USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

University of Southern California

Archive

Archive

God’s Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants

Watch a discussion about the power of faith to drive resistance to anti-immigration policies in the United States. This event was hosted by the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture on …

Father Greg Boyle: A Modern-Day Mystic — The Priest Behind Homeboy Industries

This article was originally published on Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality.  The founder of the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and prison reentry program in the world is a …

A Year of Crisis and Opportunity: 2024 Trends in Religion and Society

In CRCC’s annual trends post last year, we wrote about surviving, if not thriving. We write this year’s trends with a special place in our hearts for CRCC’s senior editor Nick Street, …

Black woman in glasses and long dreads stands in front of a green trees and a pond.

Konda Mason: Growing rice in Louisiana is a path to justice for Black farmers

This article was originally published on The Christian Science Monitor, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality.  It’s past daybreak on a muggy July morning when Konda Mason reaches the farm, a …

Donald Miller at a podium with sign saying

Donald E. Miller Retires from the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture celebrates the long and productive career of its co-founder Donald E. Miller upon his retirement from the center. The Leonard K. Firestone Professor of …

Sarah Zouak: Leading a Laboratory of Muslim Feminism in France

When Sarah Zouak was a graduate student in France, an adviser told her that the phrase “Muslim feminist” was a contradiction in terms. Zouak had proposed a thesis on the topic when …

CRCC Launches Compelling Preaching Initiative

The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture is launching a new project that seeks to help faith leaders think about their preaching in an ever-changing social and cultural landscape.  With support …

Environmental Justice and Spiritual Exemplars

This story map is best viewed on the Arcgis website on a computer.

Monica Francisco holds her fist up in the middle of a streat, surrounded by other Black Brazilian women.

The Radical Resistance and Radical Acceptance of Spiritual Exemplars

How spiritual exemplars work to create a world befitting of our inherent nobility A key question we are asked by consumers of our research on “spiritual exemplars” is about the qualities of …

Sister Networks Building Hope at the US/Mexico Border

Catholic sisters are working together across congregations and across the US/Mexico border to better serve people in need of housing, food, health care and immigration services. This video highlights the work of …

Women of Integrity: Celebrating 175 Years of the Immaculate Heart Community

On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the exhibition “Women of Integrity: Celebrating 175 Years of the Immaculate Heart Community” opened in USC’s Doheny Memorial Library. It tells the remarkable story of the Immaculate …

“Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action” Exhibit Panel at USC Annenberg

A global team of journalists and researchers at the University of Southern California produced more than 100 stories about people dedicated to working for positive social changes as part of the Center …

Parveena Ahanger: A Grieving Mother’s Fight for the Disappeared of Kashmir

Parveena Ahanger, a well-known Kashmiri activist, exuded her characteristic warmth as she sat cross-legged in the kitchen on a freezing January afternoon in Srinagar, the region’s largest city. The warmest corner of …

Boy with volunteer shirt writes while standing in a window cut from plywood, painted rainbow colors

The Complex Relationship Between Religion and Humanitarianism

The hero image of religious saints involved in humanitarian work warrants examination. I have come to this conclusion in the process of leading a global project on “spiritual exemplars” at USC’s Center …

William James

Spiritual Exemplars: The Pragmatism and Mystical Perspective of William James

William James was the inspiration for our project on “spiritual exemplars” at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. James, a philosopher and psychologist, believed that one learns more from what …

Spotlight shines on spiritually engaged humanitarians in ‘Stories of Social Change’ exhibit

This story was originally published by USC News. After being immersed in the material for five years, Megan Sweas didn’t need a script as she led small groups on tours of the …

The Moral Power of Stories: How Exemplars Help Us Find Meaning and Purpose

What has more emotional salience, an abstract moral principle such as love or justice or a good story of someone whose life commitments exemplify these values? Shortly after I finished my Ph.D. …

Spiritual Exemplars Around the World

The spiritual exemplars map brings together 104 stories of people working to advance human flourishing in different parts of the world. Each point on the map represents one of the humanitarians featured …

Unveiling the Heart of 100 Humanitarians

The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture worked with dozens of journalists to profile more than 100 individuals whose spiritual beliefs and practices fuel their humanitarian work. Journalists share their experience …

We Need Heroes: Countering Cultural Despair with an Exhibit of Exemplars

There is a great boom in psychotherapy these days. Especially among a younger generation, people are lonely, anxious about the environment, insecure financially—fearful they will not achieve the same standard as their …