The Conversation

Making music at a distance – how to come together online to spark your creativity

Written by Clint Randles, Associate Professor of Music Education, University of South Florida

Nathan Williams and his band play zydeco from the back of a truck in a Lousiana Mardi Gras parade. Philip Gould/Corbis via Getty Images

People are social creatures. While many of us are making the best of social isolation, we’re much better together than apart. This is especially true with music that we create collectively – everything...

3 things to consider before you let your child play chess online

Written by Alexey W. Root, Lecturer in Education, University of Texas at Dallas

Chess websites abound for those interested in taking up the royal game.romrodinka/Getty Images

Editor’s note: The school closures forced by COVID-19 have parents and students searching for ways to make the best of their time indoors. Here, Alexey Root, a former U.S. Women’s Chess Champion who teaches online courses about chess in...

Muslim women who cover their faces find greater acceptance among coronavirus masks – 'Nobody is giving me dirty looks'

Written by Anna Piela, Visiting Scholar in Religious Studies and Gender, Northwestern University

A woman wearing a niqab and headscarf, with other shoppers in Istanbul, August 13, 2018. YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Americans began donning face masks this week after federal and local officials changed their position on whether face coverings protect against coronavirus.

This is new terrain for many, who find themselves unable to recognize...

Who wants to be a governor now?

Written by Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia

Good old days: Before the coronavirus hit, governors, like California's Gavin Newsom, had easier jobs.AP/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool

“Governors Have the Best Political Jobs in America” is the name of one of my lectures in a leadership course I occasionally teach at the University of Virginia.

In that class, I describe how governors have huge...

Plummeting tax revenues will put governors in tough budget situations

Written by Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of Virginia

Good old days: Before the coronavirus hit, governors, like California's Gavin Newsom, had easier jobs.AP/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool

“Governors Have the Best Political Jobs in America” is the name of one of my lectures in a leadership course I occasionally teach at the University of Virginia.

In that class, I describe how governors have huge...

Terrorists, militants and criminal gangs join the fight against the coronavirus

Written by Jori Breslawski, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, University of Maryland

Members of an arm of Hezbollah spray disinfectant in a Beirut neighborhood to fight the spread of the coronavirus.AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are a toxic mix of tight quarters, few if any health services and little clean water for residents to wash their hands.

In these conditions ripe for the spread of the coronavirus, the...

Videoconferencing keeps people connected while the coronavirus keeps them inside – but privacy and security are far from perfect

Written by Elizabeth Stoycheff, Associate Professor of Communication, Wayne State University

Face to face, virtually.SammyVision/Moment via Getty Images

If, before COVID-19, you were concerned about all the data that technology companies had about you, just wait. As stay-at-home orders push more professional and social activities online, it’s becoming harder to remain in control.

Look no further than Zoom, which suffered dual security...

Study shows pangolins may have passed new coronavirus from bats to humans

Written by Yang Zhang, Professor of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, University of Michigan

This Sunda pangolin found throughout Southeast Asia is currently considered to be critically endangered.Piekfrosch / German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

Pangolins, not snakes, may be the missing link for transmission of the new coronavirus from bats to humans.

Since its initial outbreak at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, in late 2019,...

Why coronavirus death rates can't be summed up in one simple number

Written by Jonathan Fuller, Assistant Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh

When leaders make public health decisions, such as how long social distancing should be maintained to reduce the coronavirus death toll, they often use mathematical models. The numbers aren't always as simple as they seem.Alex Brandon/AP

When people fall seriously ill from the new coronavirus, death rates become a highly personal matter. Yet we...

Older Americans are risking coronavirus exposure to get their medications

Written by Sarah Vordenberg, Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy, University of Michigan

A new survey finds that, when it comes to medication, many older adults plan to keep going to the pharmacy as they always have.Braulio Jatar/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

It’s been nearly a month since the U.S. government began urging older Americans to stay home to avoid exposure to the new coronavirus. That means many older...