Author: TheConversation

Trauma Rehearsal: How zombie movies prepared us for a post-apocalyptic scenario under Trump

By Christopher Lockett, Associate Professor, English, Memorial University of Newfoundland One year ago, some witnesses to the assault on the Capitol building in Washington DC, referenced zombies when describing the mayhem as the mob of Donald Trump supporters broke into the building and innocent people sought safety. “It was like something out of a zombie movie,” recalled a photographer who was at the scene, speaking of seeing hordes of rioters. Similarly, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it “almost felt like a zombie movie” as she described hiding and seeking shelter. In the 20 years that zombie apocalypse narratives have...

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If the Internet is any example, the Metaverse will a virtual hot mess

By Joel S. Elson, Assistant Professor of IT Innovation, University of Nebraska Omaha; Austin C. Doctor, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska Omaha; and Sam Hunter, Professor of Psychology, University of Nebraska Omaha The metaverse is coming. Like all technological innovation, it brings new opportunities and new risks. The metaverse is an immersive virtual reality version of the internet where people can interact with digital objects and digital representations of themselves and others, and can move more or less freely from one virtual environment to another. It can also involve augmented reality, a blending of virtual and...

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A Dream Deferred: Toshio Mori survived internment camps to become the first Japanese American novelist

By Alessandro Meregaglia, Assistant Professor and Archivist, Boise State University Eighty years ago, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to about 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the western United States being moved into internment camps. At the time, Toshio Mori, a U.S. citizen with Japanese parents, was an aspiring writer who had a contract to publish a collection of his short stories in 1942. As a result of the executive order, however, he was sent to one of the camps, and the publisher delayed the book’s release. As an...

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Spiritual but not religious: Why Japan’s Shintoism is attracting American followers and growing online

By Kaitlyn Ugoretz, PhD Candidate, East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara Originally raised as Methodist, Kit Cox is part of a growing trend of Americas who are practicing the Japanese religion known as Shinto. At 35-years-old, Cox works as an electrical engineer and enjoys biking and playing piano. While her interest in Shinto was first sparked by her love for Japanese popular culture and media, Shinto practice is not just a phase or fad for her. For over 15 years, she has venerated Inari Ookami, a Shinto deity or “kami” connected to agriculture, industry,...

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How a “violent insurrection” has been part of the GOP playbook for “legitimate political discourse”

By Amy Fried, John M. Nickerson Professor of Political Science, University of Maine; and Douglas B. Harris, Professor of political science, Loyola University Maryland The Republican National Committee has legitimized the January 6, 2021, Capitol attacks. The RNC declared on February 4, 2022, that the insurrection and preceding events were “legitimate political discourse,” an assertion that Senator Mitch McConnell soon after countered, saying that it was a “violent insurrection.” The Justice Department is investigating former President Donald Trump’s involvement on January 6, when several thousand rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least...

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Black players, White head coaches: Why the NFL’s effort to diversify team leadership shows no progress

By George B. Cunningham, Professor of Sport Management, Texas A&M University Brian Flores, the former Miami Dolphins head coach fired at the end of the 2022 season, filed a lawsuit on February 1 against his former team, the NFL and two other NFL teams, charging widespread discrimination. In the 58-page document filed in a Manhattan federal court, Flores alleges a pattern of racist hiring practices by the league and racial discrimination during the interview process with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, as well as during his tenure with Miami. In the lawsuit, the firm representing Flores said...

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