The Conversation

Trans people have a long history in Appalachia -- but politicians prefer to ignore it

Written by G. Samantha Rosenthal, Associate Professor of History, Roanoke College

Parents and activists who support transgender rights rally before a school board meeting on Aug. 10, 2021, in Ashburn, Virginia.Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

In recent public debate throughout the South, transness – the fact of being transgender – is framed as a kind of new social contagion.

Count me among the...

4 Ph.D. neuroscience students from other countries share the challenges of studying in the US

Written by Thiago Arzua, Ph.D. Candidate in Neuroscience, Medical College of Wisconsin

International students in the U.S. often face restrictions that make it hard to advance their research careers at the graduate level and beyond.Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images

International students make important contributions to the U.S. They can enrich scientific research through diversity of thought. They pay taxes, support...

How Cup Noodles became one of the biggest transpacific business success stories of all time

Written by Alisa Freedman, Professor of Japanese Literature, Cultural Studies and Gender, University of Oregon

The original Japanese packaging emphasized English characters over Japanese ones.Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

See a container of Cup Noodles at a convenience store and you might think of dorm rooms and cheap calories.

But there was a time when eating from the product’s iconic packaging exuded cosmopolitanism, when the on-the-go meal symbolized...

Nuns against nuclear weapons – Plowshares protesters have fought for disarmament for over 40 years, going to prison for peace

Written by Carole Sargent, Literary Historian, Georgetown University

Sister Megan Rice answers questions from members of a church group at a home in Maryville, Tennessee, in 2013.Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images

In July 2012 Sister Megan Rice, an 82-year-old Catholic nun, and two men walked past multiple broken security cameras and into the heart of a high-security nuclear complex. Y-12 in Oak...

Women lead religious groups in many ways – besides the growing number who have been ordained

Written by Deborah Whitehead, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

Rabbi Diana Villa, center, with colleagues at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, in Jerusalem, in 2013.AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

What constitutes women’s leadership in religious communities is open to many interpretations. In the U.S., more attention has been given to women’s ordination because of the highly public and visible...

Why Biden's threat to slap Russia with more sanctions is unlikely to deter Putin in Ukraine

Written by David Cortright, Director of Policy Studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Biden and Putin held a virtual summit on Dec. 7, 2021, to talk about Ukraine. Mandel Ngan, Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik, AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration is threatening harsh, “high impact” sanctions against Russia if it invades Ukraine.

U.S. intelligence officials say Russia has been preparing for a potential invasion by...

Michigan school shooting shows how violence can transition from online threats to real-world tragedy

Written by Mia Bloom, Professor and fellow at Evidence Based Cyber Security Program, GSU, Georgia State University

Ethan Crumbley being arraigned on charges including murder.AP Photo/Paul Sancya

The warning signs were there.

In the days leading up to the deadliest school shooting of 2021 in the U.S., 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley made a series of disturbing comments and messages – both online and in a drawing. He had been caught at school searching online for...

Grammy winner explains why Adele is right -- album tracks should not be shuffled

Written by Jose V Ruiz-Resto, Assistant Professor of Music, University of Florida

30, going on 33 1/3.Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images

For as long as albums have existed, they have offered listeners wonder, hope, truth and reality concerning the state of the human condition.

This is achieved through a group effort. Artists, producers, songwriters, engineers, artwork designers and liner note writers carefully curate and present a...

Stephen Sondheim's 'Assassins' lays bare the bizarre role of guns in American culture

Written by Jennifer Tucker, Associate Professor of History and Science in Society, Wesleyan University

Great playwrights have always used the theater to narrate and interrogate the history of their society.Douglas Elbinger/Getty Images

Long before the numbing regularity of school shootings, the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the current Supreme Court debate over whether to further relax gun laws, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim was sounding the...

Diversity helps nonprofits accomplish more when staff from different backgrounds can connect

Written by Brad R. Fulton, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management, Indiana University

Nonprofits are seeking to diversify their leadership.MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Increasing staff diversity does not automatically make a nonprofit more effective. But such organizations can benefit from that change if they can help their employees...