Events

How does the cosmos—whether one or multiple—hold itself together?  Here’s one theory, strings, the unifying of the universe via a sub-atomic grid that some scientists see as the binding force of the cosmos.   A USC physicist will continue his conversation with students how this might be happening and the multiple disciplines involved in establishing the process in the second of his two-part series.

We are not alone on this planet.  Bugs are everywhere, butterflies and viruses alike.  What are bugs trying to teach us regarding mutation and survival?  Will we ever win the battle against deadly viruses? Or will bugs prove our undoing?

A conversation with Sherry Velasco.

Stem cells are the protean building blocks of biological life, triggered into multiple formats by genetic chemistry.  Hence they offer breathtaking possibilities for regenerative medicine.  How far along are we in understanding these design mechanisms?

Margaret Wertheim is one of the finest science writers at work today.  It’s a complicated cosmos, that’s for sure, but Margaret Wertheim can help you understand it better.  What does crocheting have to do with polynomials?  What is the Pangaea Theory, and why is everybody talking about it?

Why get up in the morning anyway?  USC Professor Florence Clark has some answers.  Professor Clark helped pioneer the field of occupational science – how and why, although deceptively simple, everyday activities are actually extraordinarily complex, giving life purpose and meaning, impacting health, and making life worth living to all of us.  For this reason, human beings need to carefully think about how they structure personal and public time.  Dr. Clark has also been key in advancing the related profession of occupational therapy.

A conversation with Nancy Lutkehaus.

Kate Flint, Provost Professor of Art History and English, will open her conversation on the polymathic approach as an inherent necessity in any field in the Humanities.  Professor Flint will discuss with students the interdisciplinary method she applies in her current work on the visuality of flash photography, where she explores the language, the associations, and the poetics of sudden, startling, flashes of light to illuminate and understand the human experience.

In the West, architects design buildings.  In China, architects design entire cities.  A leading panel of architects – Qingyun Ma, dean of the USC School of Architecture; William Fain, Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture; and Diane Ghirardo, professor of architecture and art history – will ask the question:  Is China pointing towards the architecture of the future? University Professor Kevin Starr will moderate.

How might the arts, music or poetry speak to economics, technology, science, or politics?  Dana Gioia, Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture and past Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will explore with students the intersecting linguistic pathways of art with everything else.