The Conversation

For Syrian Druze, latest violence is one more chapter in a centuries-long struggle over autonomy

Written by Rami Zeedan, Associate Professor, University of Kansas

An elderly Druze man stands near Syria's new flag and the multicolored Druze flag in Al Karama Square in the city of Sweida on March 4, 2025.AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki

Fighting has flared on and off in southern Syria for nearly a month, despite a fragile ceasefire. Violence in July 2025 left more than 1,600 people dead, according to the Syrian...

Schools are looking for chaplains, but the understanding of who – and what – chaplains are varies widely

Written by Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and President, Bryn Mawr College

Navy Chaplain Judy Malana sings during the funeral service for former first lady Rosalynn Carter on Nov. 29, 2023, in Plains, Ga.Photo by Alex Brandon - Pool/Getty Images

There is an ongoing push to make chaplains available in public schools across the United States. Chaplains, also called spiritual caregivers, are religious professionals who work...

Trump administration cuts to terrorism prevention departments could leave Americans exposed

Written by Kris Inman, Professor of African Studies and Security Studies, Georgetown University

Ghanaian special forces take part in U.S. military-led counterterrorism training near Jacqueville, Ivory Coast, on Feb. 16, 2022. AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui

Staff at the State Department’s Office of Countering Violent Extremism and Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, which led U.S. anti-violent extremism efforts, were laid off,...

3 reasons Republicans’ redistricting power grab might backfire

Written by Charlie Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Boise State University

Texas state lawmakers board a bus following a press conference at the DuPage County Democratic Party headquarters in Carol Stream, Ill., on Aug. 3, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images

The gerrymandering drama in Texas – and beyond – has continued to unfold after Democratic state legislators fled the state. The Democrats want to prevent the...

Bureau of Labor Statistics tells the US what’s up with the economy – Trump firing its top official may undercut trust in its data

Written by Thomas A. Stapleford, Associate Professor of History and Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame

Isador Lubin, chief of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, presents data to a Senate committee in 1937.Library of Congress

Many financial and political analysts are trying to assess the impact of President Donald Trump’s decision to fire U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer on Aug. 1, 2025, the same day that an...

Authoritarian rulers aren’t new – here’s what Herodotus, an early Greek historian, wrote about them

Written by Debbie Felton, Professor of Classics, UMass Amherst

Darius I of Persia, center, and his court, from a vase painted between 340 and 320 B.C.E., on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.Carlo Raso/ Flickr, CC BY-SA

“No Kings” rallies. “Good Trouble” protests. “Rage against the Regime” uprisings. These events in the first seven months of President...

Industrial pollution once ravaged the Adirondacks − decades of history captured in lake mud track their slow recovery

Written by Sky Hooler, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Science, University at Albany, State University of New York

Scientist Aubrey Hillman, one of the authors of this article, extracts a core of mud from the bottom of Black Pond in June 2025. Patrick Dodson/University at Albany

Lush forests and crisp mountain air have drawn people to New York’s Adirondack Mountains for centuries. In the late 1800s, these forests were a haven for tuberculosis patients seek...

AI is taking hold in K-12 schools – here are some ways it can improve teaching

Written by Michael G. Kozak, Associate Clinical Professor of Educational Administration and Leadership, Drexel University

Artificial intelligence can bring a host of benefits, such as individualized learning, but can also encourage kids to shortcut learning. Jonathan Kirn via Getty Images

Generative AI platforms have sent shock waves through the K-12 education sector since the public release of ChatGPT nearly three years ago.

The technology is taking hold under the...

NASA plans to build a nuclear reactor on the Moon – a space lawyer explains why, and what the law has to say

Written by Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Professor of Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi

The stark landscape of the Moon as viewed by the Apollo 12 astronauts on their return to Earth.NASA/The Planetary Society

The first space race was about flags and footprints. Now, decades later, landing on the Moon is old news. The new race is to build there, and doing so hinges on power.

In April 2025, China reportedly unveiled plans to build a...

Elon Musk’s plans for a new political party will likely be derailed by a US political system hostile to new voices

Written by Thom Reilly, Professor and Co-Director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy, Arizona State University

Two-party control of U.S. politics runs contrary to the vision of the Constitution's framers.Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

As dissatisfaction with the two-party system grows in the United States, the idea of an alternative, however unlikely, gains traction. Elon Musk’s recent call for an America Party may be unserious, but it speaks to...