The Conversation

'Untraditional' Hanukkah celebrations are often full of traditions for Jews of color

Written by Samira Mehta, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Hanukkah creates opportunities for families to celebrate their heritage – especially in the kitchen.zilber42/iStock via Getty Images

Hanukkah, the Jewish “festival of lights,” commemorates a story of a miracle, when oil meant to last for one day lasted for eight. Today, Jews light the menorah, a candelabra with eight candles...

Wealthy individuals are giving billions to solve the climate crisis – is it working?

Written by Beth Daley, Executive Editor and General Manager

How should millions being pledged by individuals help solve the climate crisis?John Werner, CC BY-ND

One of the best parts about being The Conversation is when we actually have a conversation in real life. And finally, we did just that recently with a fascinating event, co-sponsored by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Associated Press and GBH....

Video of college student arrest raises questions about use of police on campus

Written by Jarell Skinner-Roy, Doctoral Student in Higher Education, University of Michigan

Students of color report negative encounters with campus police.mrdoomits via Getty Images

When a video emerged of a 20-year-old Black student being arrested at Winston-Salem State University on Dec. 14, 2022, after she got into a verbal argument with her professor, it brought renewed attention to the often controversial role of campus police....

Over the holidays, try talking to your relatives like an anthropologist

Written by Elizabeth Keating, Professor of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts

Many people go their entire lives knowing little about their relatives' childhoods and formative experiences.Westend61/Getty Images

How is it possible to spend so much time with your parents and grandparents and not really know them?

This question has puzzled me as an anthropologist. It’s especially relevant for the holiday season, when...

1918 flu pandemic upended long-standing social inequalities – at least for a time, new study finds

Written by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota

In this November 1918 photo, a nurse tends to a patient in the influenza ward of the Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Md. AP Photo/Harris & Ewing via Library of Congress

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Racial disparities in influenza deaths shrunk by 74% in U.S. cities during the 1918 flu pandemic...

Why Istanbul's mayor was sentenced to jail – and what it means for Turkey's 2023 presidential race

Written by Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University

Ekrem Imamoglu -- heading to jail or the presidency. Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A Turkish court’s decision on Dec. 14, 2022, to jail Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu for two years and seven months for insulting public officials hung on comments he made three years ago. But its impact will be felt on an event taking...

Anti-cancer CAR-T therapy reengineers T cells to kill tumors – and researchers are expanding the limited types of cancer it can target

Written by Gregory Allen, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Killer T cells (green and red), or cytotoxic T cells, surround a cancer cell (blue, center).NICHD/J. Lippincott-Schwartz, CC BY-NC-ND

Teaching the body’s immune cells to recognize and fight cancer is one of the holy grails in medicine. Over the past two decades, researchers have developed new immunotherapy drugs that stimulate a...

A Trump-era law used to restrict immigration is nearing its end despite GOP warnings of a looming crisis at the Southern border

Written by Ernesto Castañeda, Associate Professor of Sociology, American University

Hundreds of asylum-seekers gather on the banks of the Rio Grande to enter the U.S. on Dec. 12, 2022.Jose Zamora/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A key component of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration policies is currently set to expire on Dec. 21, 2022.

Officially called Title 42 of the U.S. Code, the little-known law was established...

How the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a surprisingly bright, complex and element-filled early universe – Podcast

Written by Daniel Merino, Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

The James Webb Space Telescope is providing astronomers with images and data that reveal secrets from the earliest era of the universe.NASA/STScI

If you want to know what happened in the earliest years of the universe, you are going to need a very big, very specialized telescope. Much to the joy of astronomers and space fans everywhere, the world...

Why early Christians wouldn't have found the Christmas story's virgin birth so surprising

Written by Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Assistant Professor of the New Testament, Vanguard University

'The Nativity,' circa 1406-10, by Lorenzo MonacoHeritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Every year on Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of their religion’s founder, Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Part of this celebration includes the claim that Jesus was born from a virgin mother named Mary, which is fundamental to the...