Mural of romans painted on DML archway

    “If there were a single word that might be the academy’s proclamation it would be discovery.”

    - Sidney Harman

    Lighting and ceiling woodwork at DML

    “The idea is to escape the rigidity of classic study.”

    - Sidney Harman

    Closeup of USC shield pin on uniform

    “A polymath is one who not only mastered one or several disciplines, but one who uniquely synthesized them, integrated them.”

    - Sidney Harman

    3D X-ray illustration of brain in human head

    "polymath n. a person of much or varied learning; a great scholar."

    - Oxford English Dictionary

    3D X-ray illustration of brain in human head

    "It's a place for free knowledge."

    - Adeel Mohammadi

About the Academy

The USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study offers a series of conversational encounters intended to intensify polymathic (integrated interdisciplinary) awareness.  Conversations and other forms of presentation will include faculty, junior faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates.  These discussions are anchored in and structured by the Four Quadrants of Polymathic Inquiry: critical and integrative thinking, study of the great polymaths, tapestry, and communication

 

Upcoming Events

Mar 22 2023

The Metaverse

When: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Conversations
Mar 22 2023

Back to the Future

When: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Sidney Center (previously known as the Harman Academy); Doheny Memorial Library, room 241
Event Type: Polymathic Pizza
Mar 23 2023

Co-authoring the Sci-fi Future with Artificial Intellegence

When: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Workshop

Get Involved

  • Catalina Retreat

    A three-day student initiated and designed workshop held at the USC Wrigley Institute on Catalina Island. A student cohort in collaboration with invited faculty engage a topic from multiple, polymathic modes and perspectives.
    Catalina Retreat
  • Image of a workshop

    The Ahmanson Lab

    Through workshops on design, digital authoring, physical computing and other creative endeavors, students at the Ahmanson Lab explore the value of making to polymathic inquiry with a roster of faculty, artists, and designers.
    The Ahmanson Lab
  • Buildings in Los Angeles: text reads Los Angeles: a Polymathic Inquiry.

    Our Course

    In this course, professors William Deverell and Karin Huebner, and distinguished Los Angeles experts guide students through a two-part, yearlong polymathic inquiry into Los Angeles as fact and imaginative creation.
    Los Angeles: A Polymathic Inquiry
  • Closeup of pizza with cheese, tomatoes and sauce.'

    Polymathic Pizzas

    Every semester the Academy hosts a series of informal yet directed undergraduate encounters with invited faculty who demonstrate polymathic approaches to their scholarship and teaching. Pizza and soda are always provided.
    Polymathic Pizzas

Project Spotlight

  • bunker_hill_Colobortory_header

    Historic Bunker Hill 3D Experience

    A research-driven 3D reconstruction of Bunker Hill from the late 1930s and early 1940s. Included in the reconstruction (as of May 2022) are 3D models of 172 buildings, terrain, and street features for twelve contiguous blocks of the historic neighborhood.
    View Project
  • Text & Terrain

    The Path Ahead

    An immersive 3D/VR experience that turns the subtext of ideology into literal text that has the power to shape the natural and built environment. The project was designed and built by Ahmanson Lab staff, students in our California Text + Terrain: Visualizing Ideology and Environment, and directed by creative technologist Erik Loyer.
    View Project