Skip to Content

College of Arts and Sciences

2023 News

It started here: USC professor, students research first Black U.S. Army regiment

A class at USC is making significant contributions to the history of the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Part of a project led by history professor Valinda Littlefield, this research involves multiple institutions nationwide.

Garnet research provides clues about Earth's history and its future

McCausland Fellow Besim Dragovic has a favorite mineral —it’s garnet, of course. Garnet is a mineral that carries a wealth of information about unique locations on Earth and their history as well as element-containing rocks hold several possibilities for sustainability.

Understanding people and place

Cultural anthropologist Monica Barra studies how racial inequalities are shaped by scientific practices, racial histories and climate change in the U.S. South.

Dueling Demands

Assistant professor of sociology Jaclyn Wong's book "Equal Partners?" dives into relationship inequality within dual-professional couples.

SEOE researcher launches underwater robots to protect endangered right whales

University researcher Erin Meyer-Gutbrod aims to protect endangered right whales from ship strikes using underwater listening robots to track their locations.

Award-winning author, sociologist to speak on education, social change and 'good trouble'

Tressie McMillan Cottom, a renowned author, sociologist, and cultural critic, will give the 2023 Robert Smalls Annual Lecture for the University of South Carolina Department of African American Studies.

Battling blazes with math and maps

The Columbia-Richland Fire Department is now equipped with unexpected tools to battle blazes: maps, graphs and statistics. A University of South Carolina geography graduate lead the way in bringing these tools that calculate and cut off many fire risks before they even occur.

Meet the Black alumnae whose contributions are commemorated on the Horseshoe

As a tribute to the Black alumnae featured in the student-produced documentary The Backbone, USC’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion installed 18 personalized bricks on the Horseshoe. The honorees' stories span seven decades of university history.

AFAM researcher aims to improve math literacy in K-12 students

Kendall Deas, a post-doc fellow in African American Studies, is using his research on racial equity combined with curriculum from The Algebra Project to advance new models for teaching K-12 math skills.

New innovation projects will enhance the student experience

An enhanced internship program for political science students, an online degree in women's and gender studies and a creative writing outreach program are just a few projects receiving new support from the McCausland Foundation Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Graduate scholar maps the brain, uncovering possible paths to aphasia recovery

Nicholas Riccardi is one of the researchers at USC working to understand the brain and what causes aphasia, the loss of language ability. A doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology, Riccardi was named a 2023 Graduate Breakthrough Scholar.

Poet laureate pens verse for USC

Poetry has been ingrained in Jennifer Bartell Boykin’s life since she was young, and it’s followed her through adventures as a student, journalist, teacher, advisor and more. Now, it’s empowering her as Columbia’s new poet laureate.

Student finds his path through internship in Germany

Jahleel Johnson gains confidence and insight as part of a prestigious youth exchange program between the U.S. State Department and the German congress.

Historian to visit USC, meet with South Carolina Council on the Holocaust

Wendy Lower, historian and author of numerous publications on the Holocaust and World War II, is visiting USC to share her expertise with the campus community and to meet with leaders from the South Carolina Council on the Holocaust. On March 16, Lower will present a public talk on her latest book.

USC alumnus, former mayor Steve Benjamin tapped for White House role

Former Columbia mayor Steve Benjamin, a two-time alumnus of the University of South Carolina, has been named as a senior advisor to the White House and director of the Office of Public Engagement.

Campus Conversation: Jala Lewis

Through her marketing major, Jala Lewis is learning how to manage her cosmetology business that she started in high school. Jala’s Extensions became a reality for Lewis when she posted her progress in learning how to braid on social media — her peers in school were impressed. Now, she has braided Zia Cooke’s, Bree Hall’s, and Chico Carter Jr.’s hair in USC athletics.

Dance and political science alumna gets creative to help marginalized youth

How do you combine a creative calling, a passion for politics and a determination to drive social change? Just ask Vivien Toumey. The Arts and Sciences alumna has turned her background in dance and political science into an impactful career in non-profit work, where she has crafted social media campaigns that have led to real policy changes.

Bringing civil rights history to life

Throughout his life and career, associate professor Bobby Donaldson has carried advice from his great-grandfather to “leave his mark” in whatever he undertakes.

PBS NewsHour features USC's Nikky Finney and Nancy Tolson

Two professors appeared in segments on PBS's nightly news program, highlighting unique contributions to Black history. Nancy Tolson discusses Civil War hero Robert Smalls, and Nikky Finney remembers her father as she opens the Ernest A. Finney, Jr. Cultural Arts Center.

Unlocking the mysteries of the mind

The University of South Carolina is focused on the brain. From autism and aphasia to Alzheimer’s and other related dementias, university researchers are working across several academic disciplines to better understand how the brain works and to develop solutions that will improve people’s health.

