April 08, 2026, Magdalena Stawkowski
Writing for The Conversation, associate professor Magdalena Stawkowski describes her field research at a Soviet-era nuclear test site in Kazakhstan. Thousands still live around its cratered perimeter and stay because of their collective refusal to reject systems that had abandoned them and instead create their own terms for survival.
March 18, 2026, Daniel M. Stuart
Silent meditation and silent prayer have shaped spiritual lives within a variety of religious traditions for thousands of years. Today, however, those practices are often being offered in secular settings. Daniel M. Stuart, an associate professor of religious studies at USC, writes for The Conversation about emerging trends in secular meditation practices.
March 16, 2026, Alexis Watts
Student Body Treasurer Ashley Reynolds helps Give 4 Garnet return to the heart of campus.
March 12, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
There are only about 384 North Atlantic right whales remaining on Earth. That’s fewer than the number of students living in the Capstone dorm. The latest count is cause for alarm, and the whales’ leading killers are entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.
March 04, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
AI is everywhere — and marketing is no exception. This year marked the first time that the American Advertising Federation incorporated an AI category into its Midlands ADDY Awards, and University of South Carolina students rose to the challenge, showcasing what is possible in dynamic, creative concept and design in collaboration with AI.
February 24, 2026, Marketing and communications
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. USC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all ages and all interests from music to soccer, dance and engineering.
February 23, 2026, Anna Swartwood House
The sale of a small red chalk drawing of a woman’s foot by Michelangelo, which sold at auction for $27.2 million, excited art historians — not because of the money it fetched but because of the attention it has brought to Michelangelo’s lifelong devotion to drawing, a medium he prized over painting. Anna Swartwood House, an associate professor of art history at USC, writes for The Conversation about the significance of the recent sale.
February 04, 2026, Conor Harrison
The government directed data centers to turn on backup generation in parts of the U.S. Conor Harrison, an associate professor of geography in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environment, co-authors this story for The Conversation on how expanding distributed generation could improve grid resilience.
January 13, 2026, Kristine Hartvigsen
The University of South Carolina has recognized students, faculty and staff members for their work on campus and in the larger community with 2026 Martin Luther King Social Justice Awards. The awards recognize individuals who have exemplified the philosophies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through acts of community service, social justice or racial reconciliation.
December 15, 2025, Thom Harman / photo by Kim Truett
USC Columbia sophomore Audrey Webb won the 2025 holiday card design contest. A computer science major from Fort Mill, South Carolina, Webb's winning design imagines what the Cocky statue on campus would look like if it snowed. Her design is featured on President Michael Amiridis' and First Lady Ero Aggelopoulou-Amiridis' holiday card, and it earned Webb a $500 gift card.
December 10, 2025, Dan Cook
Heading into 2025, the field of higher education faced significant challenges. But at the University of South Carolina, all signs point to dynamic growth and institutional strength.
December 09, 2025, Chris Horn
Paige Canady planned to write a straightforward honors thesis, the kind that might get read once or twice, then put on a shelf. But after collaborating with an art education student, the project became a cleverly illustrated children’s book, one that Canady hopes will be read by families everywhere.
November 12, 2025, Megan Sexton
USC Honors College student and public health major Hannah Brennen, who was a Rhodes scholar finalist, plans to attend medical school to pursue her interest in maternal health.
November 11, 2025, Valerie Weingart
South Carolina Honors College student Michael Pitre has been named a finalist for the 2026 Marshall Scholarships. If selected, he plans to pursue an MPhil in biological sciences to develop novel treatments for Parkinson's disease before returning to USC for medical school.
October 31, 2025, Megan Sexton
As the university marks the celebration of First-Gen College Celebration Week, we caught up with first-generation students, alumni, faculty and staff who are thriving in the classroom and beyond.
October 28, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
USC professor Chester DePratter has been sorting through archaeological evidence gathered over nearly four decades of investigation at the 16th century Spanish settlement of Santa Elena on present-day Parris Island. Here's what he and his team found.
September 15, 2025, Page Ivey
Luke Hodges says he found the arts community he was looking for when he transferred into USC's English and Honors programs more than 10 years ago. Looking back, the writer and documentary filmmaker says there was an "insane smorgasbord of opportunities" at USC.
