News Stories

As America celebrates 250 years of independence, USC Dornsife historians offer a broader view of when the Revolution began, when it ended and what it still means today.

A childhood encounter with a best-selling book about the Revolutionary War sparked a love of history for Benjamin Goff, a USC ROTC alumnus who graduated from USC Dornsife with a history degree in 2025.

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.

European colonial powers linked church and state. But the founders of the United States broke from that idea as surely as they broke from Britain.

The English assumed people they colonized would convert to their way of life, including Protestant Christianity — an assumption reflected in Pocahontas’ portrait.

USC Dornsife professor Peter Mancall and his class toured the exhibit, which runs through May 3 at the Fisher Museum and features founding-era documents in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

PODCAST: The president and Mancall, one of the nation’s leading scholars of early North American history, discuss his new book, Contested Continent, the forces that shaped the nation’s founding, and the lasting value of studying history.

Using found materials like shells and ironwood, prisoners created objects of both utility and beauty to help them bear the unbearable.

The commitment from a longtime friend of the institute supports public outreach and partnerships with professionals outside academia.