Author: TheConversation

By Keren McGinity, Research Associate, Brandeis University October 2023 marks the anniversary of #MeToo: six years since actor Alyssa Milano’s tweet calling for women to speak out about experiences of abuse went viral and helped launch a global movement. Ever since, #MeToo has been shorthand for people’s experiences with sexual harassment and assault, from film sets and office buildings to college campuses and religious communities. Many articles about #MeToo and religion focus on large churches, such as the Southern Baptist Convention – spaces that are mostly white and Christian. Yet the phrase “Me Too” was first coined as a...

By Latisha Nixon-Jones, Associate Professor of Law, Jacksonville University As questions loom over the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to fund disaster recovery efforts, people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by recent wildfires and storms are trying to make their way through the difficult process of securing financial aid. Residents in communities hit by Hurricane Idalia, the Maui fires or other recent disasters have a long, tough journey ahead. Early estimates suggest Idalia caused US$12 billion to $20 billion in losses, primarily in property damage, acccording to Moody’s Analytics. And rebuilding Lahaina, Hawaii, has been forecast at over...

By Christopher A. Hartwell, Professor of International Business Policy, ZHAW School of Management and Law; and Paul Vaaler, Professor of Law and Business, University of Minnesota President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has come at huge economic costs. By conservative estimates, the Russian economy has taken a US$67 billion annual hit as a result of war expenses and the effects of economic sanctions. In the early stages of the invasion, some analysts put the costs even higher, at $900 million per day. These war costs show no sign of abating. The newly released Russian government budget for 2024 calls...

By Jerry Kang, Distinguished Professor of Law and Asian American Studies; Founding Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, University of California, Los Angeles In two cases challenging the use of race in college admissions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the educational benefit of racial diversity is no longer what it once called a “compelling interest.” These decisions effectively end race-conscious college admissions. In my view, as a legal scholar of implicit bias and critical race studies, they do not end discrimination against Asian Americans, which was the advertised goal of the lawsuits. The cases against Harvard and...

By Aaron Pilkington, PhD Candidate at Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver There will be only one winner in the war that has broken out between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. And it is neither Israel nor Hamas. In an operation coined “the Al-Aqsa Storm,” Hamas, whose formal name is the Islamic Resistance Movement, fired thousands of rockets into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters infiltrated Israel by land, sea and air. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed, more than 2,000 injured, and many taken hostage. In response, Israeli Prime...

By Charles O. Stanier, Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Iowa; Gregory Carmichael, Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Iowa; and Peter S. Thorne, University of Iowa Distinguished Chair, Professor of Environmental Health, University of Iowa Canada’s seemingly endless wildfires in 2023 introduced millions of people across North America to the health hazards of wildfire smoke. While Western states have contended with smoky fire seasons for years, the air quality alerts across the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this summer reached levels never seen there before. The smoke left the air so unhealthy in Philadelphia on...