Archaeological survey and excavation provide critical information to fields as diverse as Classics, Art History and Biblical Studies allowing for a broad interdisciplinary approach to understanding the world and its material history using a range of tools and approaches whether the discovery occurs with trowel in hand, or through laboratory analysis, artifact study, remote sensing or by documenting heritage.
USC Dornsife’s Archaeology Research Center (ARC) Lab is home to a collection of almost 5,000 antiquities from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean. In addition to sponsoring fieldwork in areas like the Yucatán and Rome, the ARC Lab uses advanced techniques such as geospatial mapping, non-invasive excavation and panoramic image capture to help the public experience history’s artifacts and the cultures that made them.
Examples of Projects:
Exploring Catalina Old Style - This is a stereo 3D, 360 video experience that takes you across Catalina Island, including a winding ride in the Wrigley family's stagecoach (4 minutes). The file can also be viewed in a headset or on a phone-base VR viewer.
Cyprus Troodos Mountains Church – Image Documentation Project - Mount Olympus (also called Mount Troodos), has an elevation of 6,401 feet and is the highest point on Cyprus island, the third-largest island in the Mediterranean.,” The Troodos is the country’s largest mountain range. It covers most of the southern and western portions of the island and accounts for roughly half of its area. The region is home to one of the largest groups of churches and monasteries of the former Byzantine Empire. Because of their significant historical and artistic values, ten of the Byzantine structures were placed on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites including nine churches and a monastery These historic buildings, some dating back to 11th century, contain some of the most important preserved monuments of the history of Byzantine painting.
A comprehensive set of spherical panoramic images was made of the interiors of eight of the ten churches and monasteries that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Selected images were also made of important, specific areas of the paintings by employing Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) technology in order to analyze the brushwork of the artisans and to document overall conditions for purposes of conservation monitoring.
The other technique employed in the churches is Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), an imaging technique that the WSRP team was the first to apply to cultural heritage targets. In the Troodos churches, the RTIs had the remarkable ability of illuminating the individual brush strokes of the original artisans, as well as even the slightest defect on the painted surfaces, an invaluable record for conservation monitoring.
West Semitic Research Project - This is an academic project affiliated with the University of Southern California School of Religion and directed by Professor Emeritus Bruce Zuckerman. For the past 40 years WSRP has used advanced photographic and computer imaging techniques to document artifacts and texts from the ancient Near East and Mediterranean worlds. See: An Image database of Inscriptions and Artifacts . A vast collection of images are available to scholars, students, educators and the general public through the USC Digital Library.
The Ahmanson Lab, located on the third floor of Leavey Library, is part of the USC Sidney Harman Academy for Polymathic Study which explores different ways of learning, knowing, and being, ranging from the written word to various modes of embodiment and creative practice.
The Lab extends the Harman Academy's focus on integrative learning by offering students a space for experimentation, play, and creative exploration. Through workshops on design, digital authoring, physical computing and other creative endeavors, students at the Ahmanson Lab explore the value of making to polymathic inquiry with a roster of faculty, artists, and designers, and makers who work with students to expand their thinking about the potentials of polymathic practice.
The Director of the Ahmanson Lab is Curtis Fletcher. His research draws on key questions in the fields of media studies, visual studies, science and technology studies, and the history of technology. His published works examine the history of educational technology, the history of humanities education, and the history of the digital humanities. His work in the digital humanities focuses on multimedia and multimodal authoring and publishing, digital pedagogy, critical making, and the development of extended reality (XR) humanities projects.
He is a Co-Director of the multimedia authoring platform, Scalar.
Game Innovation Lab The Game Innovation Lab is a research lab led by Professor Tracy Fullerton, and housed within the Interactive Media Division in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. The mission of the lab is to pursue experimental design of games in cultural realms including art, science, politics and learning.
Mobile and Environmental Media Lab. Housed within USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, The Mobile & Environmental Media Lab’s design methodology straddles the cultures of visual storytelling, games, and interaction design. Accordingly, our work mashes together conceptual tools of storytelling (dramatic arc, character motivation, conflict, obstacles, and resolution) with the core concerns of game design (systems, procedures, constraints, objectives, resources, core mechanics). Our research has explored context- and location-specific mobile storytelling, interactive architecture, vehicular and environmental lifelogging, and automotive experience design. Overall, this research investigates the idea of ambient storytelling and how the built environment can act as a storytelling entity that engages and interacts with the people in specific spaces.
World Building Media Lab (WbML) . Established in September 2012 the World Building Media Lab at the USC School of Cinematic Arts explores best practices for designing vast storyworlds that unfold across multiple media platforms, invents new mediums for storytelling, and emphasizes the power of using technology as a vehicle to enhance storytelling capabilities. With explorations into Virtual and Augmented Reality, the WbML has established itself as a leader at the forefront of technological-based entertainment.