Workshop

The Spring 2025 series of four workshops follow a through-line of critical polymathy: using the synthesis of different perspectives to give us a better look at popular technologies and production techniques.

These events will take place at the Ahmanson Lab every other Wednesday starting February 26th from 3pm-4pm during Spring 2025. See below for our topics.

^{This program is open to all eligible individuals. USC operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s}^{Notice of Non-Discrimination}^{. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.}

Current Semester

Fall 2024

Sep 28 2021

Object recognition, privacy rights, and data collection

When: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Workshop

After a discussion of AI augmented data collection approaches and origins of privacy rights, students will implement their own object recognition and data collection system on a Raspberry Pi, a portable and powerful miniature computer.

Sep 21 2021

Sensors, lights, and motors

When: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Workshop

After a discussion of microcontrollers and hardware prototyping, students will learn the basics of programmatically using sensors, lights, and actuators using Arduino, a programmable microcontroller.

Sep 27 2021

Computational Art

When: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Workshop

After a discussion of algorithmic art and computational design, students will procedurally generate art with p5js, and consider ways of using techniques for games, manufacturing, and other media.

A few freshly printed plastic parts inside a 3D printer

Sep 20 2021

3D Modeling Basics

When: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: Ahmanson Lab | Leavey Library, 3rd floor (LVL 301)
Event Type: Workshop

After a discussion about approaches and use cases of 3D printing, students will learn the basics of 3D modeling and learn how to use the Ahmanson Lab’s 3D printing resources.

Sep 19 2019

Homelessness - Data Driven Problems, Data Driven Solutions

When: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Workshop

According to the LA Times, homelessness was up by 12 percent over last year in the county and up 16 percent in the City of Los Angeles. That puts L.A. County’s homeless population at 58,936 and the city’s at 36,300. Last year, citizens passed measures that funded, among other strategies, intensive data collection among the homeless population. How might insights garnered from large datasets be productive in addressing and ameliorating the myriad challenges and factors surrounding the homelessness crisis in our city? Does turning to data collecting strengthen or...

Feb 20 2019

Stewards of the Earth: Exploring Federal Land Protection from an Indigenous Perspective

When: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Workshop

“As long as the grass shall grow and rivers flow, you can have your land.”

These were the empty promises issued by the United States government to Indigenous peoples as they were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands during the 19th century.

“Protect Sacred Places.”

These words inform the political actions of present day Indigenous leaders to reclaim and protect their rightful, sacred lands.

For our second session in the 4Ps series, we are thrilled to have Angela Mooney D’Arcy, (Juaneno Band of Mission Indians...

Feb 13 2019

PolyFaith: The Dialectic Interplay Between Art, the Body, and Spirituality

When: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Workshop

Presented in collaboration with the USC Interfaith Council.

“When I run, I feel His pleasure.” Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire

Whirling dervishes, reggaes’ beat, aromatic incense, and Greek Orthodox iconography all share something in common—they are each unique portals to the ecstatic, conduits to sublimity. For Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell, his spiritual ecstasy came when he simply ran. How might we understand the complexity of this sort of induced sensual/spiritual intoxication, literally and metaphorically? For our spring 2019...

Oct 10 2018

Discovering the Browns

When: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Workshop

A conversation with Miriam Pawel, historian, journalist, and author of The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation

Light lunch will be served.

Nov 14 2017

Polymathic Poetry Readings with Alicia Stallings

When: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where: Friends of the USC Libraries Lecture Hall, Doheny Memorial Library, DML 240
Event Type: Workshop

California Poet Laureate and USC Professor, Dana Gioia, moderates a discussion with poet, classicist, and 2011 MacArthur Fellow Alicia Stallings, author of the award-winning collections Archaic Smile, Hapax, The Nature of Things, and Olives.

Oct 3 2014

ZYGO 1: “Hobby Lobby: The Ethics of Healthcare Between Corporation, Church, and State”

When: 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Workshop

In September 2012, Hobby Lobby, a chain of arts and crafts stores, filed a lawsuit against the United States over a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which mandated that health insurance provided by employers must include access to emergency contra-ceptives. Hobby Lobby stated that this provision violated their religious beliefs, and argued that they were protected by the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Supreme Court eventually ruled in their favor. This panel will seek to discuss the various ethical issues associated with...

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