This Week’s College: University of Southern California’s Jimmy Iovine & Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation, Los Angeles, California
This is different than most of the colleges in the Round Ups because most of you know USC and what kind of school it is. But I want to focus on this program specifically and what it has to offer students today.
This is a new program. Founded in 2013 by Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young (who you might know better by his DJ name, Dr. Dre), the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation at the University of Southern California was begun as an opportunity to invite students into the kind of collaborations and unusual partnerships these two men had enjoyed for many years. As the founders of Beats Electronics in 2006, both Young and Iovine had already had successful careers in the music prior to this collaboration. Iovine who was the founder and Chairman of Universal Music Group’s Interscope Geffen A&M Records Unit. He’d worked with musicians like Lady Gaga, U2, Nine Inch Nails, and Dr. Dre. Young himself was a juggernaut of Hip Hop in the 90s with NWA and their album, Straight Outta Compton. He discovered musicians like Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and 50 Cent, producing music through his label, Aftermath. In 2013, the two men gave a $70 million endowment to USC to begin this academy to create innovators who would disrupt the way business, design, and technology were created in the same ways they have done throughout their careers. As Erica Muhl, the Founding Executive Director of the Iovine and Young Academy puts it: "Today's college students have a native technological understanding unlike any generation before, paired with an abiding passion for arts and culture. These traits, when nurtured, let them create in ways that have never been possible until now: building new and different products and technologies, transforming the culture economy and re-envisioning our world.”
It’s ridiculous to think that the “maker movement” is something new. People have been makers for as long as there have been people. From the innovation of the Clovis points to the ability to keep time accurately enough to find longitude, humans have been makers. All you need to do is go to a museum and see the first airplanes assembled from home materials, early bicycles made of bed posts and plumbing supplies, or transistor radios to see that technology has always been the domain of the maker. The difference now is simply that developments in technology are so much faster now than say moveable type was in the 15th century.
That said, the Iovine Academy at USC is different in that the education there is carefully thought out and planned in such a way as it develops students’ abilities to think creatively, work collaboratively, and still maintain a critical eye for what is needed and and and necessary. There are basically four methods to achieve this goal in use in this program and each is specific to the way that they garner success.
The Cohort Experience: Every student is accepted into the program based upon what she can bring to the cohort she will be a part of. The cohort is a community and the individual skills, experiences, backgrounds, and talents of each student in the cohort help to make the cohort a strong and functioning community within the academy as well as within USC.
Interactive Learning: Much of the work in the Iovine and Young Academy is done interactively. While there are lectures of course, some of the most important learning is done through field trips, workshops, study trips, and other hands on experiences. This is not a theory degree alone. It is an action experience.
Small Class Size: When it comes to selectivity, it’s no joke here. They aim to accept only about 25 students to the program each year. That’s infinitesimal compared to the student body at USC which is about 19,000. You will work very closely with faculty and mentors. The advising program will also be one where you have a lot of individualized attention at the Academy.
Mentorship: Because the Iovine and Young Academy is one where the focus is on disruption and innovation, you will also have mentors that are in the industries you hope to go into. This means that there is a real world part played in this experience as well as an academic part. Artists, policy makers, designers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, NGOs, technologists, and others are there to mentor you throughout this program.
There are three components to the curriculum that are essential to the program. They are art and design, engineering and computer science, and business and venture management. The Academy allows students to personalize their education by choosing classes within these different core areas that meet their interests and strengths. While all students are required to take classes in these areas, there are also multiple elective areas they can choose from including audio design, communication, and technology. Students take a total of 128 units in the Iovine and Young Academy related to the fields there. But they also complete the requirements at USC as well (gen. eds). Some of these classes will overlap, but some will be done in addition to the work of the academy.
One of the aspects that make the Iovine and Young Academy unique is what they refer to as their Curriculum Plus. Because of the emphasis on interactive learning, students in the Academy engage in educational experiences that go beyond the regular classroom. A micro- lecture, a workshop session, a study trip to a studio or a factory, a study abroad trip, all of these are chances for students to customize their learning. The Curriculum Plus is essentially a disruption of classic college education and at the heart of it part is the Responsive Learning Modules. These RLMs augment student learning but remain highly adaptable ranging in length from a few weeks to a few hours but always supporting student learning in ways that are crucial to the project at hand. Some examples include:
- Minicourses: focused on a specific subject like animation scripting or fundraising
- Shopup: hands on experiences with tools in workshops (think 3D printers or laser cutters)
- Master Class: students present but get feedback from industry professionals
- Field Trips: an opportunity to visit an industry leader (different from a study tour which is outside the US)
Another unique aspect of the Academy is the Garage. Imagine a sort of large space with tables to work at but also all the tools you need to do the work and a place to make what you’ve designed and you have the Garage. From a place to network with humans to a place to get onto the network, you can design a product, and then produce your prototype all in the same space. Then you can turn to the people at another workstation and get feedback. That’s pretty awesome, really. The Garage boasts five digital workstations with all the whistles and bells you can imagine (and more than I understand beyond the 10G connection which is 2x faster than my ting connection at home). There is also a whole digital fabrication center with 3D printers as well as professional quality 3D scanning and other digital production capabilities. Small and large format professional printing supplies await you, as well as state-of-the-art communication and design tools. Finally the workshop itself is stocked with power and hand tools, electronics, and everything you need to finish manufacturing your products.
Throughout the year speakers come to Iovine and Young to talk about their work and to give feedback and mentorship to students. Many are from California but others are not. Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre (founders), Jenna Meister (AirBNB), Evan Spiegel (Snapchat), Luke Wood (Beats Electronics), Kim McArthur (Hulu) have all spent time at Iovine and Young. Industry leaders like these have given lectures, been a part of the master class programs, and have worked as mentors with the students in this program.
There are basically two ways to get into this academy. You can apply to it from outside as a student applying to USC, or you can apply from within USC. Either way, you really have to want this. There is a video you have to send that illustrates a proposal for an original and innovative product or service. Then there is also a portfolio of art/photo/tech you have to submit as well that shows your versatility. There is also a required interview as well if you are chosen for one. And the deadline for all this is 1 December. But there is money available through financial aid for need based and merit based as well.
Is the Iovine and Young Academy for you? It’s very specific and very structured for a program that promotes maximum creativity. It’s also tiny. But then there is the rest of USC to enjoy. You’re still a USC student who is bound by USC’s policies and programs as well, so you do get to enjoy both worlds. But this program is like committing yourself to an incubator for four years and it’s extremely intensive. For the right person, that is a dream come true.
Pros:
- Nontraditional education means you are making all the decisions
- Access to materials, people, programming and attention
- Freedom to be creative and nonlinear in your thought
- Highly collaborative and interactive
Cons:
- Nontraditional education means you are making all the decisions
- You have to be very driven
- It’s very small and highly competitive
- Lots of pressure to be innovative all the time