The Conversation

Putin could be charged with the crime of aggression for the Ukraine war – but it's an expensive process with high stakes

Written by Shelley Inglis, Executive Director, University of Dayton Human Rights Center, University of Dayton

There have been calls to charge and prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A 21-year-old Russian soldier pleaded guilty in a trial in Kyiv on May 18, 2022, for shooting a Ukrainian man in the head after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022.

It marked the first trial of a...

A quest for significance gone horribly wrong – how mass shooters pervert a universal desire to make a difference in the world

Written by Arie Kruglanski, Professor of Psychology, University of Maryland

A memorial to the victims of the mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket.Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Agonizing questions are being raised by the recent tragic shooting incident in Buffalo, New York, where 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron is alleged to have shot 10 people dead and wounded three. As in the recent...

How to know if your practice of Buddhism through listening to podcasts or use of meditation apps is 'authentic'

Written by Gregory Grieve, Head and Professor, Religious Studies Department, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

Guided meditation being done through the use of online apps.Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for POPSUGAR

Is digital Buddhism, which includes computer-assisted practices such as listening to podcasts and using meditation applications apps, authentic?

Some scholars have argued that digital Buddhism epitomizes Western appropriation and dilution of...

Appealing to Trump (and his base) might have worked in Pennsylvania primaries – but it won't play so well in the midterms

Written by Daniel J. Mallinson, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration, School of Public Affairs, Penn State

The doctor is in ... with Trump, at least.AP Photo/Gene J. Puska

The Pennsylvania primaries of May 17, 2022, proved a good night for Donald Trump, a better one for “Trumpism” and a problem for moderates hoping for a candidate primed to capture the center in the upcoming midterms.

Trump’s officially endorsed Senate candidate,...

Why is the FDA seeking to ban menthol cigarettes? 4 questions answered

Written by David Mendez, Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan

Menthol cigarettes were responsible for an estimated 377,000 premature deaths in the U.S. during the past 40 years.BAKERLY/iStock via Getty Images

The FDA has opened the public comment period for the agency’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes. Epidemiology and global health professor Rafael Meza studies data modeling in disease prevention...

Public education is supposed to prepare an informed citizenry – elementary teachers have just two hours a week to teach social studies

Written by Kenneth Anthony, Associate Professor of Elementary Education, Mississippi State University

A student listens to a U.S. history lesson in a New Mexico classroom.AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio

The founders of the United States were intentionally building a nation based on the ideals of the Enlightenment, a movement centered on individual happiness, knowledge and reason. This new approach to defining a country – rather than basing it on...

Bad news for the 2022 hurricane season: The Loop Current, a fueler of monster storms, is looking a lot like it did in 2005, the year of Katrina

Written by Nick Shay, Professor of Oceanography, University of Miami

An image from satellite data shows the strong Loop Current and swirling eddies.Christopher Henze, NASA/Ames

The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1, and the Gulf of Mexico is already warmer than average. Even more worrying is a current of warm tropical water that is looping unusually far into the Gulf for this time of year, with the power to...

Whether in war-torn Ukraine, Laos or Spain, kids have felt compelled to pick up crayons and put their experiences to paper

Written by Paul Morrow, Human Rights Fellow, University of Dayton

In 1970, a 16-year-old Laotian boy drew a picture of his school being bombed. 'Many people' died, he wrote, 'But I didn't know who because I wasn't courageous enough to look.'Legacies of War, CC BY-SA

“They still draw pictures!”

So wrote the editors of an influential collection of children’s art that was compiled in 1938 during the...

Nonprogrammers are building more of the world's software – a computer scientist explains 'no-code'

Written by Tam Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Dayton

Traditional computer programming has a steep learning curve that requires learning a programming language, for example C/C++, Java or Python, just to build a simple application such as a calculator or Tic-tac-toe game. Programming also requires substantial debugging skills, which easily frustrates new learners. The study time, effort and...

US child welfare system is falling short because of persistent child poverty

Written by Astraea Augsberger, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Boston University

Keeping families that are enduring hard times together is hard but usually benefits children.Westend61 via Getty Images

Although government spending on the child welfare system totaled US$33 billion in 2018, the most recent year for which an estimate is available, it’s still failing to meet all children’s needs because of overwhelming...