The Levan Institute for the Humanities serves as a hub for the humanities and humanistic social sciences at the University of Southern California, connecting faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students across disciplines, departments, programs, and institutes.
Book Chats
Conversations celebrating new books by USC scholars in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Each event features the author and guests in conversation about a recently completed publication.
On Writing
Conversations about our writing, our selves, and the worlds of connection we hope to sustain. Each event features authors and professors of writing, discussing questions relevant to both experts and beginners.
Working Groups
Interdisciplinary working groups that foster intellectual exchange and advance research on topics in the humanities (broadly construed) not already addressed by an existing department or program.
Co-Sponsorships
The Levan Institute provides modest grants and promotion for public events in the humanities at USC.
Global Collaborations
The Levan Institute aims to foster and facilitate collaborations with scholars and institutions around the globe.
New Books
Congratulations to USC scholars on their recent publications!
Upcoming Events
Ciruce Movahedi-Lankarani, Accelerant: Energy Infrastructures and the Natural World in Making Modern Iran (Stanford University Press, 2026)
October 2, 2026, 12pm–1pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Arang Keshavarzian (NYU) and Victor Seow (Harvard University), moderated by Joanne Nucho (USC). Organized in partnership with the USC Department of Middle East Studies, USC Environmental Studies Program, and Farhang Foundation. Registration is required.
Hector Amaya, The Economy of Anonymity: Power in the Age of Identification (Stanford University Press, 2026)
October 9, 2026, 12pm–1pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Kelly Gates (UC San Diego) and Ulises Mejias (SUNY Oswego), moderated by Thomas Pringle (USC). Organized in partnership with the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity, and the Division of Cinema and Media Studies. Registration is required.
On Writing—About Beauty
October 19, 2026, 12pm–1pm | More
This event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities’ “On Writing” series, conversations aiming to answer questions about how writing matters, now. This conversation will feature Mitra Parineh (USC) and Arabelle Sicardi (author of The House of Beauty: Lesson from the Image Industry), hosted by Sarah Mesle (USC). Organized in partnership with the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture.
Mengxiao Wang, Performing Enlightenment: Buddhism and Theater in Early Modern China (Harvard University Press, 2026)
November 10, 2026, 11am–12pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Shih-shan Susan Huang (Rice University) and Wilt L. Idema (Harvard University), moderated by Lori Meeks (USC). Organized in partnership with the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the East Asian Studies Center, and the Early Modern Studies Institute. Registration is required.
On Writing—Paragraphs
November 20, 2026, 12pm–1pm | More
This event is part of the Levan Institute for the Humanities’ “On Writing” series, conversations aiming to answer questions about how writing matters, now. This conversation will feature Angelica Jade Bastién (writer, essayist, and film critic) and Anahid Nersessian (UCLA), hosted by Sarah Mesle (USC). Organized in partnership with the Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture.
Jonathan Leal, Wild Tongue: A Borderlands Mixtape (Duke University Press, 2026)
December 1, 2026, 11am–12pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Alex E. Chávez (University of Notre Dame) and Richard T. Rodriguez (UC Riverside), moderated by Edwin Hill (USC). Registration is required.
Steven J. Ross, The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy (Bloomsbury, 2026)
February 1, 2027, 12pm–1pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Steven Hahn (NYU) and Michael Kazin (Georgetown University), moderated by Alaina Morgan (USC). Registration is required. Registration is required.
Tok Thompson and Daniel Wojcik, Exploring Anthropology through Folklore and Mythology (Routledge, 2025)
February 19, 2027, 1pm–2pm | More
The authors will be joined in conversation by Sabina Magliocco (University of British Columbia) and Solimar Otero (Indiana University, Bloomington), moderated by Kristiana Willsey (USC). Registration is required.
Sarah Kessler, Out of Sync: Ventriloquism in Popular Media from Vinyl to TikTok (Duke University Press, 2026)
March 1, 2027, 12pm–1pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Roshanak Kheshti (University of California, Berkeley) and Dominic Pettman (New School), moderated by Kara Keeling (USC). Registration is required.
Youngmin Choe, Hanyo (The Housemaid) (Bloomsbury, 2025)
March 12, 2027, 2pm–3pm | More
The author will be joined in conversation by Steve Choe (University of Hong Kong) and Hye Seung Chung (Colorado State University), moderated by Akira Lippitt (USC). Registration is required.
Sarah Atkinson and Vicki Callahan, Mixed Realities: Gender and Emergent Media (Wayne State University Press, 2025)
April 8, 2027, 11am–12pm | More
The authors will be joined in conversation by Shelleen Greene (UCLA) and Kamal Sinclair (MIT), moderated by Holly Willis (USC). Registration is required.
Header image: Reverse of Postcard of Tram Running Between Venice, Ocean Park and Santa Monica, California, March 31, 193- (date obscured), USC Libraries Special Collections
Contact Us
Office
3501 Trousdale Parkway
THH 348
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Staff
Director: Rebecca Lemon
Associate Director: Zachary M. Mann
