The Conversation

Cities with empty commercial space and housing shortages are converting office buildings into apartments – here’s what they’re learning

Written by John Weigand, Professor of Architecture and Interior Design and Interim Dean, College of Creative Arts, Miami University

Rooftop construction at a high-rise building undergoing conversion to apartments in Manhattan's financial district in New York City, April 11, 2023. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

It took a global pandemic to convince American businesses that their employees could work productively from home, or a favorite coffee shop. Post-COVID-19, employers are struggl...

Spikes, seat dividers, even ‘Baby Shark’ − camping bans like the one under review at SCOTUS are part of broader strategies that push out homeless people

Written by Robert Rosenberger, Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Individual rules against activities such as camping or just resting on a ledge may not seem like a big deal. But taken together, they make life more difficult for people without shelter.Robert Rosenberger

Should cities be allowed to outlaw sleeping in public, even when there are no beds available in local shelters? This is what the U.S. Supreme...

Inflation is cooling, but not fast enough for the Fed: Policymakers now expect only one rate cut in 2024

Written by Christopher Decker, Professor of Economics, University of Nebraska Omaha

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks to reporters on June 12, 2024.Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

It was a double-whammy Wednesday for economic-data enthusiasts.

During the morning of June 12, 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its latest inflation figures. The news was relatively good, showing that inflation rose 3.3% in...

Microrobots made of algae carry chemo directly to lung tumors, improving cancer treatment

Written by Zhengxing Li, Ph.D. Candidate in Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego

Part algae, part red blood cell, these microrobots can travel to hard-to-reach tumors deep in the lungs.From Zhang et al., Sci. Adv. 10, eadn6157 (2024), CC BY-NC

Tumors that travel to the lungs, or lung metastases, pose a formidable challenge in the realm of cancer treatment. Conventional chemotherapy often falls short because it’s...

Columbia Law Review article critical of Israel sparks battle between student editors and their board − highlighting fragility of academic freedom

Written by Neal H. Hutchens, Professor of Higher Education, University of Kentucky

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather near Columbia University on April 30, 2024.AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Editors of Columbia Law Review, a prominent journal run by students from the prestigious university’s law school, say the publication’s board of directors urged them on June 2, 2024, to refrain from publishing an article critical of Israel.

A...

American womanhood is not what it used to be − understanding the backlash to Dobbs v. Jackson

Written by Linda J. Nicholson, Susan E. and William P. Distinguished Professor of Women and Gender Studies and Professor of History Emerita, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis

Abortion rights activists rally outside the Supreme Court in April 2024. Associated Press

As someone who over the past 50 years has thought about and written many books and articles on U.S. feminism, I should have been less surprised by the strong electoral backlash to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health...

There’s a strange history of white journalists trying to better understand the Black experience by ‘becoming’ Black

Written by Alisha Gaines, Associate Professor of English, Florida State University

Since the mid-20th century, a handful of white journalists have tried to understand the complexity of the Black experience through donning a costume.Reg Burkett/Express/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

A peculiar desire seems to still haunt some white people: “I wish I knew what it was like to be Black.”

This wish is different from...

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ may be many Americans’ image of Judaism – but American Jews’ heritage is stunningly diverse

Written by Samira Mehta, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies & Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Students prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs at a camp for Jewish children of color in California.AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

“Tradition!” rings out the opening line of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the Broadway play that brought Jewish life to stages around the world. The 1964 musical gives audiences a window into...

Politics is still both local and personal – but only for independents, not for Democrats or Republicans

Written by Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz, Professor of Public Policy and Saul L. Stern Professor of Civic Engagement, University of Maryland

What independents see in their communities informs their political views.AJ_Watt/E+ via Getty Images

Independent voters who live in communities with lots of gun violence are very concerned about gun safety and gun regulations, our research has found. That should not be surprising.

But what is surprising is our companion finding: Democrats and...

Wastewater surveillance reveals pathogens in Detroit’s population, helping monitor and predict disease outbreaks since 2017

Written by Irene Xagoraraki, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University

Irene Xagoraraki leads an environmental virology lab at Michigan State University.Irene Xagoraraki, CC BY-ND

Wastewater surveillance hit the big time during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when officials started using this technique to monitor local virus levels. But my colleagues and I had been exploring wastewater’s promise as a public...