USC Annenberg

The opportunity

Universities and community-based creative organizations bring different perspectives and networks to education. Connecting the two creates opportunities for students to learn beyond the traditional campus while bringing higher education closer to the communities and creative industries surrounding it.

The Music to the Ears approach

• Create opportunities for USC students to engage with off-campus creative learning
• Connect communication and journalism with music, arts, technology, media, and culture
• Develop a collaboration between Music to the Ears, Academix, and USC Annenberg's Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg (IDEA)
• Position the BEAT Lab as a satellite environment for university workshops and classes

The experience

More than 30 USC Annenberg students visited the Downtown LA space to explore the intersection of music, arts, technology, media, and culture. The experience became the starting point for a planned collaboration between IDEA at Annenberg, Music to the Ears, and Academix, with the Downtown LA facility envisioned as an off-campus location for USC-related classes, workshops, meetings, and cultural programming beginning in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Those expansion plans were ultimately interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The impact

• More than 30 USC Annenberg students engaged in the initial experience
• A new connection between higher education and community-based creative learning
• Music, media, arts, tech, and culture connected through interdisciplinary programming
• Our BEAT Lab positioned as a potential extension of the university learning environment
• A partnership model created to connect higher education, industry, creativity, and community