USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

University of Southern California

Archive

Archive

Stones that Have Weathered Many Storms: A Reporter’s Notebook from a Human Rights Defender’s Place of Solace

In the rugged landscape of the Kotayk Province of Armenia, Geghard Monastery rises from an amphitheater of steep cliffs like a revelation. Even the long trek to the monastery complex, surrounded by …

Lara Aharonian: Advocating for Armenia’s Vulnerable Women

This article was originally published by Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality.  YEREVAN, Armenia (RNS) — Home for Lara Aharonian is this capital city whose architecture …

RNS: Gajaweera on Buddhism and Sri Lanka’s Recent Protest Movement

Protests that led to Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resignation have raised questions about the role of Buddhism in the country’s politics. Religion News Service interviewed CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera about the Buddhist …

Sister Agatha Chikelue: Committed to Building Peace in Nigeria

This article was originally published by Global Sisters Report, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality.  When she was an infant, Agatha Chikelue became gravely ill. Her parents took her to …

Tom Catena: Choosing Joy Over Happiness

This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. GIDEL, Sudan — The media is filled with articles on how to achieve happiness, including in …

Sri Lanka’s Dual Crisis: Ethnic Conflict & the Debt Economy

This article was originally published by Jamhoor. “Except for the home crowd cheering for our national team at an international cricket match, it was the first time I was seeing Sri Lankans …

Media on the 30 Years after LA’s 1992 Civil Unrest

As the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture reflected on the 1992 Civil Unrest, the words and efforts of the Rev. Dr. Cecil Murray following the unrest continued to be highlighted …

Communality: A Possible Solution to Environmental Protection

“An individual does not exist,” Jaime Martínez Luna, a Zapotec intellectual (pictured in yellow jacket), told me as we shared coffee in his kitchen in the small mountain village of San Pablo …

Thirty Years Later: Remembering LA’s 1992 Civil Unrest and Reimagining Social Action

Like the tectonic fault lines that can suddenly release pent-up geological pressures, shaking the literal bedrock of Southern California, the cultural fault lines between groups with unequal political and economic power periodically …

Why Activism Thrives in L.A.’s Black Churches

This article was originally published by Trojan Family Magazine. by Eric Lindberg; Photos by Gus Ruelas Many members of the Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard’s church near downtown Los Angeles struggled for food during the …

Student Reflection: Researching Healing Justice with Dignity and Power Now

By Addison Baker Addison Baker is an undergraduate student at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Addison spent time researching the Black Lives Matter movement, along with healing modalities and …

Carmen Santiago Alonso: In Oaxaca, Indigenous Farmers Mourn Catholic Activist

This article was originally published by Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. OAXACA, Mexico (RNS) — At Carmen Santiago Alonso’s funeral on Feb. 7, the …

CBS2 and Spectrum News 1: Najuma Smith-Pollard on Martin Luther King Day Jr.

CRCC’s Najuma Smith-Pollard was featured on CBS2 and Spectrum News 1’s “In Focus SoCal” to talk about how Los Angeles communities are continuing the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking …

Neris Gonzalez: ‘My Dreams Will Never Be the Same’

This story was originally published by Harvard Divinity Bulletin, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. NERIS GONZALEZ WAS WATCHING the news when the grainy video of George Floyd appeared. She sat …

In Orthodox Georgia, Women Are Pioneering Tourism To A Muslim Valley Hit Hard By War

This story was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. PANKISI, Georgia— Off the beaten path and between the thickly forested Caucacus mountains bordering Russia …

Sister Dianna Ortiz: A Tribute to a Survivor of Torture Who Became a Voice for Victims

This radio documentary was originally published by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast …

Rosalina Tuyuc Velasquez: Calling on Ancient Maya Wisdom to Heal Guatemalan Widows

This radio documentary was originally published by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Listen to it at KALW.org. To hear this and other profiles, subscribe …

Alissa Wahid: A Legacy of Transformation in Indonesia

This article was originally published by the KAICIID Dialogue Centre, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Inheriting a father’s legacy is never easy — especially when that father …

The Intersection of Gender, Nationalism and Faith-based Giving in Sri Lanka

On September 9 2021, the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (JLI) held a webinar where CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera presented her paper on the Intersection of gender, nationalism, and faith-based giving …

Noe Kasali: A Mental Health Counselor In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo Creates New Rituals For Grief

This radio documentary was originally produced by KALW’s The Spiritual Edge, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality.  To hear this and other profiles, subscribe to The Spiritual Edge podcast …