The Conversation

Young musicians can perform on virtual stages when schools are closed

Written by Christopher Cayari, Assistant Professor of Music, Purdue University

Students at Long Branch Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, used tech to perform an 'Aristocats' number.William Heim/Arlington Public Schools, CC BY-NC-SA

Live performances ceased across the U.S. and around the world in early 2020 as governments everywhere barred large gatherings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

New York City’s Time...

How to stay honest when filing taxes in a pandemic year

Written by Christian B. Miller, A.C. Reid Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University

Filing taxes during coronavirus times.Drazen/ E+ via Getty Images

Many in the U.S. will be filing their personal income tax returns in the next few days, as the deadline to do so was pushed from April 15 to July 15 due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

With almost half of those in the U.S. having lost at least some employment income due to the virus, the...

The UAE's Mars mission seeks to bring Hope to more places than the red planet

Written by Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies

Star trails in the desert.TARIQ_M_1 / Getty Images

On July 14, a new Mars-bound spacecraft will launch from Japan. While several Mars missions are planned to launch over the next month, what makes this different is who’s launching it: the United Arab Emirates.

Though new to space exploration, the UAE has set high goals for the probe, named...

When the world changes under a political scientist's feet

Written by Shea Streeter, Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow /Assistant Professor (starting 2021), University of Michigan

George Floyd's death sparked a movement.Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images

The scientific method isn’t easy to use during rapid social change.

Protests in response to George Floyd’s death spread to over 2,000 cities and towns across the U.S. People of all backgrounds are participating in this national uprising, demanding an end...

Smartphone witnessing becomes synonymous with Black patriotism after George Floyd's death

Written by Allissa V. Richardson, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Protesters against racist police violence encounter police in Washington, D.C., on May 31.Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

A flashbulb emits a high-pitched hum. A photograph of the legendary 19th-century abolitionist and newspaperman Frederick Douglass fades in on-screen.

We hear the “Hamilton” alumnus actor Daveed Diggs before we see...

How deadly is COVID-19? A biostatistician explores the question

Written by Ronald D. Fricker, Jr., Professor of Statistics and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Administration, Virginia Tech

The number of confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19 in New York City was 23,247 as of July 10, which is more than eight times the number who died in the 9/11 attack.Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images

The latest statistics, as of July 10, show COVID-19-related deaths in U.S. are just under 1,000 per day nationally, which is down from a peak...

Coronavirus's painful side effect is deep budget cuts for state and local government services

Written by Carla Flink, Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University

Washington state cut both merit raises and instituted furloughs as it faced a projected $8.8 billion budget deficit because of the coronavirus.Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

Nationwide, state and local government leaders are warning of major budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. One state – New York – even referred to...

Supreme Court upholds American Indian treaty promises, orders Oklahoma to follow federal law

Written by Kirsten Carlson, Associate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State University

The eastern part of Oklahoma, about half of the state's total land, was granted by Congress to Native American tribes in the 19th century, and is still under tribal sovereignty, the Supreme Court has ruled.Kmusser, based on 1890s data/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Land in eastern Oklahoma that the United States promised to the Creek Nation in an 1833...

How one woman pulled off the first consumer boycott – and helped inspire the British to abolish slavery

Written by Tom Zoellner, Professor of English, Chapman University

An illustration of a sugar plantation in Antigua.The British Library, CC BY-ND

While many companies have trumpeted their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, others are beginning to face consumer pressure for not appearing to do enough.

For example, some people are advocating a consumer boycott of Starbucks over an internal memo that...

How talking about the coronavirus as an enemy combatant can backfire

Written by Tabitha Moses, MD/PhD Candidate, Wayne State University

Big, tough and strong is only helpful when you're fighting other people.Sergi Rodriguez Lopez/EyeEm via Getty Images

We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers.

As the “invisible enemy” rolled in, entire economies halted as populations “sheltered in...