The Conversation

Americans in former Confederate states more likely to say violent protest against government is justified, 160 years after Gettysburg

Written by Alauna Safarpour, Postdoctoral Fellow, Network Science Institute, Northeastern University

Dead soldiers lie on the battlefield at Gettysburg in July of 1863. Corbis via Getty Images

Over the July Fourth long weekend, people will pour into the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to commemorate the 160th anniversary of one of the deadliest battles in U.S. history.

The three-day battle left over 50,000 Union and Confederate soldiers...

What is the difference between nationalism and patriotism?

Written by Joshua Holzer, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Westminster College

Donald Trump, left, and Harry Truman: Two former presidents who had different ideas about nationalism and patriotism.The Conversation, with images from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC

During his presidency, Donald Trump said, “We’re putting America first … we’re taking care of ourselves for a change,” and then declared,...

Putin's Ukraine war keeps yielding dividends -- but not for him

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

Members of the Wagner Group sit atop a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. Roman Romokhov/AFP via Getty Images

On June 23, 2023, 16 months into Russia’s war with Ukraine, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russia’s now disbanded potent mercenary fighting force and a protégé of Russian President...

A trauma-focused therapy is helping Ukrainian children besieged by war – a clinical psychologist explains how it could bring resilience to kids around the world

Written by Zlatina Kostova, Instructor in psychiatry, clinical psychologist and director of training at Lifeline for Kids, UMass Chan Medical School

In Lviv, Ukraine, a 15-year-old girl recovers from injuries sustained in the war. Scott Peterson via Getty Images

Childhood trauma is a global health problem. Every year, up to 1 billion children worldwide experience some form of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. More than two-thirds of children report at least one traumatic event by age 16.

With...

Lab-grown meat techniques aren't new – cell cultures are common tools in science, but bringing them up to scale to meet society's demand for meat will require further development

Written by André O. Hudson, Dean of the College of Science, Professor of Biochemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology

Cell cultures are often grown in petri dishes.Wladimir Bulgar/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

You might be old enough to remember the famous “Where’s the Beef?” Wendy’s commercials. This question may be asked in a different context since U.S. regulators approved the sale of lab-grown chicken meat made from cultivated...

States are weakening their child labor restrictions nearly 8 decades after the US government took kids out of the workforce

Written by John A. Fliter, Associate Professor of Political Science, Kansas State University

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law in 2023 that lets children under 16 work without official permission from their parents.AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo

A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022. By June 2023, Arkansas, Iowa, New Jersey and New Hampshire had enacted this kind of legislation, and...

Do you crush microbes when you step on them?

Written by Ashok Prasad, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado State University

You don't need to watch where you step when it comes to bacteria.Westend61/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.

Do viruses, bacteria and other small things get crushed like an ant when stepped on? – Ryan L., age...

Taking students to the range to learn about gun culture firsthand

Written by David Yamane, Professor of Sociology, Wake Forest University

'Sociology of Guns' students during a gun range field trip.Sandra Stroud Yamane, Author provided

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

Title of course:

“Sociology of Guns”

What prompted the idea for the course?

I grew up in the liberal culture of the San...

BMI alone will no longer be treated as the go-to measure for weight management – an obesity medicine physician explains the seismic shift taking place

Written by Scott Hagan, Assistant Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Body mass index has been the standard measure to classify obesity and overweight for decades. kaipong/iStock via Getty Images

Amid the buzz around weight loss drugs and rising rates of obesity worldwide, many health care professionals are questioning one of the key measures that has long been used to define obesity.

On June 14, 2023, the American...

Asian folktales offer moral lessons that help reduce racial prejudice in children

Written by Minjeong Kim, Associate professor, UMass Lowell

A teacher tells a story to a group of students.Getty Images

In a Cambodian children’s folktale, one man is afraid of lawyers and another is afraid of filth. As the story goes, both are constantly bombarded by their fears despite their efforts to avoid them.

The moral of the tale is revealing and contains a powerful anti-racism message: What...