Innovation and Discovery
COVID-19 may have made 2020 an untraditional academic year, but it brought out the best in many of our faculty, staff and students. Educators switched to remote teaching and came up with ways to keep students engaged and curious online. Staff provided vital resources to keep the university’s mission going, whether digitally or through in-person support. And students created new events and mentoring opportunities to keep connecting. See just a few of their successes below.
When physics students couldn’t go to class, this professor mailed class to them
Longtime educator Jack Feinberg came up with fun kits to ship to students so they could still do physics experiments at home. It’s in his nature.
How can we fix democracy? USC students embrace expert advice from around the country
When his USC Dornsife class on political reform had to move online, Christian Grose arranged for exclusive guest speakers, including Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Expect more virtual house calls from your doctor thanks to telehealth revolution
A slow march toward online doctor visits and other digital innovations in health care turned into an all-out sprint amid COVID-19.
Virtual mentors bring the campus experience to remote first-year students
When classes moved online, the USC students set to be RAs were left wondering: Who do you assist when there aren’t any residents? Enter the virtual peer mentors.
USC collaborates with L.A. city and county to explore use of rapid COVID-19 testing
Researchers are using rapid antigen tests with first responders who volunteered for the study. A second phase will focus on school-aged children, teachers and staff.
USC film students shake off Zoom fatigue by animating themselves
Classmates in the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ animation division collaborate to make visual magic on the commonly used video meeting platform.
USC professor’s DIY online teaching hack to engage students goes viral
Emily Nix wants to excite and captivate the students in her economics course this fall. With less than $60 in materials, here’s what she cooked up.
The four-legged robot that can crawl, clean and fight COVID
A team of USC master’s students creates a disinfection robot to use on COVID-19 prevention.
Largest, most diverse prostate cancer study in history shows genetic role in health disparities
The research — co-led by the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center — identified 86 new genetic variations that increase the risk of prostate cancer.