The Conversation

‘Each bears his own ghosts’: How the classics speak to these days of fear, anger and presidential candidates stalking the land

Written by Rachel Hadas, Professor of English, Rutgers University - Newark

“Fear stalks the land, including the Upper West Side,” I wrote to a friend the other day. A week before the election, everyone seems to be afraid.

Not that we’re afraid of the same things. Newspaper owners and corporate leaders fear Donald Trump’s retribution if they endorse Kamala Harris. Election workers fear the mob....

A new president will be elected − but it may take some time to determine who wins

Written by John M. Murphy, Professor of Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

For more than 100 years, media of many kinds tried to be the first to report presidential election results. Although that urge still exists, pundits and analysts are now more concerned with accuracy than speed.

That’s because of the 2020 election. A raging pandemic, a divided country, a close race, polling failures, false presidential claims...

The ‘Courage Tour’ is attempting to get Christians to vote for Trump − and focused on defeating ‘demons’

Written by Michael E. Heyes, Associate Professor and Chair of Religion, Lycoming College

Evangelist Lance Wallnau addresses people at the 'Courage Tour' rally. Michael E. Heyes, CC BY

As a scholar of religion, I attended the “Courage Tour,” a series of religious-political rallies, when it made a stop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, from Sept. 27-28, 2024.

From what I observed, the various speakers on the tour used...

Religion in the workplace is tricky – but employers and employees both lose when it becomes a total taboo

Written by Christopher P. Scheitle, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University

Many offices make a point to celebrate diversity, but what does that look like when it comes to faith?FatCamera/E+ via Getty Images

Since we spend so much of our lives at our jobs, it’s only natural that conversations with colleagues go beyond the work in front of us. People share interests and hobbies, family struggles, health concerns, and...

Simple science summaries written by AI help people understand research and trust scientists

Written by David Markowitz, Associate Professor of Communication, Michigan State University

Smoothing out the complexity can help with comprehension.kislev/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Artificial intelligence-generated summaries of scientific papers make complex information more understandable for the public compared with human-written summaries, according to my recent paper published in PNAS Nexus. AI-generated summaries not only...

Fighting antibiotic resistance at the source – using machine learning to identify bacterial resistance genes and the drugs to block them

Written by Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Mississippi State University

Current methods of identifying resistance mutations in microbes can miss other ways resistance can develop.koto_feja/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health problem around the world. When bacteria like E. coli no longer respond to antibiotics, infections become harder to treat.

To develop new antibiotics,...

Scholar’s new rap album seeks to turn the tables on the ‘masters’ from the Old South

Written by A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia

Could the path to the Ph.D. run through the recording studio?Ratchapon Supprasert via iStock / Getty Images Plus

Usually when a rap artist comes out with a new album, it’s released by a record label as part of their career as an entertainer. For Dr. A.D. Carson, a professor of hip-hop at the University of Virginia, his latest album –...

Time to freak out? How the existential terror of hurricanes can fuel climate change denial

Written by Jamie Goldenberg, Professor of Psychology and Area Director, Cognitive, Neuroscience and Social Psychology, University of South Florida

Hurricane Milton flooded parts of the Tampa Bay region just days after Hurricane Helene made landfall nearby.Bryan R. Smithy/AFP via Getty Images

As TVs across Florida broadcast the all-too-familiar images of a powerful hurricane headed for the coast in early October 2024, people whose homes had been damaged less than two weeks earlier by Hurricane...

People with blindness and low vision are squeezed by high costs of living − new research

Written by Zachary Morris, Associate Professor of Social Welfare, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

A young blind man prepares to board a Denver RTD light rail train in 2019.Robert Alexander/GettyImages

Colin Wong, a blind Ph.D. student, can’t forget having to pay US$100 for an Uber when he needed to take a standardized test. There was no testing center in San Francisco, where he lived, that could accommodate his disability.

That kind of...

What the presidential candidates have done − and where they stand − on education

Written by Robert Shand, Assistant Professor of Education, American University

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris present dueling platforms for U.S. education. Getty Images

When it comes to education policy, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris not only have mostly distinct visions but also distinct track records.

Harris is calling for a wider role for the federal government and larger investment to...