The Conversation

The black Muslim female fashion trailblazers who came before model Halima Aden

Written by Kayla Renée Wheeler, Assistant Professor of Area & Global Studies and Digital Studies, Grand Valley State University

Halima Aden, the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini on the cover of the swimsuit edition of the Sports Illustrated.Yu Tsai

Media reports have celebrated Halima Aden becoming the first woman to be featured in the Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit edition wearing a hijab or a burkini. In the past, she has appeared on the covers of...

Activists want a San Francisco high school mural removed, saying its impact today should overshadow the artist's intentions

Written by Amna Khalid, Associate Professor of History, Carleton College

One of the objectionable panels depicts a dead Native American.Dick Evans, CC BY

For nearly a century, a massive mural by painter Victor Arnautoff titled “The Life of Washington” has lined the hallways of San Francisco’s George Washington High School.

It may not be there much longer.

The mural “glorifies slavery, genocide,...

How Uber and other digital platforms could trick us using behavioral science – unless we act fast

Written by Abbey Stemler, Assistant Professor of Business Law and Ethics, Indiana University

Your location isn't all it knows.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Uber’s business model is incredibly simple: It’s a platform that facilitates exchanges between people. And Uber’s been incredibly successful at it, almost eliminating the transaction costs of doing business in everything from shuttling people around town to delivering food.

T...

Road to measles elimination is predictable, but can be rocky

Written by Matthew Ferrari, Associate Professor of Biology, Pennsylvania State University

A 6-month-old who is infected with measles in Madagascar, March 2019.AP Photo/Laetitia Bezain

The United States has seen more measles cases so far in 2019 than in any year since elimination was declared in 2000 – meaning the disease is no longer endemic in the country, spreading constantly throughout the year. This year’s American...

Colorado shooting eerily recalls Columbine massacre

Written by Jillian Peterson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Hamline University

Parents gather in a circle to pray at a recreation center where students were reunited with their parents after a shooting at a suburban Denver middle school May 7.David Zalubowski/AP

Columbine. Contagion. Clusters.

These are the culprits to consider as the nation reels from yet another school shooting.

This one took place on May 7 at the STEM...

US 'foreign terrorist' designation is more punishment than threat detector

Written by Eric Fleury, Visiting Assistant Professor, College of the Holy Cross

The Trump administration in April designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, a branch of Iran’s military and intelligence services, as a terrorist group. Any groups designated this way are cut off from potential U.S. funding, communications with Americans, travel to the U.S. and other American “material support.”

Th...

Women entrepreneurs thrive managing talented teams and balancing many investors

Written by Richard A. Devine, American University

Women leaders tend to collaborate better than men.Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com

Only a handful of the top companies in the U.S. are led by a woman.

Efforts to change that and promote more women into positions of leadership have relied primarily on questions of equality. But is there also a business case for putting more women in charge?

Previous...

Deep sea carbon reservoirs once superheated the Earth – could it happen again?

Written by Lowell D. Stott, Professor, University of Southern California

Droplets rising from the Champagne vent on the ocean floor in the Mariana Islands. Fluids venting from the site contain dissolved carbon dioxide. NOAA Ocean Explorer

As concern grows over human-induced climate change, many scientists are looking back through Earth’s history to events that can shed light on changes occurring today. Analyzing...

Misery and memory in Glendora, Mississippi: How poverty is reshaping the story of Emmett Till's murder

Written by Dave Tell, Professor of Communication, University of Kansas

Some say Till's body was dumped from the Old Black Bayou Bridge in Glendora, Mississippi. Others dispute this detail.cmh2315fl/flickr, CC BY-NC

In August of 1955, Emmett Till was lynched in the Mississippi Delta. The 14-year-old African American reportedly whistled at a white woman, violating the racial norms of the Jim Crow South. For this...

Will Trump's use of executive privilege help him avoid congressional oversight? It didn't help Richard Nixon

Written by Ken Hughes, Research specialist, University of Virginia

On Aug. 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon resigned and left the White HouseAP/Chick Harrity

Like Donald Trump, Richard Nixon tried to stonewall congressional investigations into crimes allegedly committed in the White House.

“Why, we’ll just let it go to the (Supreme) Court. Fight it like hell,” Nixon said.

But the stone wall crumbled...