The Conversation

Making sugar, making 'coolies': Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-century Louisiana plantations

Written by Moon-Ho Jung, Professor of History, University of Washington

Harvesting on a Louisiana sugar plantation, 1875.Alfred R. Waud/Library of Congress

Editor’s note: This article quotes historical sources using terms now considered racist to describe Black and Asian workers.

The recent surge in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. has put a spotlight on Asian American history, at least for a moment. “Racism...

How the Vietnam War pushed MLK to embrace global justice, not only civil rights at home

Written by Anthony Siracusa, Senior Director of Inclusive Culture and Initiatives, University of Colorado Boulder

President Lyndon B. Johnson, right, talks with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in his White House office in Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 1964.AP Photo

On July 2, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. stood behind President Lyndon Baines Johnson as the Texan signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although not the first civil rights...

A 21st-century reinvention of the electric grid is crucial for solving the climate change crisis

Written by Charles F. Kutscher, Fellow and Senior Research Associate, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder

Integrating solar panels with farming can provide partial shade for plants.Werner Slocum/NREL

In the summer of 1988, scientist James Hansen testified to Congress that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels was dangerously warming the planet. Scientific meetings were held, voluminous reports were written, and national pledges were made, but because...

'Southern hospitality' doesn't always apply to Black people, as revealed in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

Written by Barbara Harris Combs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Clark Atlanta University

Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, listens as attorneys speak outside the Glynn County Courthouse on July 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Georgia. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The idea of community and who belongs and who does not was a common theme in the Jan. 7, 2022, sentencing hearing of three white men convicted of killing Ahmaud...

Ethical US consumers struggled to pressure the sugar industry to abandon slavery with less success than their British counterparts

Written by Calvin Schermerhorn, Professor of History, Arizona State University

The enslaved people who produced sugar before the Civil War did dangerous and grueling work.The Print Collector/Getty Images

Twenty-two-year-old Sam Watts saw the Virginia coastline vanish while he was aboard a domestic slave ship in the fall of 1831. Andrew Jackson was president, and slave traders had bought Watts for US$450 (about $14,500 in 2022...

Radicalization pipelines: How targeted advertising on social media drives people to extremes

Written by Jeanna Matthews, Professor of Computer Science, Clarkson University

Many people are led to conspiracy theories and extremist views from less extreme positions.Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Have you had the experience of looking at some product online and then seeing ads for it all over your social media feed? Far from coincidence, these instances of eerily accurate advertising provide glimpses into the...

What is wishcycling? Two waste experts explain

Written by Jessica Heiges, PhD Candidate in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley

When in doubt, throw it out – but not in the recycling bin. Basak Gurbuz Derman/Moment via Getty Images

Wishcycling is putting something in the recycling bin and hoping it will be recycled, even if there is little evidence to confirm this assumption.

Hope is central to wishcycling. People may not be sure the system works, but they choose to...

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired new health habits for these 4 scholars – here's what they put into practice and why

Written by Libby Richards, Associate Professor of Nursing, Purdue University

Health and well-being come in many forms, including finding solitude and connection with nature. Pheelings Media/iStock via Getty Images Plus

For some people, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about change – some welcome and some not so welcome – to their routines or to what they prioritize. We asked four scholars to reflect on a health...

The battles over voting rights, preventing fraud and access to ballots – 5 essential reads

Written by Naomi Schalit, Senior Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation US

People concerned with voting rights gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.Ty O'Neil/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

President Joe Biden chose Atlanta – the historic home of the 20th century’s battle for civil and voting rights – to make a strong argument on Jan. 11, 2021,...

Why the US cares about what happens in Kazakhstan – 5 questions answered by former ambassador

Written by Larry C. Napper, Professor of the Practice, Texas A&M University

A military patrol detains a protester in Kazakhstan.Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images)

Violent unrest in Kazakhstan sparked by rising gas prices led the central Asian nation’s leader to impose a severe crackdown and call in Russian troops to quell protests – moves that have led to concern from Western countries, including the U.S.

R...