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Events for the 2nd week of February

  • Biomedical Engineering Seminars

    Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 12:30 PM - 01:50 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Fikret Kirkbir, Ph.D, Director for Intellectual and Patents, AMI

    Talk Title: TBA

    Host: Professor Qifa Zhou

    Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Biomedical Engineering Department Guest Speaker

    Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 01:00 PM - 02:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Ben Dongsong Huh, Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

    Talk Title: Investigating the spike-based computations of the brain

    Abstract: Our brain uses temporal dynamics of neural activities to perform real-time computations: it processes time-varying streams of information and produces action sequences. How the brain coordinates the complex biophysical dynamics to form the basis for computation is a central problem in neuroscience. I apply optimal control theory to investigate how functionality of dynamical systems arises from first principles and, more specifically, to establish a unifying framework for understanding the dynamics and computations of the brain. The most prominent characteristics of biological neural networks is spikes: The brief impulse signals link individual neural dynamics and provide a unified currency for the asynchronous information processing in the brain. However, neuroscience lacks the theoretical framework for modeling how spikes represent information and perform computations in distributed network architectures. To solve this problem, I derived the first general learning algorithm for spiking neural networks from an optimal control principle, representing the first step in harnessing the computational potential of spikes. The spike-based computational principles can be extracted by analyzing how a trained network solves the computational tasks. More generally, this method allows combining the top-down deep learning approaches with the biophysical network properties to yield detailed models of neural systems that are both structurally and functionally accurate.
    This research has a wide range of engineering applications, including spike-based deep learning for neuromorphic devices, and next generation Brain-Machine-Interface and neuro-prosthetics that directly use spike signals for fine control. Most importantly, I aim to promote close collaborations between neuroscience and artificial intelligence research by providing a common theoretical framework.

    Host: Ellis Meng, PhD

    Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145/145A

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Center for Systems and Control (CSC@USC) and Ming Hsieh Institute for Electrical Engineering

    Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Douglas Smith, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

    Talk Title: AFOSR -“ Unsteady Aerodynamics and Turbulent Flows: An Introduction

    Abstract: This presentation will give a brief introduction to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Unsteady Aerodynamics and Turbulent Flows portfolio at AFOSR. The Unsteady Aerodynamics and Turbulent Flows portfolio is interested in basic research problems associated with the motion and control of laminar, transitional and turbulent flows, including the interactions of these flows with rigid and flexible surfaces. The portfolio seeks to advance fundamental understanding of complex, time-dependent flow interactions by integrating theoretical/analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches. The focus on the understanding of the fundamental flow physics is motivated by an interest in developing physically-based predictive models and innovative control concepts for these flows. Research in this portfolio is motivated by, but not limited to, applications including unique fluid-structure interactions, vortex and shear layer flows, and the enduring challenges of turbulence.

    Biography: Dr. Douglas Smith is the Program Officer for the Unsteady Aerodynamics and Turbulent Flows portfolio at AFOSR. Dr. Smith received his ScB in Engineering from Brown University in 1987 and his MA and PhD from Princeton University in 1990 and 1993, respectively. After completing his doctorate, Dr. Smith spent two and a half years as a post-doctoral researcher in Europe, first at Institut de Mecanique Statistique de la Turbulence (IMST) in Marseille, France, and then at Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. Following these two positions, Dr. Smith was a Georgia Tech post-doctoral fellow working on active flow control concepts with the Boeing Phantom Works group in St. Louis. Prior to his arrival at AFOSR, Dr. Smith was an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming.

    Host: Mihailo Jovanovic, mihailo@usc.edu

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos

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  • MASCLE Machine Learning Seminar: Dr. Harry Shum (Microsoft)

    Mon, Feb 05, 2018 @ 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

    Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Harry Shum, Microsoft

    Talk Title: TBA

    Series: MASCLE NVIDIA Distinguished Lecture Series

    Abstract: TBA

    This lecture satisfies requirements for CSCI 591: Research Colloquium. Please note, due to limited capacity in MCB 101, seats will be first come first serve.



