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The US-Iran conflict and the consequences of international law-breaking

  • Written by David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Mourners carry the coffins of slain Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani and eight others during a funeral procession in Karbala, Iraq on Jan. 4, 2020.MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s note: Iran’s missile attack on a U.S. base in Iraq in retaliation for the Trump...

Read more: The US-Iran conflict and the consequences of international law-breaking

School closures can hit rural communities hard

  • Written by Mara Casey Tieken, Associate Professor of Education, Bates College
An abandoned Arkansas high schoolMara Casey Tieken, CC BY-SA

The school bus begins picking up children before 6 a.m. in Elaine, Arkansas, a small, mostly African American town on the Mississippi River floodplains about 120 miles east of Little Rock. It crawls past long stretches of oxbow lakes, acres of soybean and cotton fields, and two closed...

Read more: School closures can hit rural communities hard

What Trump's tweet threatening Iran's cultural sites could mean for Shiite Muslims

  • Written by Kishwar Rizvi, Professor in the History of Art Islamic Art and Architecture, Yale University
Golden Iwan, Shrine of Fatima Masuma, built in the eighth century, is also a leading Shii seminary in Iran.Kishwar Rizvi, CC BY-SA

President Donald Trump warned the Islamic Republic of Iran in a tweet on Jan. 4 that the U.S. would target Iranian cultural sites, if provoked.

His threat followed the United States’ killing of Maj. Gen. Qassem...

Read more: What Trump's tweet threatening Iran's cultural sites could mean for Shiite Muslims

Tweets about cannabis' health benefits are full of mistruths

  • Written by Jon-Patrick Allem, Assistant Professor of Research, University of Southern California
Thomas Uhle, a grow manager, tends to marijuana plants growing at GB Sciences Louisiana in Baton Rouge in August 2019.Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

There has been a lot of talk in the U.S. about legalizing recreational cannabis, and about cannabis’ potential to help with health issues.

Scientists working in medicine may have a lot to discover about...

Read more: Tweets about cannabis' health benefits are full of mistruths

How countries in conflict, like Iran and the US, still talk to each other

  • Written by Klaus W. Larres, Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor; Adjunct Professor of the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Diplomacy has provided a solution for how countries in conflict can communicate.Shutterstock/cybrain

Even countries that have broken ties with each other need to communicate in times of crisis and war.

That includes the U.S. and Iran, which have not had an official way to talk directly to each other since President Jimmy Carter cut off diplomatic...

Read more: How countries in conflict, like Iran and the US, still talk to each other

Children of color already make up the majority of kids in many US states

  • Written by Rogelio Sáenz, Professor of Demography, The University of Texas at San Antonio
The U.S. white majority is shrinking. Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

Demographers project that whites will become a minority in the U.S. in around 2045, dropping below 50% of the population.

That’s a quarter-century from now – still a long way away, right?

Not if you focus on children. White children right now are on the eve of becoming a...

Read more: Children of color already make up the majority of kids in many US states

Should college funding be tied to how many students graduate?

  • Written by Denisa Gandara, Assistant Professor, Southern Methodist University, Southern Methodist University
Colleges are increasingly being judged on how many students graduate. But is tying funding to graduation rates the way to go?George Rudy/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: Performance-based funding – a policy where a portion of state funding for public colleges and universities is based on how well they perform – is gaining in...

Read more: Should college funding be tied to how many students graduate?

Telecommuters create positive change – so why aren't employers more flexible about people working from home?

  • Written by Mohja Rhoads, Research Consultant and Lecturer in Policy, Planning and Development, California State University, Dominguez Hills
More workers are demanding the flexibility to work out of the office.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

More Americans are using flexible workplace practices – including telecommuting, co-working and off-peak start times – to add flexibility to their lives and eliminate or improve their commute.

One motivation? Rush hour traffic is getting...

Read more: Telecommuters create positive change – so why aren't employers more flexible about people working...

Monkeys smashing nuts with stones hint at how human tool use evolved

  • Written by Kristen S. Morrow, PhD Student in Anthropology and Integrative Conservation, University of Georgia
A capuchin monkey in Brazil hoists a stone tool to crack open nuts.Luca Antonio Marino, CC BY-ND

Human beings used to be defined as “the tool-maker” species. But the uniqueness of this description was challenged in the 1960s when Dr. Jane Goodall discovered that chimpanzees will pick and modify grass stems to use to collect termites....

Read more: Monkeys smashing nuts with stones hint at how human tool use evolved

Trump asks NATO allies for help with Iran after years of bashing the alliance

  • Written by Klaus W. Larres, Richard M. Krasno Distinguished Professor; Adjunct Professor of the Curriculum in Peace, War and Defense, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
President Donald Trump speaks from the White House on January 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump took a tough line in his address to the nation Jan. 8 in response to the Iranian airstrikes on two U.S. bases in Iraq.

Trump announced that he would impose more sanctions on Iran. He said he believed that...

Read more: Trump asks NATO allies for help with Iran after years of bashing the alliance

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