USC Libraries

A new exhibition of materials from the USC Libraries' Special Collections honors the late Leo Buscaglia, a USC alumnus and professor who earned the nickname "Dr. Love." Keep reading to learn more about the exhibit, on display on the second floor of Doheny Library through the end of June.

The USC Chronicle printed USC graduate student Andrew Woodham's Wonderland Award-winning crossword puzzle, "A Reflection on Lewis Carroll," in its April 22, 2013, issue. Find the puzzle on page 8, or download this PDF and try to solve it yourself. The solution will appear in next week's issue of the Chronicle and here on Libwire.

USC graduate student Andrew Woodham took first prize in the ninth-annual USC Libraries Wonderland Award competition for “A Reflection on Lewis Carroll.” Judges chose the 3-foot by 4-foot 64-word crossword puzzle from a field of 42 imaginative submissions by students from USC and other participating institutions. Woodham, a Ph.D. candidate at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, accepted the award at a ceremony in Doheny Memorial Library on Friday, April 5. His win marks the first time in Wonderland history that one student has earned the top prize in two consecutive years. Keep reading to learn more about Wonderland Award and the April 5 ceremony.

The USC Libraries have begun a collaboration with USC School of Dramatic Arts professor Oliver Mayer to showcase the essential role of libraries in discovery and the creative arts through an upcoming series of flash plays. The original plays—short, one-act pieces written by Dramatic Arts students, faculty, and alumni—will appear spontaneously across campus beginning this spring and continuing throughout the fall 2013 semester. The first flash play in the series, which will be performed at a specific time and location to be announced through Twitter (@USCLibraries) and other social media, will take place near Doheny Memorial Library during the week of April 22. Keep reading to learn more about the flash play series.

On April 29, 1992, chaos erupted on the streets of Los Angeles after a mostly white jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers in the beating of a black motorist, Rodney King. The rioting lasted six days, and the National Guard was called in to patrol the streets around USC. Twenty-one years later, the city is still trying to make sense of the unrest. Now, two newly unsealed collections at the USC Libraries will help scholars better understand the violence, its causes, and its legacy. The collections—recently processed with support from the Council on Library and Information Resources—contain the records of two independent commissions set up to investigate the Los Angeles Police Department in the wake of the King beating and the 1992 riots. Keep reading to learn more about the collections, and about a related Visions and Voices panel discussion on April 29.

Students from USC and other participating institutions have submitted 43 entries in the Ninth-Annual Wonderland Award competition. Winners will soon be announced at a reception on Friday, April 5. Join us in the Friends of the USC Libraries Lecture Hall (DML 240) at 5:00 p.m. to browse through the imaginative submissions and congratulate the winners. Keep reading to learn more about the Wonderland Award.

On Wednesday, March 27, the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study hosts Women of Troy, a special lunchtime discussion co-sponsored by the USC Trojan Battalion Army ROTC. A panel led by Jane Harman — USC trustee, president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and former member of the U.S. House committees on Armed Services, Intelligence, and Homeland Security — will draw upon the Homeric epic of Troy to discuss the role of women in national defense. RSVP online, or keep reading to learn more about the event.

On Friday, March 1, the USC Libraries welcomed a capacity crowd for Just Food and Fair Food: A Multidisciplinary Exploration. Presented by USC Visions and Voices, the event explored issues at the intersection of nutrition, urban policy, and social justice through a panel discussion and also featured a fair-food bazaar. To learn more about the event, check out this companion resource guide with suggestions for further reading and research, prepared by the USC Libraries' Rita Romero, Chimene Tucker, and Sue Tyson. Click through for photos from the event.

The Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly recently highlighted Just Food and Fair Food: A Multidisciplinary Exploration, an event presented by USC Visions and Voices and hosted by the USC Libraries. On Friday, March 1, a panel of writers and experts will discuss issues at the intersection of nutrition, urban policy, and social justice. Following the panel discussion will be a fair-food bazaar. The event is free and open to the public. The USC Libraries' Rita Romero, Chimene Tucker, and Sue Tyson have created a companion resource guide with suggestions for further reading and research.

The story of Hernán Cortés’ 1535 misadventure in Baja California is told in W. Michael Mathes’ The Conquistador in California. The book is one of several on display inside USC’s Doheny Memorial Library as part of an exhibit honoring Mathes, a historian and USC alumnus who died August 13, 2012. Click through to learn more about the Cortés expedition and Mathes' award-winning career.