    Biography: Harry Shum is executive vice president of Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Research group. He is responsible for driving the company's overall AI strategy and forward-looking research and development efforts spanning infrastructure, services, apps and agents. He oversees AI-focused product
    groups -” the Information Platform Group, Bing and Cortana product groups -” and the Ambient Computing and Robotics teams. He also leads Microsoft Research, one of the world's premier computer science research organizations, and its integration with the engineering teams across the company.

    Previously, Dr. Shum served as the corporate vice president responsible for Bing search product development from 2007 to 2013. He received his Ph.D. in robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2017, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering of the United States.


    Host: Yan Liu

    Location: Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience (MCB) - Michelson Center 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Computer Science Department

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  • From Flocking Birds to Swarming Bacteria: A Study of the Dynamics of Active Fluids

    Tue, Feb 06, 2018 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Xiang Cheng, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota

    Talk Title: From Flocking Birds to Swarming Bacteria: A Study of the Dynamics of Active Fluids

    Series: Center for Cyber-Physical Systems and Internet of Things

    Abstract: Active fluids are a novel class of non-equilibrium complex fluids with examples across a wide range of biological and physical systems such as flocking animals, swarming microorganisms, vibrated granular rods, and suspensions of synthetic colloidal swimmers. Different from familiar non-equilibrium systems where free energy is injected from boundaries, an active fluid is a dispersion of large numbers of self-propelled units, which convert the ambient/internal free energy and maintain non-equilibrium steady states at microscopic scales. Due to this distinct feature, active fluids exhibit fascinating and unusual behaviors unseen in conventional complex fluids. Here, by combining high-speed confocal microscopy, holographic imaging, rheological measurements and biochemical engineering, we experimentally investigate the dynamics of active fluids. In particular, we use E. coli suspensions as our model system and illustrate three unique properties of active fluids, i.e., (i) abnormal rheology, (ii) enhanced diffusion of passive tracers and (iii) emergence of collective swarming. Based on theoretical tools of fluid mechanics and statistical mechanics, we develop a quantitative understanding of these interesting behaviors. Our study illustrates the general organizing principles of active fluids that can be exploited for designing "smart" fluids with controllable fluid properties. Our results also shed new light on fundamental transport processes in microbiological systems.

    Biography: Xiang Cheng received his B.S. in physics from Peking University in China in 2002. He then moved to U.S. and obtained his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 2009. He worked as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Physics at Cornell University from 2009 to 2013. He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Cheng has received several academic awards, including NSF Career Award, Packard Fellowship, DARPA Young Faculty Award, 3M non-tenured faculty award and McKnight Land-Grant Professorship. His research group studies experimental soft materials physics, with a special focus on the emergent flow behaviors of soft materials and their associated mesoscopic structures and dynamics. Particularly, his research interests include the rheology of colloidal suspensions and granular flows, hydrodynamics of active fluids and dynamics of liquid-drop impact processes.

    Host: Professor Paul Bogdan

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Talyia White

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  • Epstein Institute Seminar, ISE 651

    Tue, Feb 06, 2018 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM

    Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Zelda B. Zabinsky, Professor, University of Washington

    Talk Title: On Beyond LP: Optimization of Complex Systems

    Host: Professor Julie Higle

    More Information: February 6, 2018.pdf

    Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 206

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Grace Owh

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  • Systems Engineering Research Center Webinar

    Wed, Feb 07, 2018 @ 08:00 AM - 09:00 PM

    Systems Architecting and Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Dr. Jan Bosch, Professor of Software Engineering, Software Center, Chalmers University of Technology

    Talk Title: Speed, Data and Ecosystems: How to Excel in a Software-Driven World?

