The Conversation

Graffiti has undergone a massive shift in a few quick decades as street art gains social acceptance

Written by Stefano Bloch, Associate Professor of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona

Tagging, once considered vandalism, has gained cachet and economic value in the art world. Ashim D’Silva for Unsplash.com, CC BY-SA

Graffiti has become so mainstream in recent years that auction houses, museums and entire art shows cater to street art connoisseurs and collectors around the world. Images in the news of young vandals...

On International Yoga Day, lessons from the first American yogi – Henry David Thoreau

Written by Jeremy David Engels, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State

Celebrating International Yoga Day on the beach in Miami Beach, Fla., in 2022.Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

International Yoga Day, dedicated to celebrating yoga as part of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” has proved controversial since its inception in 2015.

To celebrate the day on June 21, yoga gatherings are held...

The tree of life has been a powerful image in Jewish tradition for thousands of years – signifying much more than immortality

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Tree of life imagery appears in several sections of the Bible.Catherine MacBride/Moment via Getty Images

After weeks of wrenching testimony, jurors delivered a guilty verdict June 16, 2023, for the gunman who killed 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 – the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The next phase of the trial...

Mr. Modi comes to Washington – The Indian prime minister's visit could strengthen ties with the US, but also raises some delicate issues

Written by Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University

President Joe Biden meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021 at the Oval Office. Sarahbeth Maney-Pool/Getty Images

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to attend his first state visit at the White House on June 22, 2023, marking a historic moment that could potentially influence relations between India and the United States for...

Fascism lurks behind the dangerous conflation of the terms 'partisan' and 'political'

Written by Lawrence Torcello, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology

Supporters, including one wearing a t-shirt bearing former President Donald Trump's photo that says "Political prisoner," watch as Trump departs the federal courthouse after arraignment, June 13, 2023, in Miami. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

“The personal is political!” is a well-known rallying cry, originally used by left-leaning...

Southern Baptists expel churches with women pastors – but the debate’s not just about gender

Written by Andrew Gardner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Baylor University, Baylor University

Attendees, or 'messengers,' hold up their ballots during the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in 2022.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant group in the United States, overwhelmingly voted to expel two congregations with women pastors on June 14, 2023, during their annual convention.

SBC messengers,...

Big money bought the PGA Tour, but can it make golf a popular sport in Saudi Arabia?

Written by Josh Woods, Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University

The kingdom hopes to have 135,000 kids playing golf in school by 2025 and plans to build 23 new courses by 2030.JulyVelchev/iStock via Getty Images

The recent merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi-funded LIV Golf – now being reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice over antitrust concerns – stunned the golf community.

A...

How do spices get their flavor?

Written by Beronda L. Montgomery, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Grinnell College

Without spices, our meals would have less color and flavor.Helaine Weide/Moment via Getty Images

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

How do spices get their flavor? – Liam, age 6, San Francisco

I love savory and spicy foods....

Watered-down LGBTQ 'understanding' bill shows how far Japan's parliament is out of step with its society – and history

Written by Sabine Frühstück, Professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Rainbow ears, but is Japan's parliament listening? Lucas Calloch/@dreiimos/Unsplash, FAL

Japan has passed legislation aimed at “promoting the understanding” of members of the LGBTQ community – a watered-down bill that will do little to put the Asian country in line with fellow liberal democracies on the issue.

As many reports of the...

Juneteenth, Jim Crow and how the fight of one Black Texas family to make freedom real offers lessons for Texas lawmakers trying to erase history from the classroom

Written by Jeffrey L. Littlejohn, Professor of History, Sam Houston State University

Joshua Houston leads a Juneteenth Parade in Huntsville, Texas, in a photo circa 1900.Sam Houston Memorial Museum and Republic of Texas Presidential Library

The news was startling.

On June 19, 1865, two months after the U.S. Civil War ended, Union Gen. Gordon Granger walked onto the balcony at Ashton Villa in Galveston, Texas, and announced to the...