MEMORANDUM
To: USC Faculty
From: Sandeep Gupta, Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs
Please join me in congratulating our newly appointed faculty fellows and graduate scholars in the USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities.
The Society of Fellows in the Humanities was established by the Provost’s Office in 2016 as an interdisciplinary community of scholars that supports advanced research and intellectual exchange in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. It is housed in the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and supported by the Office of the Provost. The Society of Fellows in the Humanities contributes to the vibrancy of humanities research and training and fosters intellectual community across the university.
For more information on the USC Society of Fellows, please visit https://sofh.usc.edu/.
Starting in Fall 2025, the Society transitioned to a research topic model and began including graduate scholars supported by the Levan Institute for the Humanities. The research topic for 2025–2027 is “Sites of Inquiry.” The new members will be joining the “Sites of Inquiry” research group for its second year.
I extend congratulations to the new members of the Society:
Faculty Fellows
- Jake Monaghan, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Territory Without Turf: Urban Governance and the Politics of Place - Mlondolozi Zondi, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The Loss of Loss: On Immaterial Archives and Repatriation
Levan Graduate Scholars
- Sayo Sakamoto, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Songs of Nostalgia: Imagined Times and Places in Japanese Popular Music - Monica Mitri, Religion, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
A Tale of Four Brothers: Awlād al-ʿAssāl and the Copto-Arabic Golden Age
I want to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate scholars:
- Andrea Ballestero, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Daniela Bleichmar, Professor of Art History and History, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Nancy Lutkehaus, Professor of Anthropology and Political Science, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Maya Maskarinec, Professor of History and Classics, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Lori Meeks, Associate Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages and Cultures, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Karen Tongson, Barbra Streisand Professor of Contemporary Gender Studies and Professor of English, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and American Studies and Ethnicity, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Aro Velmet, Associate Professor of History, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Lisa Cooper Vest, Associate Professor of Musicology, Thornton School of Music
- David Helps, History, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Kangni Huang, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Alyssa James, Anthropology, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Alana Mailes, Musicology, Thornton School of Music
- Jasmine Moore-Strickland, English, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Ana Iwataki, Comparative Literature, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Nisarg Patel, Comparative Literature, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- I also want to take this opportunity to thank Daniela Bleichmar, who directed the Society from 2020–2023 and 2024–2026, and Maya Maskarinec, who served as interim director during Spring 2026. Starting in Fall 2026, Joan Flores-Villalobos will step in as the new director.
cc: Academic Deans
Provost’s Leadership Team
Academic Senate