    Series: SERC Talks

    Abstract: We are living in the most exciting time in the history of mankind. The last century has seen unprecedented improvements in the quality of the human condition and technology is at the heart of this progress. Now we are experiencing an even bigger leap as we move towards a new level of digitalization and automation. Ranging from self driving cars to factories without workers to societal infrastructure, every sensor and actuator is becoming connected and new applications that enable new opportunities are appearing daily. The fuel of this emerging connected, software-driven reality is software and the key challenge is to continuously deliver value to customers. The future of software business in this context is centered around three main developments: Speed, Data and Ecosystems. The focus on speed is concerned with the constantly increasing rate of deploying new software in the field. This continuous integration and deployment is no longer only the purview of internet companies but is also increasingly deployed in embedded systems. Second, data is concerned with the vast amounts of information collected from systems deployed in the field and the behavior of the users of these systems. Software businesses need to significantly improve their ability to exploit the value present in that data. Finally, ecosystems are concerned with the transition in many companies from doing everything inhouse to strategic use of innovation partners and partners providing commodity functionality. The keynote addresses these three main developments, provides numerous examples from the Nordic and international industry and predicts the next steps that industry and academia need to engage in to remain competitive.

    Biography: Jan Bosch is Professor of Software Engineering at Chalmers University Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is Director of the Software Center, a strategic partner funded collaboration between 11 large European companies (including Ericsson, Volvo Cars, Volvo Trucks, Saab Defense, Jeppesen (Boeing), Siemens and Bosch) and five universities focused on software engineering excellence. Earlier, he worked as Vice President Engineering Process at Intuit Inc. where he also led Intuits Open Innovation efforts and headed the central mobile technologies team. Before Intuit, he was head of the Software and Application Technologies Laboratory at Nokia Research Center, Finland. Prior to joining Nokia, he headed the software engineering research group at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He received a MS degree from the University of Twente, The Netherlands, and a PhD degree from Lund University, Sweden. His research activities include evidence-based development, software architecture, innovation experiment systems, compositional software engineering, software ecosystems, software product families and software variability management. He is the author of several books including Design and Use of Software Architectures: Adopting and Evolving a Product Line Approach, published by Pearson Education (Addison-Wesley & ACM Press) and Speed, Data and Ecosystems: Excelling in a Software-Driven World, published by Taylor and Francis, editor of several books and volumes and author of a significant number of research articles. He is editor for Journal of Systems and Software as well as Science of Computer Programming, chaired several conferences as general and program chair, served on numerous program committees and organized countless workshops.
    In the startup space, Jan is Chairman of the Board of Auqtus AB and, until recently, Fidesmo in Stockholm, Remente, in Gothenburg, Sweden. He serves on the advisory board of Assia Inc. in Redwood City, CA, Peltarion AB in Stockholm and Burt AB in Gothenburg, Sweden. Jan also runs a boutique consulting firm, Boschonian AB, that offers its clients support around the implications of digitalization including the management of R&D and innovation. For more information see his website: www.janbosch.com


    Host: Prof. Barry Boehm for the Systems Engineering Research Center

    More Info: http://www.sercuarc.org/serc-talks

    Webcast: http://www.sercuarc.org/events/serc-talks-speed-data-and-ecosystems-how-to-excel-in-a-software-driven-world/

    Location: WebEx Event Password: SERC

    WebCast Link: http://www.sercuarc.org/events/serc-talks-speed-data-and-ecosystems-how-to-excel-in-a-software-driven-world/

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: James Moore II

    Event Link: http://www.sercuarc.org/serc-talks

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  • Interview Strategies

    Wed, Feb 07, 2018 @ 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Discover tips on how to prepare for both technical and behavioral interviews

    Location: Ronald Tutor Hall of Engineering (RTH) - 211

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • Biomedical Engineering Department Guest Speaker

    Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 01:00 AM - 02:00 PM

    Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Jennifer Treweek, Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Biology and Bioengineering, Caltech

    Talk Title: Functional and anatomical mapping of neuropeptide circuitry using modern neuroscience techniques

