Yuval Levin.
Unurh Institute Student Summits
Civic Engagement
CPF marks National Voter Registration Day each September with a civic engagement fair on Trousdale Parkway, and hosts an Open House at the start of each semester where students can meet the staff, the Fellows, and USC’s political student organizations.
Every event listed above counts toward the CPF Student Scholars Program, which turns event attendance into job board access, honor cords, and scholarship money. Miss any of our past events? Read more about our past events to catch up. You can also catch up by watching our YouTube videos or Facebook Live videos.