September 12, 2025, Thom Harman / photo by Kim Truett
Change is a constant in the field of visual design — and Garnet Apple Award winner Meena Khalili embraces it. It’s what allows her, and her students, to be at the forefront of their field and to be ready for multiple career roles.
September 12, 2025, Catherine Pruitt
USC's chapter of Habitat for Humanity is building homes and futures. Led by president Ria Kothari, the club works in the community almost every weekend to build homes to improve access to affordable housing.
September 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
The pleasing pastoral landscapes across the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in Kazakhstan hardly reflect its dark history. Generations of locals have lived near the site since it opened in 1949, and many remain today. USC researchers Timothy Mousseau and Magdalena Stawkowski are studying the impact of radioactive isotopes on the people, animals and plants of Semipalantinsk.
September 03, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Project investigators from USC’s Baruch Marine Field Lab have been collaborating on a study into the impacts of warming coastal ocean waters on shrimp populations. They found that shrimp populations have been largely stable, and warmer water temperatures have led to longer seasons for shrimpers, often through January.
August 13, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Christopher Moore, research professor with the Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, recently led a team that analyzed sediment from the ocean floor in Baffin Bay, Greenland. Their efforts produced the first evidence — sourced directly from ocean cores — that a comet impact could have triggered an abrupt cooling of the atmosphere during a period known as the Younger Dryas 13,000 years ago.
August 13, 2025, Susan Cutter
Ever since FEMA lost its independent status and became part of the Department of Homeland Security, it has faced complaints about delays caused by layers of bureaucracy. Take a look back at how the nation responded to disasters before the agency existed and what history reveals about FEMA effectiveness.
June 12, 2025, Kendall Deas
School voucher programs that allow families to use public funds to pay tuition to attend private schools have become increasingly popular. School vouchers have a long history in the U.S. Our Kendall Deas weighs in for The Conversation.
May 19, 2025, Thom Harman, with Matt Klopfenstein
The Graduate School recently announced and recognized its 2025 Graduate Student Award winners and Trustee Fellowship recipients, as well as the graduates from the school’s scholarly initiatives. The school held its annual Recognition of Excellence Ceremony on April 25 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
April 28, 2025, Megan Sexton
As the Class of 2025 prepares to walk across the commencement stage, graduates leave the University of South Carolina with memories of enduring friendships, newfound passions, supportive mentors and life-changing experiences.
April 22, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
The University of South Carolina College of Arts and Sciences has a new name honoring the vision and generosity of a prominent alumnus and his family. The official name, the University of South Carolina McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, was announced on Wednesday (April 23) during a ceremony on USC's Horseshoe.
April 17, 2025
Ridha Fatima, a biochemistry and molecular biology major in the Honors College, says her experiences as a service-minded leader at the University of South Carolina will inform her career as a physician and health care advocate.
April 17, 2025
Tremayne Ansani, an Honors College neuroscience major from Columbia, has dedicated his University of South Carolina career to service and leadership in the classroom, in research and in helping his fellow students and the community at large.
April 17, 2025
Reese Lycan, an Honors College student from Lexington, Kentucky, is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology with a goal of becoming a physician. But she also wants to advocate for better health care access, particularly for low-income residents of rural Appalachia.
April 17, 2025, Laura Erskine
USC’s student government has two graduating seniors who have been accepted to Harvard Law School, one of the nation’s top programs. The students credit their time in student government, along with the excellent training they received both in the classroom and beyond, with helping them reach their goals.
April 04, 2025, Communications and Marketing
April is Autism Acceptance Month. The CDC estimates that one out of every 36 eight-year-olds and one in 45 adults is affected by autism, a lifelong developmental disorder. As South Carolina’s leader in health sciences, USC has researchers across disciplines who specialize in autism.
April 01, 2025, Brandon Pugh
The Koger Center, USC School of Music professor Gail Barnes and USC School of Visual Arts and Design alumnus Wade Sellers have been named winners of the 2025 Governor’s Awards for the Arts by the South Carolina Arts Commission, recognizing exceptional practice or support of contemporary and traditional art forms.
