The Conversation

Hospitals often outsource important services to companies that prioritize profit over patients

Written by Leonard L. Berry, University Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Mays Business School; Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Texas A&M University

Many hospitals outsource services to specialized companies. JazzIRT/E+ via Getty Images

Hospitals have long embraced the practice of outsourcing some services to specialized companies. Much of this outsourcing is for nonclinical tasks such as laundry, information technology and cybersecurity, and outsourcing those types of services can boost...

How photography can build peace and justice in war-torn communities

Written by Pamina Firchow, Associate Professor of Coexistence and Conflict, Brandeis University

Project citizen-photographers from Las Cruces, Colombia.Edwin Cubillos Rodriguez, CC BY-ND

It’s not easy for most people to think about what peace and justice mean to them, or how to express it. But that’s what we ask people in war-torn communities to do, all around the world.

One place we did this is in Colombia, a country now testing...

Afghan troops sought safety in numbers – igniting a cascade of surrender

Written by Todd Lehmann, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, University of Michigan

In May, Afghan troops raised their national flag as the U.S. pulled out. Now, their flag is down too.Afghan Ministry of Defense Press Office via AP

The swift collapse of the Afghan military in recent days caught many in the U.S. by surprise, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the months after President Joe Biden’s April...

What a baker from ancient Pompeii can teach us about happiness

Written by Nadejda Williams, Professor of Ancient History, University of West Georgia

As they do today, threats of destruction loomed in ancient Pompeii.Art Media/Print Collector via Getty Images

In a testament to its resiliency, happiness, according to this year’s World Happiness Report, remained remarkably stable around the world, despite a pandemic that upended the lives of billions of people.

As a classicist, I find such...

Immunocompromised people make up nearly half of COVID-19 breakthrough hospitalizations – an extra vaccine dose may help

Written by Jonathan Golob, Assistant Professor of Infectious Disease, University of Michigan

Cancer and organ transplant patients, people with untreated HIV and people with other immunodeficiencies are at high risk of severe COVID-19 infection.burakkarademir/E+ via Getty Images

CC BY-ND

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially recommended on Aug. 12 and Aug. 13, 2021, respectively, that...