Author: TheConversation

By Willow Kreutzer, PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of Iowa; and Stephen Bagwell, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri-St. Louis When natural disasters strike, women and girls tend to experience disproportionate challenges and heightened risks. They are much more likely than men to experience sexual violence and health problems. Women and girls also face greater professional and educational setbacks. So it should come as no surprise that challenges continue to mount for women in Turkey and Syria following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6, 2023, that killed more than 50,000 people and displaced 3 million...

By Roy Whitaker, Associate Professor of Black Religions and American Religious Diversity, San Diego State University The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been the subject of ongoing debate ever since his assassination on April 4, 1968. Today, those invoking King’s memory range from Black Lives Matters organizers and President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Educators trying to teach Black history call on his principles, even as their opponents claim that lessons about systemic racism go against King’s desire not to judge people “by the color of their skin.” In an...

By Lloyd Daniel Barba, Assistant Professor of Religion, Amherst College On March 31, 1966, labor rights pioneer Cesar Chavez was not celebrating his birthday in any usual manner. Rather, he was 14 days into a 25-day pilgrimage in California from Delano to Sacramento. Leading a group of striking farm laborers and supporters, Chavez’s plan was to build momentum and support for the workers’ cause in a march that would conclude on the steps of the California State Capitol on Easter Sunday morning. The date here is crucial. A foundational, but mostly forgotten, feature of the nearly 300-mile pilgrimage during...

By Stefanie Lindquist, Foundation Professor of Law and Political Science, Arizona State University A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The specific state charges “remain a mystery” but will be related to the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of Trump for making hush money payments to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election. It is the first time a U.S. president or former president has been indicted. At the same time, Trump is expected to continue his campaign for the presidency, seeking to regain in 2024 the position he lost in 2020 to...

By Matthew Wright, Professor of Computing Security, Rochester Institute of Technology; and Christopher Schwartz, Postdoctoral Research Associate of Computing Security, Rochester Institute of Technology You have just returned home after a long day at work and are about to sit down for dinner when suddenly your phone starts buzzing. On the other end is a loved one, perhaps a parent, a child or a childhood friend, begging you to send them money immediately. You ask them questions, attempting to understand. There is something off about their answers, which are either vague or out of character, and sometimes there is...

By Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Hunter College Public transit in the U.S. is in a sorry state, with aging, underfunded and losing riders, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Many proposed solutions focus on new technologies, like self-driving cars and flying taxis. But as a researcher in urban policy and planning, I see more near-term promise in a mode that is been around for a century: the city bus. Today, buses in many parts of the U.S. are old and do not run often enough or serve all the places where people need to go....