Culture & Community

SCA Culture & Community Mission Statement
The USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) recognizes, values and celebrates the diversity of our community of students, staff and faculty. SCA is committed to equity by providing our community with resources to achieve academic, personal and professional success.

What are the pillars of our community?

  • ACCESS 

    Ensure equitable access to the resources to achieve academic, personal and professional success.

  • ACCOUNTABILITY

    Be transparent, take responsibility for what needs to change, and make a plan to act upon it.

  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

    Recognize the hierarchical and oppressive histories of media industries and academia, and the need to shift industry paradigm to be more collaborative and inclusive.

  • BELONGING

    Cultivate a feeling of being part of the community (academic, social, and physical/spatial).

  • ENGAGEMENT

    Inspire critical and constructive dialogue about differences that enhance our creative and scholarly work. Encourage participation and a willingness to learn, evolve and change our community together.

  • EMPOWERMENT

    Promote equity and equip community members with the skills to advocate for themselves and for others.

  • LEADERSHIP

    Lead media industries and academia toward the imagining of a new status quo that prioritizes equity and inclusion as guiding principles.

What are we doing to act on this commitment?

  • Maintain the SCA Community Impact Council to specifically address concerns within our community.
  • Create opportunities for connection and community
  • Create opportunities for mentorship
  • Create opportunities for community unlearning and relearning
  • Establish new standards across the SCA curriculum
  • Increase institutional communication and transparency
  • Center impactful community events
  • Enable confidential feedback and reporting (SCA Feedback Forum: https://scacommunity.usc.edu/secure/feedback ) 
  • Expand funding opportunities for students

If you would like to provide feedback on ways to improve our efforts, please let us know by using the SCA Feedback Forum (https://scacommunity.usc.edu/secure/feedback).

Division Liaisons

Each division within the School of Cinematic Arts designates a Liaison to represent the interest of students concerning issues of culture and communty. We encourage students to contact their division representative to report a problem or talk about any issues relating to culture and community within the SCA community.

Evan Hughes
Assistant Dean of Community & Culture
Chair, SCA Community Impact Council
Media Arts + Practice
ehughes@cinema.usc.edu

Sheila Sofian
Expanded Animation and Digital Arts
ssofian@cinema.usc.edu

Ryan Turf
Cinema & Media Studies
rturf@cinema.usc.edu

Beverly Neufelds
Writing for Screen & Television
bneufeld@usc.edu

DJ Johnson
Media Arts + Practice
djohnson@cinema.usc.edu

Bailey Cool
Peter Stark Producing Program
bcool@cinema.usc.edu

Desa Philadelphia
Director of SCA First Gen
USC Communications
dphiladelphia@cinema.usc.edu

Rachel Levine
Animation and Digital Arts
rlevine@cinema.usc.edu

Community & Engagement

SCA Shines Spotlight on Student Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity Awards
In Motion Article

Read Article

Director of box office hits such as Think Like a Man, Ride Along, Barber Shop, and Fantastic Four sat down with SCA students for a Q&A.

Tim Story
Our Voices

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Student Stories

Queer Cut

Queer Cut

Read Story
Georgina Chiou

Georgina Chiou

Read Story
IME Becas announcement

IME Becas announcement

Read Story

No upcoming events at this time.

Student Organizations

SCA Organizations
Asian American Cinema Association (asianamericancinemaassociation@gmail.com)
African American Cinema Society (asianamericancinemaassociation@gmail.com)
Latinx Film & Media Association (LatiFam) (latifamdeusc@gmail.com)
Women of Cinematic Arts (uscwca@gmail.com)
Queer Students of Cinematic Arts (QSCA) (qsa@usc.edu)

USC Organizations
Afghan Student Association (usc.afgsa@gmail.com)
Armenian Students Association (asa@usc.edu)
Asian Pacific American Student Assembly (uscapasa@gmail.com)
Asian Pacific Graduate Student Association (apgsa@usc.edu)
Association of Indian Students (india@aisusc.org)
Association of Indonesian Students (indonesian.trojan@gmail.com)
Black Graduate Student Network (trojanbgsn@gmail.com)
Black Student Assembly at USC (bsausc@usc.edu)
Brazilian Student Association (brasa@usc.edu)
Burmese Students' Association (bursa@usc.edu)
Chinese Graduate Student Association (usc.cgsa@gmail.com)
Chinese Student Association (usccsaofficial@gmail.com)
International Student Assembly (isa@usc.edu)
International Students Latin America (latinos.usc@gmail.com)
Iranian Graduate Student Association (igsa@usc.edu)
Japanese Student Association (jsaofusc@gmail.com)
Korean American Student Association (kasausc@gmail.com)
Latino Graduate Student Association (latinotrojan@gmail.com)
Latina/o Student Assembly (lsausc@usc.edu)
Pacific Islander Student Association (pisausc@gmail.com)
Taiwanese American Organization (usctao@usc.edu)
Turkish Student Association (uscturkish@gmail.com)
Vietnamese Student Association (vsa@usc.edu)
Multicultural Greek Council (uscmgcpresident@gmail.com)

Contact Information
impact@cinema.usc.edu