Each year, USC hosts the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. This free festival features exhibitors, speakers, and booths all over campus. Check out the impressive lineup of speakers and events here:  http://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/

Interested in volunteering? Check out http://www.troutco.com/fob/ for more details.

Dear USC Rossier Students,

Among the goals outlined last year by USC Rossier’s Diversity Task Force was the need for our school to develop bonding opportunities among faculty, staff and students across degree programs.

With Dr. Darline Robles, associate dean for equity and inclusion, I am happy to introduce a new initiative, “The Rossier Way: Building a Culture of Practicing Everyday Equity,” which we hope will help us create a stronger sense of community within the school.

As part of this new commitment, we are launching a school-wide book club for USC Rossier faculty, staff and students.

The first meeting will take place April 24 and will feature a discussion of The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.

Professor Nguyen will join us for the discussion.

As many of you know, Professor Nguyen is University Professor and the Aerol Arnold Chair of English at USC Dornsife and the recent recipient of a MacArthur Foundation award, or “genius grant.”

The Sympathizer explores the Vietnam War through the lens of a conflicted protagonist, an American-educated spy for the Viet Cong.

“I see myself as part of a larger movement of writers of color, of Asian-American writers who have collectively been trying so hard to bring different voices and perspectives to American audiences and have often felt overlooked or marginalized in different ways,” Nguyen said in 2016 after hearing news of his Pulitzer Prize. “So any story that can do that and can provide American audiences with a story that will challenge them is an accomplishment, not just for the individual author, but for all these different literary movements that have shaped and sustained me.”

When: April 24, noon to 2 pm

Where: Radisson Ballroom

RSVP: Rickie Carbajal, rcarbaja@rossier.usc.edu

You may obtain a copy of the book from Rickie in the Dean’s Office (WPH 1100). Please drop by during the hours 9–11 a.m. or 3–5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, while supplies last.

We will also make arrangements to stream the meeting for remote participants, so students from our online program should be in touch with Rickie to arrange shipment of a book.

By accepting the book, you are making your commitment to attend the meeting and participate in the discussion.

And attendees will also help us select our next book.

Read On!

Sincerely,

Karen Symms Gallagher, Ph.D.

Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean

USC Rossier School of Education

Waite Phillips Hall

Los Angeles, CA  90089-0031

Asst: hardison@usc.edu

213.740.5756 (office)

213.821.2158 (fax)

Kalena Cortes will speak as part of the Research in Equity Lecture Series from 12:00 pm-1:00 pm on Wednesday, April 11th in Dauterive LL-101. Dr. Cortes is an Associate Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Her research focuses on issues of equity and access, in particular, identifying educational policies that help disadvantaged students at the K-12 and post-secondary levels.

Tressie McMillan Cottom will speak as part of the Research in Equity Lecture Series from 12:00 pm-1:00 pm on Thursday, April 5th in Dauterive LL-101. Dr. Cottom is an assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is co-editor of two volumes on technological change, inequality and institutions: “Digital Sociologies” and “For-Profit Universities: The Shifting Landscape of Marketized Higher Education.” Her book “Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy” has received national and international acclaim. With her colleagues, Dr. Cottom also developed the first graduate degree program in Digital Sociology.