The USC School of Dramatic Arts and the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy have announced a partnership called Policy at the Playhouse.

Policy at the Playhouse began as an initiative at the USC Bedrosian Center with the idea that conversations about governance happen in many different forms and must be voiced by many different communities. Because the School of Dramatic Arts is steeped in the language and voices of artists in the field, this partnership will allow the program to grow and deepen within the USC community. The initiative will provide conversations about theatrical productions on and off campus, as well as create a new podcast of the same name to bring conversations about Angeleno theatre to off-campus audiences.

“The Price School is known for its interdisciplinary activities, and we’re pleased to expand the conversations around governance through the Policy at the Playhouse partnership,” says Jack Knott, dean of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. At USC Price, the program will be lead by the USC Bedrosian Center.

“I am very excited to partner with USC Price on Policy at the Playhouse,” says David Bridel, dean of the USC School of Dramatic Arts. “By promoting and reflecting upon the civic function of the theatre, we celebrate its original impulse – to bring communities together to imagine new futures and interrogate the past.”

“This partnership will allow the great expertise at the School of Dramatic Arts to deepen the conversations we have already been having at the Price School about theatre,” said Aubrey Hicks, Executive Director of the USC Bedrosian Center, “and hopefully, vice versa. The arts are too important to leave out of governance conversations, we must explore what it means to live in our democracy. We look forward to a successful and productive collaboration between the School of Dramatic Arts and the Bedrosian Center.”

The partnership marks the first formal relationship between the USC School of Dramatic Arts and the USC Bedrosian Center, although faculty from the schools have collaborated on projects in the past. Recent collaborations include a panel discussion of the theatre of politics during the 2017 presidential election; the Price Projection Room podcast which looks at visual storytelling, media literacy, diversity, and the public good; and the Bedrosian Bookclub Podcast which discusses new and classic works (fiction and non) through a lens of governance.

About the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy has defined excellence and innovation in public affairs education since 1929. Ranked 4th nationwide among 272 schools of public affairs, the Price School is dedicated to teaching and research that advances society through better democratic governance, more effective social policy, and sustainable urban development. Its graduates shape our world as leaders in government, nonprofit agencies, and the private sector. Through a time-honored commitment to public service, a legacy of strong connections to professional leaders, and a world-renowned research portfolio, the mission of the Price School is to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad. USC Sol Price School of Public Policy website

About the USC School of Dramatic Arts
The top-ranked USC School of Dramatic Arts uniquely blends artistic training in a conservatory environment with the full academic experience found only at a major research university. Our students are challenged by a faculty of artists and scholars of the highest caliber to be constantly flexible and thoroughly collaborative. They learn versatility and the cutting edge skills essential to the contemporary actor, writer, designer, stage manager or scholar, and they depart the School with the experience and the inspiration to make an extraordinary contribution to the art and business of drama. USC School of Dramatic Arts website

About the USC Bedrosian Center
The Judith and John Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise, an applied research center at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, is dedicated to understanding and fostering effective democratic governance as an essential component in ensuring the betterment of communities. USC Bedrosian Center website