IDEAS IN ACTION | USC's Podcast Series University of Southern California

Since 9/11, Muslims have occupied the U.S. public and political spheres as threats to national security, as victims of hate crimes, as targets of torture and war, and as a community to be included in diversity initiatives. This insightful panel will explore Muslim inclusion and representation in a variety of contexts, including education, politics, and the entertainment industry.
Shafiqa Ahmadi is an associate professor of Clinical Education at the Rossier School of Education and the co-director for USC’s Center for Education, Identity, and Social Justice. She is an expert on diversity and legal protection of underrepresented students, including female Muslims, and is the co-editor of Islamophobia in Higher Education: Combating Discrimination and Creating Understanding. Maytha Alhassen holds a PhD in American Studies and Ethnicity from USC. She is the writer of the report, Haqq and Hollywood: Illuminating 100 Years of Muslim Tropes and How to Transform Them, and producer and writer of the Golden Globe and Peabody­–winning Hulu series Ramy. Evelyn Alsultany is the author of Broken: The Failed Promise of Muslim Inclusion and Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race and Representation after 9/11. She is an associate professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, has served as a consultant for Hollywood studios, and co-authored the Obeidi-Alsultany Test with criteria to help Hollywood improve representations of Muslims. Hajar Yazdiha is an assistant professor of Sociology, faculty affiliate of the Equity Research Institute, and a 2022–23 Ford Foundation Fellow at the USC Dornsife School of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. She is an expert on the racial politics of inclusion and exclusion and is the author of The Struggle for the People’s King: How Politics Transforms the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement. Moderator: Varun Soni is the Dean of Religious Life at USC, University Fellow at USC Annenberg’s Center on Public Diplomacy, and an adjunct professor at the USC School of Religion. His writings have appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Crosscurrents, Jewish Journal, and Harvard Divinity Bulletin.

In light of the growing divisions among Americans, this panel will address the intersection of culture and politics in society, how we can better understand divisiveness, and find common ground.
Geoffrey Cowan is an award-winning writer, television producer, and University Professor and Annenberg Family Chair in Communication Leadership at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He is the author of several books, including Let the People Rule: Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of the Presidential Primary, See No Evil: The Backstage Battle Over Sex and Violence on Television, and The People v. Clarence Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America’s Greatest Lawyer. Elizabeth Currid-Halkett is the James Irvine Chair in Urban and Regional Planning and professor of Public Policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy, whose research focuses on arts and culture, the American consumer economy, and the role of cultural capital in geographic and class divides. She is the author of several books, including The Sum of Small Things: A Theory of the Aspirational Class and The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What It Means for Our Country (forthcoming). Jeffery Jenkins is the Provost Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law, Maria B. Crutcher Professor of Citizenship and Democratic Values, and director of the Political Institutions and Political Economy (PIPE) Collaborative at USC. His book, Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968, shows how the GOP evolved from a biracial party into one dominated by whites, with lessons that inform today’s politics. Moderator: Robert Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. A legendary political strategist, he was once described as “the most sought-after consultant in the Democratic Party,” by The Atlantic Monthly. 

Comedy can be seen and experienced in many forms—onstage, on screens, and even in hospitals. Like laughter, its effects are contagious and its power spills over onto all of us. This panel of experts, comedians, and expert comedians will talk about the history of comedy and its potential to create change.
Wayne Federman is a stand-up comic, actor, author, comedy writer, professor, and Emmy-winning producer. He has appeared multiple times on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and has his own stand-up special on Comedy Central. He is the author of the bestselling book, The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle, and teaches the history of stand-up comedy at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Lanita Jacobs (joining remotely) is an associate professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and Anthropology at USC. Her fieldwork across sites of hair care, hospitals, and humor, asks how speakers construct a sense of themselves as individuals and community members without forgetting the socio-political stakes animating their lives. She is the author of To Be Real: Truth and Racial Authenticity in African American Standup Comedy. Kristina Wong is a performance artist, comedian, writer, and elected representative in Koreatown Los Angeles. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she founded the Auntie Sewing Squad, a national network of volunteers sewing masks for vulnerable communities. Their work inspired the book, The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice. Wong’s show, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, is a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama and winner of the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Solo Performance. Moderator: Zachary Steel is an assistant professor of Theatre Practice and director of Comedy at USC. He has taught at the Clown School, is currently teaching at the Idiot Workshop, and is director of USC Comic+Care, a program that utilizes the practice of various comedy disciplines to strengthen community and support the healing process. USC Comic+Care has partnered with LAC+USC, CHLA, Norris Cancer Center, The Children’s Bureau, and other healthcare organizations.