March 27, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
It’s been a whirlwind semester for dancers and musicians at the University of South Carolina. Twenty-four Joffrey Ballet company members arrived on campus March 17 for a three-week residency culminating in an unprecedented collaborative performance April 5 at the Koger Center for the Arts. Students and faculty from USC’s Betsy Blackmon Dance Program and the USC Symphony Orchestra have joined forces with members of the Joffrey entourage to marry movement and music into a spectacular concert for the community.
March 25, 2025, Hadley McCollester
On April 10, 2025, the great American novel "The Great Gatsby" turns 100 years old. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit “'Something significant, elemental and profound’: Celebrating 100 Years of The Great Gatsby” at the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library.
March 18, 2025, Megan Sexton
For USC alumna Caroline Fermin, the decision to join the Marines at a time when only 2 percent of the officer corps were women led to a successful 25 years in the military with high-level global postings and numerous medals for meritorious service. She followed her military service with a thriving second career in public service, now as the director of Veterans Affairs for Beaufort County.
March 18, 2025, Alexis Watts
Geology students turn to Give 4 Garnet — the university's annual day of giving — to help fund their essential field camp experience.
March 06, 2025, Kristine Hartvigsen
Dance students in the University of South Carolina’s Betsy Blackmon Dance Program are spending extra time at the barre in anticipation of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they will have collaborating with the world-famous Joffrey Ballet. The company begins a three-week residency at USC on March 17 that will culminate with an unprecedented Koger Center performance on April 5.
March 03, 2025, Téa Smith
With only a few short months until summer, it’s time for parents to find summer activities for their children. USC offers a wide variety of summer camps for all ages and all interests from music to soccer, dance and engineering.
February 28, 2025, Rutvik Desai
While the quality of AI systems' output sometimes rivals work done by humans, they are also prone to confidently churning out factually incorrect information. Skeptics have also called into question their ability to reason.
January 29, 2025, Gregory Hardy
February is American Heart Month. The University of South Carolina is home to many faculty members who are available to offer their expertise in cardio care and research.
January 16, 2025, Megan Sexton
University of South Carolina alumnus and Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corporal (retired) Kyle Carpenter will be recognized during Monday’s national championship college football game.
January 15, 2025, Chris Horn
Drawing from an enormous collection of genetic material, a University of South Carolina chemistry professor is on a mission to find novel bioactive agents with potential antibiotic, anti-cancer and anti-inflammation applications.
December 16, 2024
From a national championship and record research funding to a major engineering gift and a host of academic awards, 2024 was a banner year for USC.
December 09, 2024, Rebecca Janzen
In film, religion is often a way for audiences to wrestle with ideas about gender and social change. That’s all the more true if the religion is considered conservative, or prone to stereotyping, both of which apply to Latter-day Saints. Female characters’ dilemmas are often depicted as the result of their faith – but their characterization may say more about the rest of America than the church itself.
November 14, 2024, Chris Horn
Students rarely end up later in life teaching the same undergraduate course they took in college, but that’s what Heather Dreano and Lesley Smith are doing now, thanks to an assist from their former University of South Carolina professor.
November 08, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
University of South Carolina alumnus Robert Chambers LeHeup is a Marine Corps infantry veteran with two combat tours under his belt when he left the service in 2004. In 2012, he founded Bullets and Bandaids to heal and support vets through storytelling and artwork.
November 04, 2024, Kristine Hartvigsen
Artificial Intelligence advocates might defensively suggest, in good humor, that chatbots are “only human” and therefore prone to occasional mistakes. New research by a team at the University of South Carolina Department of Psychology basically confirms that notion with some important caveats.
October 31, 2024, Hannah Cambre
At USC, where one in five students identify as first-generation, the university is doing more than ever to help this important and growing population flourish with resources and support. We sat down with five first-gen students to learn more about their stories and the people and resources that have helped them thrive at USC.
October 07, 2024, Cary Mock
Some hurricanes are remembered for their wind damage or rainfall. Others for their coastal flooding. Hurricane Helene was a stew of all of that and more. Its near-record-breaking size, storm surge, winds and rainfall together turned Helene into an almost unimaginable disaster that stretched more than 500 miles inland from the Florida coast. Geography professor Cary Mock writes about the hurricane for The Conversation.