75 years later, film collection enriches history of WWII

The University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collections in a partnership with the History Division of the Marine Corps is digitizing films shot by more than 50 Marine combat cameramen during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which began Feb. 19, 1945. The goal is to provide public access to the video and expand historical understanding.

Mexico made criminal justice reforms in 2008 - they haven't done much to reduce crime

Associate professor of Spanish and comparative literature Rebecca Janzen writes for The Conversation on persistent crime trends in Mexico despite criminal justice reform.

Memphis police numbers dropped by nearly a quarter in recent years

Assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice Ian T. Adams and others write for The Conversation on staffing issues on the Memphis police force.

Dance faculty use movement to bridge gaps in Black history

Wideman Davis Dance received a $1.95 million Mellon Foundation grant to memorialize Black life beyond trauma.

Tyre Nichols’ death underscores the troubled history of specialized police units

Assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice Ian T. Adams and law professor Seth W. Stoughton write for The Conversation on the issues surrounding specialized police units.

Political science student highlights voters' role in U.S. prosecutor accountability

Ph.D. candidate Yu-Hsien Sung studies the unique discretion prosecutors have in the U.S. and how voting plays a role in holding them accountable. Her work is making a big contribution to the political science field.

Anti-Defamation League CEO to discuss antisemitism and solutions at USC

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, will discuss global, national and local solutions for fighting antisemitism in the 2023 Solomon-Tenenbaum Lecture in Jewish Studies at the University of South Carolina.

First-gen, Next-gen

Hope Rivers could be the poster child for the value of education, the importance of mentorship, the necessity of empathy. The first Black female president of Piedmont Technical College, she also understands the experience of the many first-generation, low-income college students on campus.

Magnetism Reimagined

2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow Timir Datta challenges laws of physics

Mellon Foundation grant will strengthen South Carolina's founding documents program

The University of South Carolina will enhance its research and teaching of America's founding documents through a new grant from the Mellon Foundation, the nation's largest funder of the arts, culture and humanities.

Research cruise leads to discovery at awe-inspiring Lost City

Stone chimneys and rock formations stretched high off the Atlantic Ocean floor. The network of vents spewed a constant flow of water warmed by the Earth’s mantle. Newly formed organic compounds, forged underground, floated in the current. Bacteria basked in the warm water.

Art heist in Lartania

Students whisper as they pour over letters, newspaper articles and evidence, searching for clues. Tables are scattered with notes and timelines fill the walls, all searching for one answer — whodunnit?

Pinckney Papers project reaches historic milestone, nears completion

The University of Virginia has released the fourth volume of the Papers of the Revolutionary Era Pinckney Statesmen, led by USC professor emerita Constance B. Schulz and chronicling over fifty years of American and South Carolina history through letters, journals and other records of the Pinckney family.

Senior initiates new resource for students starting out with statistics

Lauren Young never thought her journey with statistics would lead her to the front of a lecture hall full. This fall, Young launched a new supplemental instruction course to serve statistics students, the first offered in the department.

Mood indigo: Alumna brings back SC cash crop

Indigo is tightly woven into South Carolina history, but few have worked with the rich natural dye since it was replaced by synthetic dyes nearly 150 years ago. Caroline Harper is bringing it back.

Yi Sun uses mathematical modeling to advance research goals in biomedical engineering and public health

With Yi Sun’s help over the past decade, medical researchers are moving toward an innovation that could save thousands of lives each year: the development of 3-D printed artificial organs.

Better teaching through chemistry

Amy Taylor-Perry sometimes jokes with her students that they’re learning chemistry from a high school dropout. It’s actually not a joke — Taylor-Perry, a senior instructor in chemistry, really did drop out as a single mom, and was a mother of three before she went back to college.

Social justice awards recognize outstanding student, faculty members

Four faculty members and a student have been recognized for their social justice efforts on campus and in the larger community as 2023 Social Justice Award winners.

Why is 13 considered unlucky?

Distinguished professor emeritus of sociology Barry Markovsky writes for The Conversation about the superstition around the number 13.

Nine faculty honored as new McCausland Fellows for 2023

Clean water access, autism intervention for infants, safer streets. These are only a few of the areas where the new McCausland Faculty Fellows in the College of Arts and Sciences are making major research contributions.

Art professor uses technology to keep class going during pandemic

Sara Schneckloth is a 2022 Mungo Graduate Teaching Award winner

Chemistry professor strives for understanding over memorizing

Sheryl Wiskur knows how hard organic chemistry is. She has been teaching at the University of South Carolina for 15 years. But more importantly, she struggled with it herself as an undergraduate.

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

©