The Conversation

TikTok's sea chanteys – how life under the pandemic has mirrored months at sea

Written by Jessica Floyd, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of English, Community College of Baltimore County

Daily life on a ship could be monotonous and dreary, so songs were sung to lighten the mood.Heritage Images via Getty Images

If you’ve perused social media in recent weeks, you may have come across people singing chanteys, which were work songs employed on merchant sailing ships.

Historically, chanteys – which are also spelled as...

The body's fight against COVID-19 explained using 3D-printed models

Written by Nathan Ahlgren, Assistant Professor of Biology, Clark University

Neutralizing antibodies attach to the tips of the spike proteins of the SARS CoV-2 virus.David Goodsell/ProteinDatabase, CC BY-SA

Editor’s note: In this interview, Nathan Ahlgren, assistant professor of biology at Clark University, uses 3D-printed models to explain what proteins do in viruses, how they interact with human cells, how the...

Harriet Tubman: Biden revives plan to put a Black woman of faith on the $20 bill

Written by Robert Gudmestad, Professor and Chair of History Department, Colorado State University

Tubman, left, with a few of the former slaves she helped escape. Bettmann/Getty Images

The Biden administration has revived a plan to put Harriet Tubman on the US$20 bill after Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary delayed the move.

That’s encouraging news to the millions of people who have expressed support for putting her face on the bill....

Women's health is better when women have more control in their society

Written by Siobhán Mattison, Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of New Mexico

A woman from one of the Mosuo farming communities in southwest China. The Mosuo were participants in a groundbreaking study examining gender-based health disparities. Siobhan Mattison, CC BY-SA

Gender disparities in health are not a phenomenon unique to the pandemic. Long before COVID-19, women made less money than men, had more child care...

Why COVID-19 won't kill cities

Written by John Rennie Short, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Cities are breeding grounds for creativity – and infectious diseases. Salvator Barki/Moment via Getty Images

Editor’s note: For those of you who live in cities, ask yourself: What it is about your urban lifestyle that makes it worth it despite the pollution, the noise and the traffic? Perhaps it’s the hundreds of unique...

Yes, customers do like it when waiters and hairdressers wear a mask – especially if it's black

Written by Cihan Cobanoglu, Professor of Hospitality and Tourism, University of South Florida

The authors didn't examine diners' perceptions of polka-dot masks specifically. AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Customers perceive a better quality of service, feel less anxious and exhibit more trust in businesses when waiters and other service workers wear a mask, according...

Biden has pledged to advance environmental justice – here's how the EPA can start

Written by David Konisky, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

'Cancer Alley' is an 80-mile stretch of chemical plants along the Mississippi River in Louisiana alongside many Black and poor communities.Giles Clarke/Getty Images

On his first day in office President Joe Biden started signing executive orders to reverse Trump administration policies. One sweeping directive calls for stronger action to protect...

Rural health care is in crisis – here are 5 innovative ways Biden can help it transform

Written by Lauren Hughes, State Policy Director, Farley Health Policy Center; Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

COVID-19 has overwhelmed many rural hospitals in the past few months, including this one in North Dakota.Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Rural hospitals have struggled with financial troubles for years. Over the past decade, more than 130 have closed, forcing residents to drive farther or delay needed care. Now, the COVID-19...

Your corner pharmacy – joining the front lines of the COVID-19 fight

Written by Sarah Lynch, Director of Skills Education and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Binghamton University, State University of New York

A pharmacy manager at CVS Health in Massachusetts prepares to administer vaccines at a veterans center.Associated Press

The new year has brought the deadliest weeks of the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic thus far, with thousands of deaths every day. It’s been several weeks since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first of two emergency...

How history textbooks will deal with the US Capitol attack

Written by Wendy Wall, Associate Professor of 20th Century American History, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Rioters clash with police as they try to enter the Capitol building. Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Editor’s note: The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol represented an event unlike any other in American history. But how will it be portrayed in history textbooks used in America’s K-12 schools and colleges? Here,...