The Conversation

What classic literature knows about refugees fleeing persecution and war

Written by Robert F. Barsky, Professor of Humanities, and Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

A Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces member hugs a resident leaving his hometown following Russian artillery shelling in Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 9, 2022.AP Photo/Oleksandr Ratushniak

The United Nations has warned that the war in Ukraine could create “the biggest refugee crisis this century.” Two and a half...

11 things you can do to adjust to losing that hour of sleep when daylight saving time starts

Written by Deepa Burman, Co-Director Pediatric Sleep Evaluation Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

The time change can make you feel jet-lagged.Laura Olivas/Moment via Getty Images

As clocks march ahead and daylight saving time begins, there can be anxiety around losing an hour of sleep and how to adjust to this change.

Usually an hour seems like an insignificant amount of time, but even this minimal loss can cause problems. There can be significa...

MLB's new collective bargaining agreement fails to address players' biggest grievances

Written by Victor Matheson, Professor of Economics and Accounting, College of the Holy Cross

Players voted to accept Major League Baseball's offer on a new labor deal, paving the way to end the 99-day lockout and salvage the season.AP Photo/Gregory Bull

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” second baseman Rogers Hornsby once said. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and...

St. Brigid, the compassionate, sensible female patron saint of Ireland, gets a lot less recognition than St. Patrick

Written by Lisa Bitel, Professor of History & Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

St. Brigid of Kildare's shrine in Faughart, County Louth, Ireland.(Photo by RDImages/Epics/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

On March 17, the world celebrates the feast day of St. Patrick, a zealous British bishop of the fifth century who became famous for spreading Christianity in Ireland. Patrick is Ireland’s main patron saint.

But as a medie...

Oil price shocks have a long history, but today's situation may be the most complex ever

Written by Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington

Gas prices at a Mobil gas station in West Hollywood, Calif., on March 8, 2022.AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

The world is in the grip of an oil price shock. In just a few months, prices have risen from US$65 a barrel to over $130, causing fuel costs to surge, inflationary pressure to rise and consumer tempers to flare. Even before Russia’s invasion of...

Ukraine war and anti-Russia sanctions on top of COVID-19 mean even worse trouble lies ahead for global supply chains

Written by Tinglong Dai, Professor of Operations Management & Business Analytics, Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University

Supply chains were already in disarray thanks to overcongested ports, as in Los Angeles.AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

Francis Fukuyama, the American political scientist who once described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “end of history,” suggested that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might be called “the end of the end of...

Humanitarian corridors could help civilians safely leave Ukraine – but Russia has a history of not respecting these pathways

Written by Kirsten Gelsdorf, Professor of Practice and Director of Global Humanitarian Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, University of Virginia

As Russia continues to target houses, apartment buildings, hospitals and civilians in Ukraine, there are mounting calls from international aid groups to safely evacuate and protect Ukrainians caught in the war.

Simultaneously, rising numbers of people still in Ukraine are in desperate need of food, medical supplies, water and other lifesaving...

The American founders could teach Putin a lesson: Provoking an unnecessary war is not how to prove your masculinity

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

There are lots of official photos of Russian President Vladimir Putin shirtless, including this one from August 2017.Alexey Nikolsky/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin of Russia loves shows of machismo. He constantly pumps up his swagger. He is wont to disparage women. And he has repeatedly appeared on the public stage bare-cheste...

Organs from genetically engineered pigs may help shorten the transplant wait list

Written by David Kaczorowski, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences

Xenotransplantation has made significant strides over the past few decades.BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Demand for life-saving organ transplantation is at an all-time high. In 2021, a record 41,000-plus organ transplants were performed in the U.S., with top numbers for kidney, liver and heart transplants. But a limited supply of...

Guns, not roses – here's the true story of penicillin’s first patient

Written by Bill Sullivan, Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Indiana University School of Medicine

Penicillin ushered in the antibiotics revolution, with amazing results during war and peace.Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL via Getty Images

Albert Alexander was dying. World War II was raging, and this police officer of the county of Oxford, England, had developed a severe case of sepsis after a cut on his face became badly infected....