University of Southern California USC
USC Libraries

USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study

“The world is changing. Everything in the digital universe, everything is connected to everything else. ”—Sidney Harman

Special Event: Women of Troy

Special Event: Women of Troy

Join us for a special joint ROTC/USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study event, where we will discuss the historical, contemporary, and future role of women in national defense. USC Trustee Jane Harman, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. and former congressional member of the U.S. House Committees on Armed Services, Intelligence, and Homeland Security, leads the panel discussion.

Read more
The series provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty to hone interdisciplinary skills through conversations with polymathic practitioners from USC and the larger academic community. Learn more »
The library is by definition a center of interdisciplinary inquiry devoid of disciplinary biases. The library and the polymathic academy form a metaphoric and meta-cognitive environment for integrated interdisciplinary study. Learn more »
Meet the members of the university community who are shaping the academy's programs and creating the series of polymathic encounters for USC students. Learn more »

News and Updates

Polymathic Academy Year-in-Review

The USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study recently completed its busy and exciting second year. Click the link to learn more about the details of the past year's programming.

Read more

Harman Polymathic Academy Fall 2012 Opening Event

The academy launches its third year at Doheny Memorial Library on Tuesday, September 11. Click on the link and find event details about Architecture at the Crossroads.

Read more

Spring 2013 Series

Quadrant Series with Edwin McCann

Professor of philosophy and English Edwin McCann will conduct four conversational workshops over the Fall and Spring terms from a philosophical, historical, and practical point of view.

Learn more

The Polymathic Panel Series

This series features conversations among distinguished USC professors on issues surrounding law, business, engineering, and genocide. 

Learn more

Undergraduate Series:

Polymathic Pizza Part II: Saving the Planet

Year Three of this successful series covers law, creative arts, architecture, engineering, business, and related fields perceived polymathically.

Learn more

Graduate Series:

Objects of Knowledge II

Conversations regarding objects of knowledge, visual and material worlds from a polymathic perspective.

Learn more

Postdoctoral Fellows and the Society of University Professors at USC

A lunch and a dinner will bring together postdoctoral fellows with the Society of University Professors and other distinguished guests for structured conversation.

Learn more