The Conversation

Teachers often struggle to address mass traumatic events in class

Written by Jennifer Greif Green, Associate Professor of Special Education, Boston University

Educators get little to no training in how to deal with traumatic events.Pixelimage / Getty Images

After the Paris attacks of 2015 – a series of attacks in which gunmen opened fire on nightspots and a concert hall in Paris – a U.S.-based high school teacher of French described her failure to discuss the attacks in class as a “lost...

Supreme Court allows states to use unlawfully gerrymandered congressional maps in the 2022 midterm elections

Written by Henry L. Chambers Jr., Professor of Law, University of Richmond

Mississippi state legislators review an option for redrawing the state's voting districts at the state Capitol in Jackson on March 29, 2022. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

In the upcoming midterm elections, states may use maps that a federal court has found unlawful.

You read that right: The U.S. Supreme Court recently barred federal courts from...

Listening to young people could help reduce pandemic-related harms to children

Written by Tammy Chang, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Michigan

Kids say they have felt ignored amid policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic that seemed more focused on the fates of restaurants, bars and entertainment venues than keeping schools open and safe.kali9/E+ via Getty Images

As the COVID-19 pandemic extends into a third year, experts have gained a much better understanding of its consequences for...

Should we protect nature for its own sake? For its economic value? Because it makes us happy? Yes

Written by Bradley J. Cardinale, Department Head, Ecosystem Science and Management, Penn State

A ladybug crawls on a paloverde flower in Joshua Tree National Park, California.Hannah Schwalbe, NPS/Flickr

As spring phases into summer in North America, with trees flowering and birds migrating, nature seems abundant. In fact, however, the Earth is losing animals, birds, reptiles and other living things so fast that some scientists believe the...

As the UK celebrates Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, why will so many Americans also be cheering her on?

Written by Arianne Chernock, Professor of History, Boston University

Polling backs it up – Americans really do look favorably on Queen Elizabeth II.AP Photo/Alberto Pezzal

Whether it is reporting the role of the Sex Pistols or that of the royal corgis, U.S. media has suddenly taken an interest in a peculiar four-day ceremony taking place across the pond: Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.

Starting on...

What are digital twins? A pair of computer modeling experts explain

Written by Amlan Ganguly, Associate Professor of Computer Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology

A digital twin attempts to capture every aspect of a real thing, including up-to-the-moment changes.lambada/E+ via Getty Images

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a real system – a building, the power grid, a city, even a human being – that mimics the characteristics of the system. A digital twin is more than just a computer...

'Masked' cancer drug stealthily trains immune system to kill tumors while sparing healthy tissues, reducing treatment side effects

Written by Aslan Mansurov, Postdoctoral Researcher in Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering

Dendritic cells (green) produce cytokines like IL-12, which can train T cells (pink) to attack tumors.Victor Segura Ibarra and Rita Serda/National Cancer Institute via Flickr, CC BY-NC

Many cancer treatments are notoriously savage on the body. Drugs often attack both healthy cells and tumor cells, causing a plethora of side effects. Immunotherapies...

Modern-day struggle at James Madison's plantation Montpelier to include the descendants' voices of the enslaved

Written by Stephen P. Hanna, Professor of Geography, University of Mary Washington

Reconstructed slave cabins at James Madison's Montpelier in Virginia.Stephen P. Hanna, Author provided

On May 17, 2022, after weeks of negative stories on Montpelier in the national press, the foundation that operates the Virginia plantation home of James Madison finally made good on its promise to share authority with descendants of people...

More student or faculty diversity on campus leads to lower racial gaps in graduation rates

Written by Nicholas A. Bowman, Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education, University of Iowa

At colleges with a majority-Black student population, Black and white students graduate at the same rate. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images

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

The big idea

College graduation gaps between Black and white students tend to shrink when there are...

How the role and visibility of chaplains changed over the past century

Written by Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University

A chaplain prays for a COVID-19 patient in Los Angeles while on a video call with the patient's daughter in November 2020.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The COVID-19 pandemic brought new attention to the work of chaplains.

Before the pandemic, as an article in The New York Times put it, the place of the hospital chaplain was “at the bedside, holding a...