The Conversation

Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents

Written by Jennifer Earl, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona

Police in Tulsa, Okla., march toward a crowd of demonstrators on June 20, 2020.Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s note: Calls to reform, defund or even outright abolish police in the U.S. are coming from many corners of American society. The Conversation asked several scholars who study different aspects of policing to explain...

Museums preserve clues that can help scientists predict and analyze future pandemics

Written by Pamela Soltis, Distinguished Professor and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida

Specimens like these at Dublin's Natural History Museum contain valuable information about the evolution of pathogens and host organisms. Kieran Guckian, CC BY

In less than 20 years, communities around the globe have been hit by a string of major disease outbreaks: SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika and now, COVID-19. Nearly all emerging infectious diseases...

President Trump revives J. Edgar Hoover's tyrannical playbook

Written by Stephen M. Underhill, Associate Professor, Marshall Univeristy

J. Edgar Hoover testifies before the House on Un-American Activities Committee.Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has denounced his critics for the same claims made against him, attacking their credibility and portraying himself as a victim of conspiracies.

His lies are well documented, yet he accuses reporters of...

To fight US racism, research prescribes a nationwide healing process

Written by Benjamin Appel, Associate Professor of International Relations, Michigan State University

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, documents the lynchings of more than 4,400 people between 1877 and 1950.AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz

As the U.S. prepares to celebrate another year of its independence, the country is paying renewed attention to the founders, and how their legacy of slavery is linked to systemic racism.

C...

When Supreme Court justices defy expectations

Written by Alison Dundes Renteln, Professor of Political Science, Anthropology, Public Policy and Law, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, surprised many court watchers by authoring the decision to expand the Civil Rights Act.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in the important and much-anticipated case, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, that the LGBTQ community is protected from employment discrimination.

The...

Can people spread the coronavirus if they don't have symptoms? 5 questions answered about asymptomatic COVID-19

Written by Monica Gandhi, Professor of Medicine, Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Screening for symptoms can catch some cases of COVID-19, but about people who are infected but not showing any symptoms?AP Photo/John Raoux

Screening for symptoms of COVID-19 and self-quarantine are good at preventing sick people from spreading the coronavirus. But more and more evidence is suggesting that people without symptoms are spreading the...

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

Written by Brian J. Love, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan

A discarded medical glove in Jersey City, N.J., April 27, 2020.Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the U.S. recycling industry. Waste sources, quantities and destinations are all in flux, and shutdowns have devastated an industry that was already struggling.

Many items designated as reusable, communal or secondhand have...

Islamic State militants incite attacks, gloat at US protests and pandemic deaths

Written by Brian Glyn Williams, Professor of Islamic History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

An Iraqi militia member inspects the site of an Islamic State attack on Iraqi troops on May 3.Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images

An Islamic State follower posted the hashtag “#AmericaBurning” in a discussion on the Telegram chat system in early June, and another posted a message that read “You are waking up this morning to news...

America's Black female mayors face dual crises of COVID-19 and protests – but these women are used to uphill battles

Written by Sharon Austin, Professor of Political Science, University of Florida

San Francisco mayor London Breed declaring a shelter-in-place order early in the coronavirus pandemic, March 17, 2020.Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Mayors are elected to govern their cities, serve and protect citizens, maintain law and order and bring about economic prosperity. Those are tall orders today, as American cities are wracked by...

Islamic State calls for followers to spread coronavirus, exploit pandemic and protests

Written by Brian Glyn Williams, Professor of Islamic History, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

An Iraqi militia member inspects the site of an Islamic State attack on Iraqi troops on May 3.Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images

An Islamic State group online publication in India has called for its supporters to spread the coronavirus, saying “every brother and sister, even children, can contribute to Allah’s cause by becoming the...