The Norman Lear Center is a multi-disciplinary research and public policy center exploring implications of the convergence of

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

, and

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

. It is based at the

USC Annenberg School for Communication The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school’s Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. ...

. Through scholarship and research, and its programs of visiting fellows, conferences, public events and publications, the Lear Center works to be at the forefront of discussion and practice in the field.

History

The Center is named for benefactor Norman Lear, the social activist and philanthropist, and television producer, and was founded and is directed by

Marty Kaplan Martin Kaplan (born August 21, 1950) is an American professor. He teaches at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and is the founding director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of the impact of entertainment on society ...

, associate dean of the USC Annenberg School, who has been a political speechwriter, Hollywood studio executive, and screenwriter-producer. The Lear Center officially launched on January 24, 2000. Some of the programs it houses includ
Entertainment Goes Global
which explores the political, cultural, economic and technological implications of the globalization of entertainment
Celebrity, Politics & Public Life
wherein faculty and deans from over 20 USC departments convene to develop an inter-disciplinary analysis of American political life, as it is shaped by popular culture; an
Hollywood, Health & Society
which provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely information for health storylines. Hollywood, Health & Society is funded by, and works closely with such governmental agencies as the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, and the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

. That program hosts its annua
Sentinel for Health Awards
to recognize exemplary television storylines that best inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. Since 2005, the Lear Center’
Grand Avenue Intervention Project
has been a driving force behind the civic outreach for the planning of a new park in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. In partnership with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

,'' the Lear Center solicited design proposals from the public and published a selection of them in a special section of the Times. The Lear Center's publishing imprint has published several works of scholarship such a
Artists, Technology & The Ownership of Creative ContentWarners' War: Politics, Pop Culture & Propaganda in Wartime HollywoodFrank Capra and the Image of the Journalist in American Film
and Ready to Share: Creativity & Fashion in Digital Culture.

References

External links

*

LAT Article about the Grand Avenue Intervention
{{Authority control Public policy schools Centers of the University of Southern California

Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...