Principal Investigators
Henry Jenkins
Henry is the Provost’s Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, and Education. He studies participatory cultures and the impact of new media on civic engagement, particularly for youth. Professor Jenkins has experience leading numerous research initiatives around these topics, such as the MacArthur Digital Media & Learning Hub, the USC New Media Literacies project, and the USC Civic Paths research team.
Mike Ananny
Mike is an Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He researches technological systems and news production and the right to hear in civic discourse. He is also a Faculty Associate with Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and an advisor for the Civic Paths research group at USC.
Holly Willis
Holly is a Research Assistant Professor of Cinematic Arts and the Director of Academic Programs at the Institute for Multimedia Literacy at USC, as well as the Director of USC’s Media Arts & Practice Program. Her research centers on the intersection of media art, graphic design, and rhetoric, and she looks at how ideas and formal strategies from each might inform contemporary scholarly practices. Holly is also keenly focused on pedagogy, and she teaches, organizes workshops on, and oversees academic programs designed to introduce new media literacy skills across USC’s campus and curriculum, skills which are crucial to civic media production for youth.
Participating Faculty
Francois Bar
Francois is an Associate Professor of Communication in the Annenberg School. He is currently involved in a variety of new-media and action-research projects, including neighborhood food mapping for the Lab on the Social Frontier, which focuses on diversity, civic engagement and innovation. He also leads the collective intelligence team in the Annenberg Innovation Lab, whose primary research project examines the role of Twitter in the U.S. Presidential debates.
Nina Eliasoph
Nina Eliasoph is an Associate Professor of Sociology. Her research has focused on political theory, volunteers, non-governmental organizations and the nonprofit sector and U.S. politics and political culture. She is currently working to define and explore the concept of civic action.
Jane Junn
Jane is a Professor of Political Science and an expert on voting behavior. She has written extensively on civic education and race and politics, examining topics from public opinion on immigration to Asian American political participation. She has also published widely on women and politics as well as the role of intersectionality in the political process.
Paul Lichterman
Paul is a Professor of Sociology and Religion. He specializes in studying politics, culture, religion, civic organizations, and social movements using ethnographic and mixed methods. Professor Lichterman is working with Professor Nina Eliasoph on the concept of civic action.
Michael Parks
Michael is a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He is an award-winning journalist and educator and former editor of the Los Angeles Times. At USC, he guided the creation of an innovative core curriculum that trains students to report stories for print, broadcast, and new media. He has also advised in the development of training programs for mid-career journalists such as the Online Journalism Program and the Institute for Justice and Journalism.
Gisele Ragusa
Gisele is a Research Associate Professor of Education. She is also the Director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, as well as Director of Teacher, K-12 & Community Education at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Professor Ragusa is sometimes involved in “citizen science” work that, through crowd-sourcing and other means, engages non-specialists in gathering and analyzing data. At its core, citizen science is rich in public and civic value.
Dan Schnur
Dan is the Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, where he encourages students to become active in politics and works with public officials to become more involved in campus activities. Dan is also Adjunct Instructor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and had a long career as a leading political and media strategist before coming to USC, working on both gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.
Gordon Stables
Gordon is a Clinical Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism and the Director of Debate & Forensics for USC’s nationally-recognized Trojan Debate Squad. His research and commitment to understanding the role universities can play in refashioning debate across society using digital technologies led to the creation of The Annenberg Digital Debate Initiative.
Veronica Terriquez
Veronica is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. She is currently researching school-based civic participation among Latino immigrants and other racially diverse parents in Los Angeles county. Professor Terriquez is also the principal investigator of the California Young Adult Study (CYAS) on youth access to postsecondary education, employment, and civic engagement opportunities.
Participating Students
Sam Close
Raffi Sarkissian
