The Conversation

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's pending promotion sheds new light on his overlooked fight for equal rights after the Civil War

Written by Anne Marshall, Associate Professor of History, Mississippi State University

General Grant stands in front of his campaign tent at his headquarters in Virginia in 1865.Bettmann/Getty Images

Tucked away in an amendment to the FY2023 U.S. defense authorization bill is a rare instance of congressional bipartisanship and a tribute to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

If approved, the measure would posthumously promote Grant to...

Orthodox Judaism can still be a difficult world for LGBTQ Jews – but in some groups, the tide is slowly turning

Written by Orit Avishai, Professor of Sociology, Fordham University

Acceptance of LGBTQ identities is growing in some parts of Orthodox Judaism, but slowly.motimeiri/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Yeshiva University, the storied modern Orthodox Jewish university in New York City, is in the midst of a legal battle over its refusal to recognize the YU Pride Alliance, an undergraduate club.

While YU does not object to...

This course takes college students out of this world – and teaches them what it takes to become space pioneers

Written by Joshua D. Ambrosius, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Dayton

Going to space requires more than just rocket science.John Lamb via Getty Images

Uncommon Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of course:

“Space Exploration: Toward a Spacefaring Society”

What prompted the idea for the course?

The idea came from a desire to...

Weasels, not pandas, should be the poster animal for biodiversity loss

Written by David Jachowski, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Clemson University

A short-tailed weasel in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.Jacob W. Frank, NPS/Flickr

At the United Nations biodiversity conference that opens in Montreal on Dec. 7, 2022, nations aim to create a new global framework for transforming humanity’s relationship with nature. The conference logo features a human reaching to embrace a panda –...

The 4 biggest gift-giving mistakes, according to a consumer psychologist

Written by Julian Givi, Assistant Professor of Marketing, West Virginia University

If only little Gregory got a gift card ...Philipp Nemenz/The Image Bank via Getty Images

A good gift can elicit a surge of happiness and gratitude in the recipient. It also feels great to give, with psychologists finding that the joy of giving a gift is more pronounced than the pleasure of receiving one.

Unfortunately, there are times when you...

How fake foreign news fed political fervor and led to the American Revolution

Written by Jordan Taylor, Adjunct Instructor in History, Indiana University

An 1877 print called 'Concord - The First Blow For Liberty,' showing American patriots going off to fight the British on April 19, 1775.Print Collector/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Misinformation is often at the root of political extremism. During the 2022 United States midterm election, some of the most radical politicians in the Republican Party...

Jobs are up! Wages are up! So why am I as an economist so gloomy?

Written by Edouard Wemy, Assistant Professor of Economics, Clark University

Why so sad, George?Chuck Savage via Getty Images

In any other time, the jobs news that came down on Dec. 2, 2022, would be reason for cheer.

The U.S. added 263,000 nonfarm jobs in November, leaving the unemployment rate at a low 3.7%. Moreover, wages are up – with average hourly pay jumping 5.1% compared with a year earlier.

So why am I not...

Religious freedom and LGBTQ rights are clashing in schools and on campuses – and courts are deciding

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

People walk by the campus of Yeshiva University in New York City.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Disputes over religious freedom and LGBTQ rights in the United States have led to some of the most high-profile judicial controversies – and 2022 is no exception. For example, the Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 5, 2022, about whether a designer...

Nurses' attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination for their children are highly influenced by partisanship, a new study finds

Written by Filip Viskupič, Assistant Professor of Political Science, South Dakota State University

As of Nov. 30, 2022, 62.5% of children and adolescents are unvaccinated against COVID-19.South_agency/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Children of nurses who identify as Republican are less likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccination compared with children of nurses who identify as...

Brain-computer interfaces could allow soldiers to control weapons with their thoughts and turn off their fear – but the ethics of neurotechnology lags behind the science

Written by Nancy S. Jecker, Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Brain-computer interfaces raise many ethical questions about how and whether they should be used for certain applications.Wenjin Chen/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier...