Toward the end of the spring semester, representatives from three university student organizations showed up at a class taught by USC Price School of Public Policy Professor LaVonna Lewis and announced she had been chosen as the recipient of the 2018 Student Government Community Achievement Award.
“The study of state and local politics has taken off over the last decade. Data, methods, and research interests have evolved. There are a variety of important questions that can’t be examined well at the Federal level, because of severe case limitations. But scholars can get leverage on these questions thanks to the sizable and interesting variation that exists at the state and local levels,” said Jeff Jenkins as he brought together scholars from across the nation to examine the study of subnational policy making.
“In order for us to be inclusive, we need to really highlight that representation matters and include as many people, organizations, thought processes and concerns that people may have,” said Malaika Merid, a second-year Master of Public Policy Student at USC Price who was one of the event organizers. “This is a gathering space of real diverse thought, and I think that the best way for us to move forward with that is to keep creating ways to find more diversity of thought to be included within the forum.”
With the goal of fostering cross-disciplinary synergies among political economy scholars and fill the need for a regular meeting place, the USC PIPE Collaborative hosted the First Annual Political Institutions and Political Economy Conference on March 15-16, convening major U.S. scholars from political science, economics, and law to cover important new research on topics such as the unilateral presidency, Congressional committees, city policies, electoral rules, political leadership, and partisanship.
Inspired by his forthcoming book Is the Cemetery Dead?, Sloane was the featured speaker for the March 12 USC Price Conversation in New York, addressing Price alumni and current students, as well as SEO Scholars from local high schools. He gave a poignant, personal talk that encompassed changing American attitudes about cremation to how to support friends who are grieving.
Speaking to cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, USC Price School of Public Policy Professor Erroll Southers let them know that, even though they are intelligent students demonstrating a commitment to being the next generation of American leaders, they are also prime targets for recruitment by homegrown violent extremist organizations.
“My greatest hope is that this will trickle down to the everywoman, because they are the stories that really need to be told,” Carlson said. “The waitress, the teacher, the lawyer, the accountant, the members of our military; I’ve heard from oil-rig operators, police officers, firefighters. It’s everywhere. It’s a pervasive epidemic, so we’re just getting started on the #MeToo movement.”
Southers, who directs the Safe Communities Institute and Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at USC Price, was one of three experts asked to speak at the March 20 briefing in Washington, D.C., that examined an FBI intelligence assessment released last August titled, “Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated to Target Law Enforcement Officers.”
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The 2018 Holt Lecture will focus on gender equality in the workplace and institutions. Gretchen Carlson, formerly of Fox News, will join Professor Lisa Schweitzer for a forward-looking conversation on creating institutions which empower individuals rather than harm. Carlson is among many journalists and media personalities who have stepped into the light of public conversation regarding a rampant institutional blind-eye toward sexual abuses and exploitation.
According to Bedrosian Center Director Jeffery Jenkins, “there are few issues more important today than partisanship. We live in a world today where partisan divisions run so deep that some of the most basic things we expect from government aren’t being done. People inside and outside of Congress are more interested in skewering the other side rather than work together or find common ground.”