The Conversation

Poland’s hospitality is helping many Ukrainian refugees thrive – 5 takeaways

Written by Patrice McMahon, Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

These Ukrainians arrived in Poland from Kyiv by train in December 2022.Omar Marques/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

More than 8 million Ukrainian refugees have entered Poland since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. About 1.5 million of them have remained in the central European country rather than moving on to other places or returning home...

At a small liberal arts college, Black students learned to become 'bicultural' to succeed and get jobs – but stress followed

Written by Elizabeth Aries, Professor of Psychology, Amherst College

Black students reported stress as a result of trying to downplay their cultural identities. Halfpoint Images

In her forthcoming book, “The Impact of College Diversity: Struggles and Successes at Age 30,” Amherst College psychology professor Elizabeth Aries discovered a disturbing dual reality for Black students going to the small,...

Why can't Americans agree on, well, nearly anything? Philosophy has some answers

Written by James Steiner-Dillon, Associate Professor of Law, University of Dayton

Social media has made yelling past each other all the easier.We Are/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Does wearing a mask stop the spread of COVID-19? Is climate change driven primarily by human-made emissions? With these kinds of issues dividing the public, it sometimes feels as if Americans are losing our ability to agree about basic facts of the...

The cautionary tale of 'Dilbert'

Written by Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana University

What Adams writes and draws rarely attracts scrutiny – it's what he says that has gotten him in hot water.Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images

Dilbert, the put-upon chronicler of office life, has been given the pink slip.

On Feb. 26, 2023, Andrews McMeel Universal announced that it would no longer distribute the popular comic strip after its creator,...

Understanding mass incarceration in the US is the first step to reducing a swollen prison population

Written by Jeffrey Bellin, Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School

People incarcerated at a county jail in North Dakota gather together. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

The incarceration rate in the United States fell in 2021 to its lowest levels since 1995 – but the U.S. continues to imprison a higher percentage of its population than almost every other country.

The U.S. incarcerates 530 people for every 100,000...

I've spent 5 years researching the heroic life of Black musician Graham Jackson, but teaching his story could be illegal under laws in Florida and North Dakota

Written by David Cason, Associate Professor in Honors, University of North Dakota

Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson mourns the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt on April 13, 1945. Edward Clark/Life Magazine

The story of Graham Jackson is a timeless tale of American ingenuity, hard work and the cream rising to the top.

It’s also a tale of economic inequality, overt racism and America’s Jim Crow caste system.

As one of...

Sibling aggression and abuse go beyond rivalry – bullying within a family can have lifelong repercussions

Written by Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Senior Project Director, Sibling Aggression and Abuse Research and Advocacy Initiative (SAARA) at the Crimes Against Children Center, University of New Hampshire

Hurting a sibling is not the same thing as healthy rivalry.Glasshouse Images/The Image Bank via Getty Images

Nearly 80% of U.S. children grow up with a sibling. For many, brothers and sisters are life companions, close confidants and sharers of memories. But siblings also are natural competitors for parents’ attention. When brothers and...

Student debt cancellation program in jeopardy as Supreme Court justices hear arguments

Written by John Patrick Hunt, Professor of Law, University of California, Davis

The estimated cost of President Biden's student loan cancellation program is $430 billion.Douglas Rissing via Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Feb. 28, 2023, regarding a multistate lawsuit to block the Biden administration’s student loan debt cancellation program. The Conversation asked John Patrick Hunt, a law...

Mocking the police got an Ohio man arrested – and the Supreme Court ignored The Onion's plea to define the limits of parody

Written by Jane E. Kirtley, Professor of Media Ethics and Law, University of Minnesota

Satire can be dangerous.DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images

Can Americans be jailed for making fun of the government? Most would respond with a resounding “No, of course not! The First Amendment protects us from that.”

But Anthony Novak learned otherwise in March 2016, after he created and posted a fake version of the Parma, Ohio, Police...

Which state you live in matters for how well environmental laws protect your health

Written by Susan Kaplan, Research Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago

Pesticide use on school playing fields varies from state to state. matimix/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Your child could go to gym class on Monday morning and play soccer on a field that was sprayed over the weekend with 2,4-D, a toxic weedkiller that has been investigated as possibly causing cancer. Alternatively, the school grounds may have been...