The Conversation

Presidential greatness is rarely fixed in stone – changing attitudes on racial injustice and leadership qualities lead to dramatic shifts

Written by George R. Goethals, Professor in Leadership Studies, University of Richmond

A statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, sits in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Historians consistently have given Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, their highest rating because of his leadership during the Civil War. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Every American president has landed in the history books....

Turkish President Erdoğan's grip on power threatened by devastating earthquake

Written by Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University

Erdoğan is facing criticism over his handling of the disaster.Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

The earthquake that struck Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023, is first and foremost a human tragedy, one that has taken the lives of at least 45,000 people to date.

The disaster also has major implications for the country’s economy – the financial...

Do we need political parties? In theory, they're the sort of organization that could bring Americans together in larger purpose

Written by Maurizio Valsania, Professor of American History, Università di Torino

During President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech, many Congressional Democrats stood and clapped, but the GOP did not.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

The 27 million people who watched President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7, 2023, witnessed the spectacle of a family divided, with boos and cheers perfectly arranged along...

Ukraine war has exposed the folly – and unintended consequences – of 'armed missionaries'

Written by Ronald Suny, Professor of History and Political Science, University of Michigan

Putin's decision to go to war has seen great geopolitical ripples.Getty Images

The evening before Russia invaded Ukraine, it seemed to many observers – me included – nearly unimaginable that Putin would carry through with weeks of a threatened military attack. As I wrote at the time, Putin is not as erratic or rash as he is sometimes...

The war in Ukraine hasn't left Europe freezing in the dark, but it has caused energy crises in unexpected places

Written by Amy Myers Jaffe, Director, Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, and Research Professor, New York University

People protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, over daily power cuts, July 27, 2022.Sony Ramany/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Through a year of war in Ukraine, the U.S. and most European nations have worked to help counter Russia, in supporting Ukraine both with armaments and in world energy markets. Russia was Europe’s main energy supplier when it invaded...

How far must employers go to accommodate workers' time off for worship? The Supreme Court will weigh in

Written by Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education in the School of Education and Health Sciences and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton

The case stems from USPS' deal with Amazon to deliver on Sundays.mcdomx/E+ via Getty Images

Imagine you own a business with a few dozen employees. One, who is Muslim, asks if she can use a meeting room a few times a day for brief prayers – one of the five pillars of Islam. Another, who observes the Jewish Sabbath, says he cannot work on...

How vinyl chloride, the chemical in the Ohio train derailment and used to make PVC plastics, can damage your liver

Written by Juliane I. Beier, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Environmental Health, Member of Pittburgh Liver Research Center, University of Pittsburgh

An illustration of a human liver with cirrhosis. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library

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Vinyl chloride – the chemical in several of the train cars that derailed and burned in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 – can wreak havoc on the human liver.

It has been shown to cause liver cancer, as well as a...

Prisoners donating organs to get time off raises thorny ethical questions

Written by Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

Prisoners at a yard at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Neb.AP Photo/Nati Harnik

In January 2023 two Democratic representatives, Judith Garcia and Carlos Gonzalez, proposed a bill that would offer prisoners in Massachusetts a new way to win reduction in their sentences: by donating their bone marrow or vital organs.

The bill stated that...

How records of life's milestones help solve cold cases, pinpoint health risks and allocate public resources

Written by Paula Fomby, Professor of Sociology and Research Associate in Population Studies, University of Pennsylvania

Civil registries in the U.S. are spread across different local jurisdictions.eric1513/iStock via Getty Images Plus

After 65 years, Philadelphia police announced in December 2022 that they had identified the remains of Joseph Augustus Zarelli, a 4-year-old boy who was murdered in 1957. Because no one had ever come forward to reliably identify...

Super Bowl car ads sell Americans the idea that new tech will protect them

Written by Matthew Jordan, Associate Professor of Media Studies, Penn State

At the dawn of the car era, carmakers needed to allay fears that pedestrian lives were at risk.Library of Congress

Super Bowl ads tend to kick off trends, and it looks like the automotive industry will ramp up its pitch for electric vehicles after giving them center stage. Even Tesla, which has never run a Super Bowl ad, managed to sneak its Model...