California, the nation’s leader in clean energy and climate policies, has set an ambitious goal to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2045. But what will it take? How might the policies affect the availability, reliability, and price of power consumption? This panel will address the political, technological, economic, as well as human and societal factors that play into our energy system and explore what must do to achieve our energy goals.
Moderator: Genevieve Giuliano is a Distinguished Professor and the Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. She is the former director of the USC METRANS Transportation Consortium and, at the state level, she is working with Caltrans and CARB on the implementation of the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan. Najmedin Meshkati is a professor of Civil/Environmental Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering, and International Relations at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. For the past 35 years, he has been teaching and conducting research on risk reduction and reliability enhancement of complex technological systems, including nuclear power. Gale Sinatra is the author of Science Denial: Why It Happens and What to Do About It. She is a professor of Psychology and the Stephen H. Crocker Professor of Education at the USC Rossier School of Education. Her areas of expertise include climate science education and the public understanding of science.

Increasing rents and home prices, gentrification, and historic inequities have contributed to a major housing crisis in Los Angeles. Yet, L.A. has a rich residential legacy that includes innovative housing design, successful housing developments, and leadership in historical preservation. Panelists will draw upon their interrelated recent books on housing, architecture, and preservation to offer compelling approaches to help address L.A.’s housing crisis.
Frances Anderton covers Los Angeles design and architecture in print, broadcast media, and public events. She is the author of Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles and co-producer of the short film, 40 Years of Building Community. For many years, Anderton hosted the radio show, DnA: Design and Architecture, on KCRW. She is adjunct faculty at the USC School of Architecture. Ken Bernstein is a Principal City Planner for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning where he directs L.A.’s historic preservation policies. He serves as lead staff member for the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission and oversaw the completion of SurveyLA, a multi-year citywide survey of historical resources. He is adjunct faculty at the USC Price School of Public Policy and the author of Preserving Los Angeles: How Historic Places Can Transform America’s Cities. Liz Falletta is a professor of Architectural and Urban Design, Vice Chair of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, and faculty director of the Executive Master of Urban Planning at the USC Price School of Public Policy. She is the author of By Right, By Design: Housing Development vs. Housing Design in Los Angeles, an interdisciplinary study of significant Los Angeles housing design precedents and developments that offers insights for future housing production in L.A. and beyond. Moderator: Todd Gish is an urban designer, licensed architect, and adjunct professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy. He is a published author on planning and architectural subjects (especially housing) and trained historian with extensive expertise in the research and analysis of buildings, sites, land uses, and urban environments.

Academics, artists, and authors will have a wide-ranging conversation exploring gender, sexuality, queerness, and the body in art, culture, fashion, and society. Topics will include, but not be limited to, an inside look at being a professional dominatrix, queer performance art and theory, and fabulousness as resistance.
Chris Belcher is a writer, professor, book coach, and assistant professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies and Writing at USC. Under her working name, Natalie West, she edited the acclaimed anthology We Too: Essays on Sex Work and Survival. Her debut memoir, Pretty Baby, is a searing, darkly funny account of being a lesbian and professional dominatrix with male clients that upends ideas about desire, class, and power. Amelia Jones is Robert A. Day Professor and Vice Dean of Faculty and Research at the USC Roski School of Art & Design and curator and scholar of contemporary art, performance, and feminist/sexuality studies. Jones’s most recent book, Between Subjects: A Critical Genealogy of Queer Performance, explores the history of performance art and queer theory since the 1950s from a queer feminist point of view. madison moore is an artist-scholar, DJ, and assistant professor of Critical Studies at the USC Roski School of Art & Design who is broadly invested in the aesthetic, sonic, and spatial strategies queer and trans people of color use to survive and thrive. madison’s first book, Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric, offers a cultural analysis of fabulousness as a practice of resistance. madison has performed internationally at a range of nightclubs, parties, and art institutions. Moderator: Karen Tongson is Chair and professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, as well as professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, where she also directs the Mellon-funded Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race and Public Culture. Her books include Why Karen Carpenter Matters and Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries.