By Sophia Kang

Photo: Joi Ito, Flickr

Andrew Lih is quite the Renaissance man. Before he joined the communications department at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism as an adjunct professor, he had been an engineer, entrepreneur, technology journalist, writer, and new media researcher. With all this experience under his belt – call it instinct or prophecy – Lih has a knack for forecasting what’s coming next in media and technology.

Lih’s accomplishments include the startup of a dot-com company back in 1994. He is highly knowledgeable about China and the Internet, involving censorship and the “great firewall” of China. He is also an Active Wikipedia administrator and write the only narrative account of this irreplaceable Web site, a book called Wikipedia Revolution, published last year.

When asked how he acquired such an eclectic resume, Lih answers that he has always been drawn to where the “interesting problems” are. When he saw the first web browser in the 90s, he knew that it was going to change the world and wanted to help modernize it and bring it into larger usage.

After his initial acquaintance with the Internet, he created and began teaching a new media program at Columbia, his alma mater. He helped mold the first new media journalists before going overseas to Asia, which he foresaw would be the largest market.

His accurate foresight is also what drew him to Wikipedia, which was also revolutionary during its time. Lih said it was definitely a novelty and a risk to allow for this interactive, collaborative effort encouraging the free exchange of ideas. Despite some harsh skepticism and criticism, devotees did step up, self-organize, and help write and edit more than 3 million coherent articles.

Currently, as a journalist and educator, Professor Lih has come full circle. When asked about his return to the United States, Lih shared that he saw the state of the print world as another “interesting problem” that he wanted to help solve.

With the ever-transforming digital evolution, the news industry is challenged to survive and Professor Lih is not missing out on any of the action. As the director of new media at Annenberg, he realizes the necessity “to understand what this slowdown means.” He is already looking ahead of the curb and investigating how to make new media relevant to the 21^st century.

Lih is excited to be part of USC in particular because, like his progressive perspective, the university is also looking ahead to the future with an international mindset. Lih believes that to find the answer to the journalistic struggle, in addition to academic analysis, society needs to look across the Pacific and not rely solely on our own neighborhood or coast.

While Lih may have spent 19 years in New York, he was drawn to Los Angeles in particular because it is an interesting “laboratory,” where ideas and information across diverse ethnic groups are widely circulated. Lih views Los Angeles as a precursor to the way that the U.S. might eventually be one day.

Because Lih changes his professional endeavors every decade, he is already preparing for what’s next. Lih has faith in “the crowd.” With popular and successful avenues such as Wikipedia and Twitter, Lih is eager to see how people will feed into and be a part of the news cycle.

Tap into Lih’s online persona at www.andrewlih.com/blog or  by following him on Twitter @fuzheado.

By Ivana Banh

Velina Hasu Houston, a talented, passionate playwright and professor at USC, believes that life should be enjoyed in the best way possible despite troubles and obstacles. She illustrates her mantra of living in her play, “Calligraphy,” a story about the reunion of two aging sisters, their daughters and a collision of cultures.

“Calligraphy” chronicles a pair of Japanese, 60-something single mothers. Natsuko, the older of the two, is an angry, bitter widow living in Japan with her free-spirited daughter Sayuri. Noriko, Natsuko’s younger sister, is also widowed and living in the United States with her obedient, respectful daughter, Hiromi.

The sisters have not seen each other for years, ever since Noriko married an African American man despite Natsuko’s disapproval. Decades later, Natsuko is fighting to keep her health, while Noriko is battling an intensifying case of Alzheimer’s. The sisters still refuse to speak to one another for more than several minutes and never seem to agree on anything.

Their daughters, Sayuri and Hiromi, decide to reunite the aging duo before it is too late. Upon hearing about the reunion, neither Noriko nor Natsuko is pleased. However, when the sisters meet in Japan, the situation takes a turn for the better. At last, the two sisters restore their relationship after years of clashing cultures, marriages and opinions. “Calligraphy” emphasizes the importance of finding what is truly valuable in life and making life the best it can be.
Houston addresses culture clashes as one of the main universal issues in her play. Houston herself did not have it easy growing up, partly due to her cultural background.

“My mother always told me that I would never make it as an author because I was the daughter of a Japanese immigrant,” said Houston. “But I knew I was meant to write.”

Houston kept on reading dramas and writing throughout her childhood. Her persistence proved her mother wrong – she was accepted to UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television and graduated with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. Houston then continued her education at the Q.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kansas State University. She left the university with degrees in journalism, mass communication and theater. Houston completed school at USC with a Ph.D. from the School of Cinematic Arts.

Houston used her many years of education to produce dozens of essays and poems that were recognized in several journals and anthologies. She also wrote numerous plays, many of which were produced by Columbia Pictures and PBS. Houston is currently teaching at USC as a professor in the School of Cinematic Arts and Theater.

Many of her plays focus on issues amongst a range of cultures and the experiences “strangers faced in new cultures.” As part of a multicultural family herself, Houston deeply understands the collisions that can be ignited by a mix of “visual differences between darker and lighter people.”

Despite the criticism Houston encountered growing up in a family full of international marriage and culture clashes, the talented author has learned to “find what is valuable in life so that we can live the best lives possible regardless of one’s troubles and burdens.”

Houston stresses in “Calligraphy” that life is not about sulking over the negative things but rather about finding the people and things one treasures most in life while “aging and loving and at the heart of it, living the best of lives.” Part of this inspiration comes from one of her close friends, a victim of a tragic car accident that confined him to bed at 18 years old. Even though he will never be the same again, he still remains cheerful, said Houston.

“Calligraphy” combines just the right amount of drama with a generous dash of humor, a sprinkle of tragedy and a splash of happiness.

Houston’s next play, “Motherload,” illustrates another dramatic story about a set of sisters who have never met. She is also currently working on a story concerning issues of DNA and identity. She hopes she will be able to continue drawing people to her plays in the future and “enjoy [her] art with the audience in the same room.” She anticipates repeating the experience for many more years to come.