USC Libraries

On Thursday, May 16, the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study honored its newest fellows in a special ceremony in Doheny Memorial Library. University Professor and USC Libraries Associate Dean Kevin Starr, who directs the academy, inducted 21 USC students as Academy Fellows—its largest group of inductees to date—presenting them with certificates and academic stoles. Click through for a full list of the new inductees and for photos from the ceremony.

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 Thursday, May 10, the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study honored its seven newest fellows in a special ceremony in Doheny Memorial Library. Dean Catherine Quinlan of the USC Libraries and University Professor Kevin Starr, who also serves as director of the academy, inducted USC students James Aluri, Claudia Avendano, Olivia Bonin, Karina Casillas, Emily Chang, Sonam Kapadia, and Maureen Lenker as Academy Fellows, presenting them with certificates and academic stoles. Keep reading to learn more about the ceremony.

On Tuesday, April 10, USC Libraries Discovery Fellow Margaret Wertheim will join University Professor Kevin Starr in a conversation about how she has explored different ways to comprehend the universe through her career as a science communicator. Titled Understanding the Universe, the event is hosted by the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study and begins at 12:00 noon in DML 241. Keep reading to learn more about Wertheim and the event.

The Harman Family Foundation has donated $10 million to the USC Libraries, endowing the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study. Keep reading to learn more about the gift.

Discover another side of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland this Wednesday, February 22 at 11:00 a.m., when the USC Academy for Polymathic Study and USC Libraries present "Wonderland and the Mathematical Imaginary." The multidisciplinary discussion--sponsored by Visions and Voices--features science writer and USC Libraries Discovery Fellow Margaret Wertheim, mathematics professor Francis Bonahon, and English professor Jim Kincaid. Keep reading to learn more about the event.

Rebecca Das and Tiffany Pereira were inducted on May 12 as inaugural fellows of the USC Academy for Polymathic Study. Keep reading to learn more about the fellows and this morning's induction ceremony.

Entrepreneur and USC professor of polymathy Sidney Harman passed away on April 12 at the age of 92. Harman—USC Presidential Professor, Isaias Hellman Professor of Polymathy, and Chairman of Newsweek—was the founding chairman of the USC Academy for Polymathic Study. Please read this article on the USC News website to learn more about Harman's life and his accomplishments at USC.

The website of the USC Academy for Polymathic Study launched today. The new academy, a unit of the USC Libraries, brings students, faculty, and other scholars at USC together in conversation with the purpose of encouraging greater awareness of the integrated, interdisciplinary nature of knowledge. Visit the new website to learn more about the academy and to view a schedule of the its Spring 2011 series of events. 

Stop by the USC Libraries' Special Collections display case, located on the second floor of Doheny Memorial Library, for a special exhibition commemorating last week's launch of the USC Academy for Polymathic Study. Items on display include rare books and other materials related to the historical polymaths Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Isaac Newton. Keep reading to learn more about the exhibition, which features a first-edition of Goethe's Zur Farbenlehre.