The Conversation

Why Al-Aqsa remains a sensitive site in Palestine-Israel conflict

Written by Ken Chitwood, Senior Research Fellow, Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at IUPUI and Journalist-fellow, USC Dornsife Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California

A view of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City.Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

As a scholar of global Islam, I teach an introduction to Islam course and include a discussion about Al-Aqsa as part of the syllabus. That’s because Al-Aqsa has deep religious significance for Muslims around the world.

But...

Today's white working-class young men who turn to racist violence are part of a long, sad American history

Written by Colin Kohlhaas, Doctoral Candidate, History, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Dressed in orange prison garb, Payton Gendron is sentenced to life in prison for the murder of 10 Black people in Buffalo, N.Y. Derek Gee/Buffalo News/Pool via Xinhua

In recent years, the United States has seen a surge of white supremacist mass shootings against racial minorities. While not always the case, mass shooters tend to be young white men....

Glacial lake outburst floods in Alaska and the Himalayas show evolving hazards in a warming world

Written by Brianna Rick, Postdoctoral Fellow, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center, University of Alaska Anchorage

Glacial lakes are common in the Himalayas, as this satellite view shows. Some are dammed by glaciers, other by moraines.NASA

In August 2023, residents of Juneau, Alaska, watched as the Mendenhall River swelled to historic levels in a matter of hours. The rushing water undercut the riverbank and swallowed whole stands of trees and multiple...

Are people born with good balance? A physical therapist explains the systems that help keep you on your toes

Written by Gurpreet Singh, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, Binghamton University, State University of New York

People learn balance as they grow – and can usually improve their balance with practice.uzhursky/iStock via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

Are people born with good balance? – Sebastian L., age 15,...

Hamas assault echoes 1973 Arab-Israeli war – a shock attack and questions of political, intelligence culpability

Written by Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

The 1973 Yom Kippur War proved a watershed moment in Middle East conflict and Israel's politics.Daniel Rosenblum/Keystone/Getty Images

The parallels were striking – and surely not coincidental.

Exactly 50 years and a day after being taken completely off guard by a coordinated military attack by its neighbors – Egypt and Syria –...

The Israel-Hamas war: No matter who loses, Iran wins

Written by Aaron Pilkington, PhD Candidate at Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

Israelis inspect the rubble of a building in Tel Aviv on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip.AP Photo/Oded Balilty

There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas.

In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa...

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, in prison for speaking up against human rights violations, has been a voice for women for almost two decades

Written by Pardis Mahdavi, President, University of La Verne

Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women's rights advocate, won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. Photo taken in 2021.Reihane Taravati / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP

“Woman, Life, Freedom,” the slogan adopted by Iranians to protest the unjust death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, is, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the m...

Bison are sacred to Native Americans − but each tribe has its own special relationship to them

Written by Rosalyn R. LaPier, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The American bison, or American buffalo as they are commonly called, were once close to extinction. Their numbers dropped from 30-60 million to around 500 because of overhunting in the 19th century.

But they made an unlikely comeback and continue to captivate people. At Yellowstone National Park – home to the largest bison herd in the U.S.,...

Often in error but still seductive: Why we can't quit election polls

Written by W. Joseph Campbell, Professor of Communication Studies, American University School of Communication

Polls showed Joe Biden, right, holding double-digit leads over Donald Trump, left, in the run-up to the 2020 election, but he won election by only 4.5 percentage points. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File

Their record is uneven. They misfired in one way or another in the past three presidential elections. And yet the prevalence of election polls...

20 years after the publication of 'Purple Hibiscus,' a generation of African writers have followed in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's footsteps

Written by Simon Lewis, Professor of English, College of Charleston

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in 2004, shortly after the publication of 'Purple Hibiscus.'Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Twenty years ago, in October 2003, 26-year-old Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie burst onto the North American publishing scene with her debut novel,“ Purple Hibiscus.”

Since then, Adichie’s literary fame has only...