{"id":4,"date":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T18:09:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:23:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:23:27","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/","title":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities"},"content":{"rendered":"  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--intro-text align-center\"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--intro-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Mission Statement\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n  \n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>The Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities was founded in 1998 to create an intellectual center for our city by bringing together academics, authors, historians, architects, artists, curators, journalists, and poets. Its membership seeks to reflect a genuine \u201ctown and gown\u201d composition, an eclectic and cosmopolitan association. The Institute\u2019s broad purpose is to stimulate a cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas. The twice-monthly lunches explore many of the social, scientific, and cultural issues of the day with a greater variety of experience and intellectual outlook gathered in one room than any given Fellow is likely to experience during their daily life. It is hoped that each Fellow\u2019s work will benefit from\u2014and perhaps even be inspired by\u2014the conversations and friendships that grow out of the lunches and more formal events (conferences and public talks) sponsored by the Institute. <\/p>\n<p>The Institute aims to be international, urban, and inclusive in its outlook, avoiding viewpoints predictably to the right or left. It seeks to integrate intellectual life with the active civic life of the city and to reflect the diversity that is so palpably a hallmark of Southern California as it continues through the twenty-first century. <\/p>\n<p>The Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities is sponsored by the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Science at the University of Southern California, which contributes to office and meeting rooms and generously underwrites a portion of the Institute\u2019s annual budget. <\/p>\n<p>-Image above by LAIH Fellow, photographer No\u00e9 Montes <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--stacking-cards \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--stacking-cards\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n            <div class=\"header-container\">\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          LAIH Directors\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n            \n                    <\/div>\n    \n            <div class=\"cards-container\">\n            \n                <div class=\"card\">\n\n                    <div class=\"title-description\">\n\n                                                      \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          David Ulin\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n                        \n                                                        \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>Co-Director<\/p>\n<p>David L. Ulin is Professor of the Practice of English at the University of Southern California, where he edits the journal <em>Air\/Light<\/em>. He is the author or editor of nearly twenty books, including the novel\u00a0<i>Thirteen Question Method<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Sidewalking: Coming to Terms with Los Angeles<\/em>, shortlisted for the PEN\/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay. He is the former book editor and book critic of the\u00a0<em>Los Angeles Times<\/em>, and his work has appeared in <em>The Atlantic<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Harper\u2019s<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Virginia Quarterly Review<\/em>,\u00a0<em>The Paris Review<\/em>,\u00a0<em>The New York Times<\/em>, and\u00a0<i>The Best American Essays 2020<\/i>. He has\u00a0received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation, and Ucross Foundation, as well as a COLA Master Artist grant from the City of Los Angeles. He is the editor of\u00a0<em>Didion: The 1960s and 70s,\u00a0<\/em><em>Didion: The 1980s and 90s,\u00a0<\/em>and<em>\u00a0Didion: Memoirs &amp; Later Writings\u00a0<\/em>for Library of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n\n\n                    \n                        \n                            \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2024\/05\/David-Headshot-2015-768x432.jpg\"\n          srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2024\/05\/David-Headshot-2015-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2024\/05\/David-Headshot-2015-768x432.jpg 768w\"          sizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 23vw, (min-width:768px) 39vw, 83vw\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n\n                    \n                <\/div>\n\n            \n                <div class=\"card\">\n\n                    <div class=\"title-description\">\n\n                                                      \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          Louise Steinman\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n                        \n                                                        \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>Co-Director<\/p>\n<p>Louise Steinman is a writer, artist, and independent literary curator. She is the author of three books: <em>The Crooked Mirror: A Memoir of Polish-Jewish Reconciliation<\/em>; <em>The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father\u2019s War<\/em>, and <em>The Knowing Body: The Artist as Storyteller in Contemporary Performance<\/em>. Her essays have been widely published in U.S. and abroad. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships (Chora Prize; NEA Artist Fellowship; Danish Arts Council) and artist residencies at Rauschenberg Foundation; Warsaw Bauhaus; Ucross, and others. She founded and was the longtime curator of the ALOUD literary and performance series for the Los Angeles Public Library. She is co-director of the Los Angeles Institute for Humanities, USC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n\n\n                    \n                        \n                            \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img decoding=\"async\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/laih\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2023\/04\/thumbnail_DSC_9821-e1681267760847-560x432.jpeg\"\n                    sizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 23vw, (min-width:768px) 39vw, 83vw\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n\n                    \n                <\/div>\n\n            \n        <\/div>\n    \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n  \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--contact-details \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--contact-details\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n\n          <div class=\"header-container\">\n\n                      \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Contact Us\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        \n        \n      <\/div>\n    \n    \n      <div class=\"contacts-container\">\n\n        \n                      <div class=\"contact-card\">\n\n                              <h3>LAIH Address<\/h3>\n              \n                                  \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>University of Southern California<br \/>\nDoheny Memorial Library 241<br \/>\nLos Angeles, California<br \/>\n90089-0189<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n              \n              \n                              <div class=\"f--email\">\n                  <a href=\"mailto:lahuman@usc.edu\">lahuman@usc.edu<\/a>\n                <\/div>\n              \n            <\/div>\n                    \n      <\/div>\n\n        \n     \n    \n  <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":137,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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