    Abstract: Neuropeptide systems are notoriously difficult to study due to their biological complexity and the overall technical inadequacy of traditional pharmacological tools (e.g., synthetic design of receptor ligands, immunohistochemistry-based labeling). However, given the pathological relevance of neuropeptides, such as corticotropin releasing factor, to a variety of disease states, the functional and anatomical characterization of neuropeptide circuitry is crucial to our discovery of better disease therapies. The development and application of new technologies to enable such characterization is an important first step towards this goal.
    In my talk, I will summarize recent improvements to in vivo modalities for recording and perturbing neuronal activity in behaving rodents, as well as ex vivo techniques for analyzing the functional connectivity of targeted cells at the single-molecule through systems-levels. In particular, our methods for the multiplexed labeling and imaging of mRNA and peptide epitopes at depth in cleared tissue offer scientists an opportunity to visualize transcriptional changes and structural plasticity in intact circuits during the progression of disease.

    Host: Ellis Meng, PhD

    Location: Corwin D. Denney Research Center (DRB) - 145/145A

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta

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  • Abbreviation Disambiguation and NLP tools for Danish

    Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Manuel Ciosici, Aarhus University, Denmark

    Talk Title: NL Seminar-Abbreviation Disambiguation and NLP tools for Danish

    Series: Natural Language Seminar

    Abstract: This talk will cover two topics. The first part will be a brief overview of Manuel's recent project in abbreviation disambiguation. Following, Manuel will give a brief overview of how various NLP methods are used in an industrial setting in a danish company that provides text analytics services for publishers such as Springer-Nature.



    Biography: Manuel is a 3rd year PhD student at Aarhus University in Denmark. His PhD is focused on applying Data Mining and Machine Learning on large collections of unstructured text documents with the goal of extracting and representing knowledge embedded in the documents.


    Host: Nanyun Peng and Kevin Knight

    More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 6th Floor Conf Rm-CR# 689

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Peter Zamar

    Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

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  • Illinois Institute of Technology Information Session

    Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 05:20 PM - 06:20 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Career Connections

    Workshops & Infosessions


    Illinois Tech is a private, technology-focused, research institution located in Chicago offering degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law. The university also offers academic research internships to current and visiting students, providing valuable research experience applicable in academia and other careers. Come join our information session to learn more about your future studying at IIT!

    Location: Seeley G. Mudd Building (SGM) - 101

    Audiences: All Viterbi

    Contact: RTH 218 Viterbi Career Connections

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  • ASBME Mentoring Ice Cream Social

    Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 07:45 PM - 08:45 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Student Activity


    Join ASBME's Mentoring Program for an ice cream social at Baked Bear on Thursday, February 8th at 7:45pm. Feel free to stop by, eat some ice cream, and socialize with mentors and mentees!

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering

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  • ASBME Mentoring Ice Cream Social

    Thu, Feb 08, 2018 @ 07:45 PM - 09:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Student Organizations

    Student Activity


    Join ASBME's Mentoring Program for an ice cream social at Baked Bear on Thursday, February 8th at 7:45pm. Feel free to stop by, eat some ice cream, and socialize with mentors and mentees!

    Location: Baked Bear

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering

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  • W.V.T. RUSCH ENGINEERING HONORS COLLOQUIUM

    Fri, Feb 09, 2018 @ 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM

    USC Viterbi School of Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Prof. Marina Agranov, Caltech Division of Humanities and Social Sciences

    Talk Title: Negotiations and Group Decisions: Passing Bills With Backroom Deals

    Host: Dr. Prata & EHP

    Location: Henry Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Su Stevens

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  • NL Seminar-Contextual Bandits in a Collaborative Environment

    Fri, Feb 09, 2018 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Information Sciences Institute

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Hongning Wang , University of Virginia

    Talk Title: Contextual Bandits in a Collaborative Environment

    Series: Natural Language Seminar

    Abstract: Contextual bandit algorithms provide principled online learning solutions to find optimal trade offs between exploration and exploitation with companion side-information. They have been extensively used in various important practical scenarios, such as display advertising and content recommendation. A common practice estimates the unknown bandit parameters pertaining to each user independently. This unfortunately ignores dependency among users and thus leads to suboptimal solutions, especially for the applications that have strong social components.

