The Conversation

Voting in unconstitutional districts: US Supreme Court upended decades of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote with gerrymandered maps instead of fixing the congressional districts first

Written by Sam D. Hayes, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Law, Trinity College

Overturning decades of tradition, the Supreme Court in 2022 let Alabama use voting districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of Black citizens.Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

For the 2022 midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama to use congressional districts that violated the law and diluted the voting power of...

Homeschooled kids face unique college challenges − here are 3 ways they can be overcome

Written by Kenneth V. Anthony, Associate Professor of Elementary Education, Mississippi State University

Homeschooled children don't always get a well-rounded curriculum. miniseries via Getty Images

Homeschooling is the fastest-growing education setting in the United States. More than 3 million students were educated at home in the 2021-22 school year, up from 2.5 million in the spring of 2019. Current estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate...

Artists created images of Christ that focused not on historical accuracy but on reflecting different communities − a scholar of religious history explains

Written by Virginia Raguin, Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita, Visual Arts, College of the Holy Cross

'Christ of the New Jerusalem' − created in 1915 for the Uranienborg Church, Oslo, by Emanuel Vigeland.Michel M. Raguin, CC BY

In 1915, Norwegian artist Emanuel Vigeland, one of the most respected Scandinavian artists of his time, created an image of Christ with golden hair and fair skin.

Vigeland was well aware of a widely popular Bible...

3 reasons the UAW is having success in organizing Southern workers – with two Mercedes plants in Alabama the next face-off

Written by Stephen J. Silvia, Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service

A Volkswagen autoworker waits for the results of a union vote on April 19, 2024, in Chattanooga, Tenn. AP Photo/George Walker IV

Workers at two Mercedes plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will soon vote for the first time on whether they want to join a union.

Until recently, it would have been safe to presume that a majority of the 5,200 people...

Palestinian writers have long explored the horrors of amputation

Written by Graham Liddell, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, Hope College

A Palestinian boy from Gaza at a temporary housing compound in Doha, Qatar, in April 2024.Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Words fail as 2,000-pound bombs shred lives and limbs.

The sheer number of children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza is devastating – at least 13,000 children in the first six months of the war. But somehow...

Venus is losing water faster than previously thought – here’s what that could mean for the early planet’s habitability

Written by Eryn Cangi, Research Scientist in Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

An artist's illustration of hydrogen disappearing from Venus. Aurore Simonnet/ Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/ University of Colorado Boulder

Today, the atmosphere of our neighbor planet Venus is as hot as a pizza oven and drier than the driest desert on Earth – but it wasn’t always that way.

Billions of years ago, Venus...

Neediest areas are being shortchanged on government funds − even with programs designed to benefit poor communities

Written by Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. And you would typically be right.

This is the case even with programs that have been specifically designed to benefit low-income communities. Over the long run, federal funds...

Trump promises to deport all undocumented immigrants, resurrecting a 1950s strategy − but it didn’t work then and is less likely to do so now

Written by Katrina Burgess, Professor of Political Economy, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

A U.S. Border Patrol officer shows how he found an undocumented Mexican immigrant under the hood of a car along the U.S.-Mexican border in March 1954.Associated Press

While campaigning in Iowa last September, former President Donald Trump made a promise to voters if he were elected again: “Following the Eisenhower model, we will carry out the...

Paying caregivers more could boost Nebraska’s economy − new research

Written by Susan Rebecca Reay, Director and Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Nebraska Omaha

There's a shortage of workers willing to take jobs as paid caregivers.ktaylorg/E+ via Getty Images

Paid caregivers foster independence and improve quality of life for people with all kinds of disabilities, many of whom need help getting dressed, preparing meals, showering and dealing with other activities of daily living.

There are over 10,000 paid...

Unlicensed teachers now dominate new teacher hires in rural Texas schools

Written by James P. Van Overschelde, Associate professor of secondary education, Texas State University

English language learners are among the most likely to be assigned to unqualified teachers in Texas.Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

The passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 eliminated the federal requirement that teachers be highly qualified to teach. This regulatory freedom, combined with a shortage of trained and qualified teachers,...