The Conversation

Memes and conflict: Study shows surge of imagery and fakes can precede international and political violence

Written by Tim Weninger, Collegiate Proessor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame

AI tools reveal how images have been manipulated.William Theisen et al.

Imagine a country with deep political divisions, where different groups don’t trust each other and violence seems likely. Now, imagine a flood of political images, hateful memes and mocking videos from domestic and foreign sources taking over social media. What is likely...

Pope Francis’ death right after Easter sounds miraculous – but patients and caregivers often work together to delay dying

Written by Michelle Riba, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan

Pope Francis died after celebrating Easter with his congregants.AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

On the morning of Easter Monday, after his final public address the day prior, Pope Francis died at age 88, closing 12 years of leading the Catholic Church. He joins the phenomena of people “holding on” until after an anticipated date or event, such...

US colleges and universities have billions stashed away in endowments − a higher ed finance expert explains what they are

Written by Todd L. Ely, Associate Professor of Public Administration; Director, Center for Local Government, University of Colorado Denver

Prospective students tour Georgetown University's campus in Washington in 2013.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

With the Trump administration seeking to cut federal funding for colleges and universities, you might be wondering whether the endowments of these institutions of higher education might be able to fill those gaps. Todd L. Ely, a professor of...

Gratitude comes with benefits − a social psychologist explains how to practice it when times are stressful

Written by Monica Y. Bartlett, Professor of Psychology, Gonzaga University

If the concept of journaling feels daunting, perhaps just call it a gratitude list.Karl Tapales/Moment via Getty Images

A lot has been written about gratitude over the past two decades and how we ought to be feeling it. There is advice for journaling and a plethora of purchasing options for gratitude notebooks and diaries. And research has...

Alaska, rich in petroleum, faces an energy shortage

Written by Brett Watson, Assistant Professor of Applied and Natural Resource Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses underneath the Dalton Highway, carrying crude oil from the North Slope to a port in Valdez.Lance King/Getty Images

In the state with the fourth-largest proven reserves of oil and gas in the U.S., there is a looming energy shortage.

Above the Arctic Circle, oil producers on Alaska’s North Slope send an average...

How do children learn to read? This literacy expert says ‘there are as many ways as there are students’

Written by K. Dara Hill, Professor of Reading and Language Arts, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Not all children learn to read in the same way, but schools tend to adopt a single approach to literacy.luckyvector/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Five years after the pandemic forced children into remote instruction, two-thirds of U.S. fourth graders still cannot read at grade level. Reading scores lag 2 percentage points below 2022 levels and 4...

The hidden history of Philadelphia’s window-box gardens and their role in urban reform

Written by Sonja Dümpelmann, Professor of Environmental Humanities, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Window-box gardening has been a Philly tradition since the 1800s.Sonja Dümpelmann, CC BY-SA

It’s that time of year when Philadelphia row home owners with a green thumb fastidiously attend to their window boxes – selecting new plants to design an artful blend of colors, shapes and textures.

Sonja Dümpelmann is a historian of...

Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war

Written by Shaoyu Yuan, Research Scientist at the Division of Global Affairs, Rutgers University - Newark

IShowSpeed, a 20-year-old American YouTuber and internet star, recently livestreamed hourslong tours of Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai, showcasing the locations to some of his nearly 40 million viewers.

During the March events, IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr., marveled at friendly locals, spotless streets and...

From Doing Business to B-READY: World Bank’s new rankings represent a rebrand, not a revamp

Written by Fernanda G Nicola, Professor of Law, American University

The 2025 spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund takes place in Washington, D.C.Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

In 2021, the World Bank shut down one of its flagship projects: the Doing Business index, a global ranking system that measured how easy it was to start and run a business in 190...

Justice Department lawyers work for justice and the Constitution – not the White House

Written by Cassandra Burke Robertson, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Professional Ethics, Case Western Reserve University

The U.S. flag flies above Department of Justice headquarters on Jan. 20, 2024, in Washington. J. David Ake/Getty Images

In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon tried to fire the Department of Justice prosecutor leading an investigation into the president’s involvement in wiretapping the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters.

Since...