    In this talk, I will introduce our newly developed collaborative contextual bandit algorithm, in which the adjacency graph of users is leveraged to share context and payoffs among neighboring users during online updating. We rigorously prove an improved upper regret bound of the proposed collaborative bandit algorithm comparing to conventional independent bandit algorithms. More importantly, we also prove that user dependency relation is only needed to be time-invariant, such that a sublinear upper regret bound is still achievable in such an algorithm. This enables online user dependency estimation. Extensive experiments on both synthetic and three large scale real world datasets verified the improvement of our proposed algorithm against several state-of-the-art contextual bandit algorithms. In addition, I will also cover our recent progress in online matrix factorization, optimizing user long- term engagement, and bandit learning in a non-stationary environment.



    Biography: Dr. Hongning Wang is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. degree in computer science at the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana in 2014. His research generally lies in the intersection among machine learning, data mining and information retrieval, with a special focus on computational user intent modeling. His work has generated over 40 research papers in top venues in data mining and information retrieval areas. He is a recipient of 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Award and 2014 Yahoo Academic Career Enhancement Award.

    Host: Nanyun Peng and Kevin Knight

    More Info: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

    Location: Information Science Institute (ISI) - 11th Flr Conf Rm # 1135, Marina Del Rey

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Peter Zamar

    Event Link: http://nlg.isi.edu/nl-seminar/

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  • Astani CEE Ph.D. Seminar

    Fri, Feb 09, 2018 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

    Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Ruda Zhang, Civil Engineering PhD. Student

    Talk Title: An Engineering-Economics-Law Framework of Transportation

    Abstract:
    Analyzing social systems such as cities requires a different set of formal methods than those used for physical systems. With a personal goal to eliminate traffic congestion, I propose an analytical framework that integrates engineering, economics, and law. The framework traces up to the root cause of congestion inefficient transportation institutions and seeks a solution that endures under behavior changes of the society.

    To demonstrate this framework, my PhD research studied taxi transportation. I obtained all the 868 million trip records of New York City taxis between 2009 and 2013 generated by in vehicle TPEP systems, which integrate GPS receiver, cellular modem, and smart card reader with the taximeter. With these records, I built models of taxi operations to estimate taxi supply and demand the outcome of traffic equilibrium proved and validated driver supply decisions the equilibrium strategy, and studied the effect of property rights regulation on taxi operation the efficiency of current institutions.



    Location: Ray R. Irani Hall (RRI) - 101

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Evangeline Reyes

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  • Viterbi PressFriends Symposium

    Sat, Feb 10, 2018 @ 08:30 AM - 05:00 PM

    Viterbi School of Engineering Doctoral Programs

    Receptions & Special Events


    On Saturday, February 10, 2018, the Viterbi School of Engineering and USC PressFriends Club will host our 2nd annual symposium for elementary school students, and we need your help!

    We are looking for Viterbi doctoral students interested in presenting their research. Each speaker will present the same PowerPoint presentation four times. The presentations are for 4th-6th graders, and should be 10-15 minutes long, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A. Students will take notes during the presentation and will write an article on the subject of their choice. The completed articles will then be published in USC Kids News.

    If you are interested in presenting, please complete the form at https://viterbigrad.usc.edu/viterbi-school-of-engineering-and-usc-pressfriends-club-symposium/ as soon as possible but no later than January 16, 2018.

    Your submission will be reviewed and you will be contacted in late-January regarding the status.

    Questions may be directed to Jennifer Gerson, Director, Doctoral Programs, at jgerson@usc.edu.

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Jennifer Gerson

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