Your Guide to Attending Free Events on Campus
By: Hannah Skinner ‘23
The USC campus hosts a plethora of fun and free events each semester. From screenings to guest speakers to performances, there’s constantly exciting things to do. But nothing’s worse than finding out about an event after it’s already happened. Luckily, if you follow the right social media accounts and check the right website, you’ll never miss an announcement! Read more about how to stay updated with USC events and find some upcoming ones to mark on your calendar.
USC Comedy Festival: An Evening with Billy Eichner on February 26
EngageSC
EngageSC is your best friend when it comes to searching for events. It has an extensive list of campus activities, school-specific events, club meetings, and more. To get started, sign into EngageSC with your USC NetID which will allow you to see event details and register. I like to use filters to narrow my search. For example, filtering the Group Type to “School or Department” will get you the school-specific events, and “Student Affairs” will show you events from USC’s Student Affairs groups. Alternatively, I like to narrow the Event Type to a category I’m interested in, like “Social Event / Reception,” “Career,” or “Film / Screening.”
Eric Nam & Brian Nam - Mindset x USC: Identity in Mental Health on March 7
USC Visions and Voices
Visions and Voices is USC’s art and humanities initiative, providing students the opportunity to attend performances and presentations by acclaimed artists. They organize many events every semester so check out their website and follow their social media to stay updated
Upcoming Events:
The Met in HD: This event series brings New York City’s Metropolitan Opera performances to the screen in Norris Cinema Theatre.
Birding Walk for USC Students: A Birding Walk to observe the bird diversity at the Audubon Center at Debs Park with free transportation. This event is part of the series The Vanishing Worlds of Audubon
Campus Activities & Late Night ‘SC
Campus Activities has many free programs and social activities, some of which are part of the Late Night ‘SC program, hosting late-night events on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday nights. The best way to stay updated about these events is through their Instagram, but you can also go to EngageSC’s events page and filter the Group by scrolling until you find “Campus Activities.” If the event’s title has “LNSC '' in front of it, then you’ve found a Late Night ‘SC event.
Upcoming Events:
LNSC: Easter Egg Hunt + Egg Decorating: April 1, 9:30pm to 11pm
LNSC: Clippers Game Day: April 8, 1pm to 4pm at Crypto.com (only 100 tickets!)
School of Cinematic Arts
If you want to watch free movies on a big screen instead of your laptop, start following SCA! They have a series called “Outside the Box (Office)” which brings films (usually independent or international films) to big screens at SCA and hosts discussions with their filmmakers. You can keep up with upcoming events on their website or Instagram.
Some Upcoming Movie Screenings:
School of Dramatic Arts
SDA will be your best friend this semester if you are a fan of plays, performances, and theater. Some student theater performances cost a small ticket fee, but others are free. SDA’s “On Stage” page has a list of all their current shows. Additionally, there are student groups that put on productions, like Brand New Theatre, Dorothy’s Friends Theatre Company, and Aeneid Theatre Company, and an improv group Commedus Interruptus. The best way to follow along with these groups is through their Instagrams.
Spotlight@SDA Will Ferrell on March 21
Upcoming Events:
“Mirror”: Brand New Theatre’s upcoming spring production (no dates yet)
“Urinetown”: Dates from Mar 30-April 5 (student tickets are $15)
New Works Festival Year 2 (free) and New Works Festival Year 3 (student tickets are $10): These events showcase the work of MFA Dramatic Writing students, years 2 and 3
USC Residential Education
USC ResEd events are for students living in USC housing, but fortunately, that’s many of you! Most of their events are specific to certain residential halls, so what you’ll have access to through this program will vary. To find their events, the best way is to follow their Instagram, since events often have limited registration and fill up very fast, or search EngageSC and filter the Group Type by “Residential Education.”
Newsletters
The last tip I have is to subscribe to campus newsletters and actually open the ones you’re auto-subscribed to. The Student Affairs newsletter and the Career Center BiWeekly newsletter often share upcoming events, and they’re also great for learning about resources for academic, career, and student health success.
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Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.
