The Conversation

UN warns that Gaza desperately needs more aid − an emergency relief expert explains why it is especially tough working in Gaza

Written by Paul Spiegel, Director of the Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University

A Palestinian boy sits in a World Health Organization truck near a hospital in the southern area of the Gaza Strip. Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

United Nations agencies on Oct. 24, 2023, pleaded for more aid to be allowed into Gaza, saying that more than 20 times the amount of food, water and medical supplies and other items...

I studied 1 million home sales in metro Atlanta and found that Black families are being squeezed out of homeownership by corporate investors

Written by Brian Y. An, Director of Master of Science in Public Policy Program & Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Corporate investors own nearly one-third of all single-family rental properties in Atlanta.Kruck20/iStock via Getty Images

In the years since the Great Recession, when housing prices dramatically fell, Wall Street investors have been buying large numbers of single-family homes to use as rentals. As of 2022, big investment firms owned nearly 600,000...

To better understand addiction, students in this course take a close look at liquor in literature

Written by Debra J. Rosenthal, Professor of English, John Carroll University

Characters in books can teach lessons about addiction.Nataliia Shcherbyna via iStock/Getty Images Plus

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

Alcohol in American Literature

What prompted the idea for the course?

I got the idea for the course when I was...

Public schools and faith-based chaplains: Texas’ new combination is testing the First Amendment

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

When public school counselors are in short supply, should chaplains be allowed to fill the gap?Vladimir Vladimirov/E+ via Getty Images

In 1996, a school board in eastern Texas created a program called Clergy in Schools. Beaumont Independent School District recruited volunteer clergy to counsel K-12 students on topics such as self-esteem, peer...

Turkey faces competing pressures from Russia and the West to end its 'middleman strategy' and pick a side on the war in Ukraine

Written by Ozgur Ozkan, Visiting Professor of International Studies at The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Photo by Contributor/Getty Images

From the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Turkey has performed a delicate balancing act, portraying itself as an ally to the warring sides while reaping economic and political benefits from its relationship with both.

Turkey...

FDA advisory panel's conclusion that oral phenylephrine is ineffective means consumers need to think twice when buying cold and flu meds

Written by Lucas A. Berenbrok, Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh

Reading ingredient labels closely will help consumers make more informed decisions. ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images

The ramp-up to cold and flu season is a bad time for consumers to learn that some of their most trusted go-to products don’t actually work.

An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded unanimously in...

How often do you lie? Deception researchers investigate how the recipient and the medium affect telling the truth

Written by Christian B. Miller, A. C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University

Hunter Biden has been charged with making a false claim on a federal firearms application.AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Prominent cases of purported lying continue to dominate the news cycle. Hunter Biden was charged with lying on a government form while purchasing a handgun. Republican Representative George Santos allegedly lied in many ways, including to...

New House Speaker Mike Johnson leads a GOP majority weakened by decades of declining party authority

Written by Matthew Green, Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America

House Republicans applaud as U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, center, is elected the new speaker of the House on Oct. 25, 2023.Alex Wong/Getty Images

After the House of Representatives took the unprecedented step on Oct. 3, 2023, of removing its own speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California, with eight Republicans joining all 208 voting Democrats to “vaca...

When communities face drinking-water crises, bottled water is a 'temporary' solution that often lasts years − and worsens inequality

Written by Daniel Jaffee, Associate Professor of Sociology, Portland State University

An emergency bottled-water distribution site in Flint, Mich., in early 2016.Sarah Rice/Getty Images

A massive intrusion of salt water into the Mississippi River has left the tap water in several Louisiana communities unsafe to drink and could threaten the New Orleans metropolitan area. The most visible emergency response is the provision of bottled...

Polls have value, even when they are wrong

Written by Kirby Goidel, Professor of Political Science, Texas A&M University

Leadership and likability questions help pollsters predict who might win.Osaka Wayne Studios/Moment via Getty Images

An ABC News/Washington Post poll in September 2023 generated outrage among Democrats. The headline on the story, “Trump edges out Biden 51-42 in head-to-head matchup: POLL,” appeared designed to attract clicks rather than...