James Bullock officially installed as USC Dornsife dean
USC President Beong-Soo Kim describes the astrophysicist as “the perfect person to steer Dornsife into the future.”
LA fires showed how much neighborliness matters for wildfire safety
Managing fire risk is also about caring for one’s community. Learning this ethos can begin in our schools.
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Featured Event
Feb. 27: 2026 Carl M. Franklin Lecture
Dean James Bullock will deliver the 2026 Carl M. Franklin Lecture on Science and Society: “Exploring the Early Universe and Cosmology with the James Webb Telescope.” Find out when and where >>
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Dornsife on Video
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USC Dornsife Scholars in the News
USC Dornsife is filled with scholars of the highest order, doing research on some of the most important problems of our age. From traditional media, podcasts and our partnership with The Conversation, Dornsife faculty and researchers helped make sense of the world around us.
USC Dornsife Magazine:
The Family Issue
Whether we imagine kinship as rippling, interconnecting circles or as the growth rings of an old oak, reminding us of family trees that record generations and lineage, writer Alex Haley captured the enduring legacy of family beautifully: “In every conceivable manner,” he wrote, “the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”
Featured Stories
Who Do You Think You Are? What DNA Tests Reveal — And What They Don’t
Consumer DNA testing is reshaping notions of family, identity and risk. But what it reveals — and what it doesn’t — may surprise you.
Family Matters: How Growing Up Together Molds Us
Inside the surprising science of how family relationships, home life and policy shape our brains, behavior, physiology and health across generations.
The Rhetoric of Kinship and Why Politicians Talk About Family
Across eras and ideologies, leaders have used family as a potent political metaphor to define loyalty, belonging — even nationhood itself.
How a USC Dornsife service program shapes multiple generations of local families and Trojans
Families in local schools — and families of Trojans — are returning to the same program decades later, as beneficiaries or volunteers, creating a multigenerational ripple effect.
From Paperboy to Publishing Powerhouse
Roger Lynch’s path from newspaper delivery boy to CEO of Condé Nast took many twists and turns, including a degree in physics from USC Dornsife. Now, he uses his physics training to solve problems with insight, grit and no small measure of courage. What makes him tick?
From USC Dornsife Social Media
If powerful AI systems can sometimes start behaving like sociopaths, how do we keep them aligned with human values?
We explore what it might take to keep them in check — including a built-in sense of “vulnerability” so they have something to lose by causing harm.
From delivering newspapers as a kid to leading publishing powerhouse Condé Nast, USC Dornsife alumnus Roger Lynch ’93 has built a career on saying yes to unexpected opportunities.
He’s also drawn on his physics education to solve challenges in aerospace, streaming and media.
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Micah Owens, a senior pursing a masters in literary editing and publishing, is the latest winner of USC Dornsife’s Creative Writing Contest. His poem, “Genealogy,” is inspired by Micah’s sense of identity and home.
Micah, who spent much of his childhood living in Kenya, chose USC Dornsife’s creative writing program to study under renowned faculty and writers. He says their mentorship helped shape his voice.
@USCDornsife
We’re rooting for alumnus Carsten Vissering as he takes the ice for @teamusa bobsled at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. @usabs 🇺🇸🏅
Carsten, who majored in history, was a standout on the USC men’s swimming team, clinching an NCAA relay title in 2018 among many other accolades. He was named to the U.S. National Team in bobsled in 2022.
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🌱 Think life needs sunlight and fresh air to survive? Think again! Scientists are finding organisms deep underground in total darkness and crushing pressure — places once thought to be dead zones. And these discoveries are changing what we know about life beyond Earth.
🌎 Join Dean Bullock, Earth Sciences Prof. Karen Lloyd and @nasajpl Senior Research Scientist Laurie Barge ’09 for a live discussion on what this all means and why it matters for our future.
🗓 February 26 at noon.
Tune In to Dornsife Dialogues
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