Author: TheConversation

By Joshua F.J. Inwood, Professor of Geography and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State; Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee When historian Carter Woodson created “Negro History Week” in 1926, which became “Black History Month” in 1976, he sought not to just celebrate prominent Black historical figures but to transform how white America saw and valued all African Americans. However, many issues in the history of Black Americans can get lost in a focus on well-known historical figures or other important events. Our research looks at how African American communities struggling for...

By Sian Mughan, Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, Arizona State University; and Akheil Singla, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University When city governments spend more money than they take in, officials often search for ways to generate revenue. One increasingly common source of money is traffic tickets. And research shows police officers issue more traffic tickets when cities are financially in a deficit. But police represent only one aspect of this revenue-generating system. Judges and their courts also use traffic citations to generate money for the cities that employ them. As scholars of public...

By Jessica Trisko Darden, Associate Professor of Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University As the toll of the Israel-Hamas war continues to mount, Israeli military casualties are shedding new light on a topic that rarely gets international media attention, Israel’s ethnic diversity. In Israel’s single largest casualty event since the Gaza invasion began in October 2023, 21 Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion on January 22, 2024. Among the dead was reserve soldier Sgt. 1st Class Cedrick Garin, a 23-year-old Filipino-Israeli whose mother came to the country to work before he was born. Earlier in the war, Staff Sgt....

By Fangzhou Wang, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Texas at Arlington In the Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” victims exposed notorious con artist Simon Leviev, who posed as a wealthy diamond mogul on the popular dating app Tinder to deceive and scam numerous women out of millions of dollars. Leviev is a flashy example of a dating scammer, but criminal operations also prey on emotionally vulnerable people to gain their trust and exploit them financially. The internet has revolutionized dating, and there has been a surge in U.S. adults using apps to find ideal matches...

By Claire Wofford, Associate Professor of Political Science, College of Charleston In a 57-page opinion issued on February 6, 2024, a federal appeals court ruled against former President Donald Trump, deciding that presidents are not immune from criminal prosecution for actions they took while in office. The decision allows the federal prosecution of Trump for attempting to undermine the 2020 election to continue. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – two appointed by Democratic presidents and one by a Republican – affirmed the Dec. 1, 2023, ruling of District Court...

By Danielle Tumminio Hansen, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology & Spiritual Care, Emory University Pope Francis made headlines on January 8, 2024, when he called for a global surrogacy ban, stating, “I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.” The use of surrogacy, in which a woman carries and delivers a child for someone else, has grown exponentially in recent years and is expected to continue to do so. While headlines often surface...