Events

What does democracy look like from below? This talk will look at how ordinary lives are reshaped by surveillance, majoritarianism, and corporate-political nexus in South Asia. Exploring media influence, gendered surveillance, majoritarian and casteist politics, the struggles of urban poor workers and the slow erosion of democratic rights in contemporary South Asia through Neha Dixit’s The Many Lives of Syeda X, this talk explores how journalism can recover erased histories, expose routine violence, and hold power to account.

The Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy will host USC Associate Professor Mike Annany to explore how generative AI is often discussed as a vague, abstract concept rather than a set of concrete systems with real-world consequences. Drawing on his research in media, technology, and public life, Ananny examines how this framing shapes public understanding, limits accountability, and influences how societies respond to emerging technologies. The talk invites audiences to think more critically about what generative AI is, how it operates, and why treating it as a public problem is essential for addressing its broader social and political impacts.

This lecture delves into the enduring struggle for democracy in the United States, challenging the notion that democratic backsliding began with the 2024 presidential election. Instead, it traces the deeper historical and structural forces that have long shaped—and strained—American democratic institutions.

Amanda Bankston, Director of the Evans Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) and Julia Karon, Ph.D. Student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington, "EPIC Reflections: Three Cases of Community-Engaged Research for Public Impact”

This talk will describe empirical cases.