How nonprofits get back on their feet while also playing a key role in local recovery from disasters
By Joy Semien, Research Assistant at the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, Texas A&M University When hurricanes, floods and other kinds of disasters throttle a community, people from all over often rush to give those in need money, bottled water, diapers and...
Understanding Hikikomori: How shame and trauma push some people to live in extreme social isolation
By Maki Rooksby, Post-doctoral researcher, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow; Hamish J. McLeod, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Glasgow; and Tadaaki Furuhashi, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Nagoya University It is...
Beyond achieving a policy goal: The far-right’s obsessive romance with cruelty for cruelty’s sake
Politics has always been cruel. Political candidates can be brutal in trying to discredit, or even destroy, their political opponents. Congressional leaders will at times act harshly when trying to whip party members into line. And as is true in any profession, there...
Federal funding to help Wisconsin communities boost investments in solar and clean energy solutions
Communities across Wisconsin are funding a variety of solar projects after the $1.7 trillion bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Act earmarked more than $255.7 million for Wisconsin. Sun Prairie is receiving a hefty $3.2 million in federal funding that will go toward a...
Students in Ukraine face daily threats as Russia’s brutal war forces improvisation of education
By Kristina Hook, Assistant Professor of Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University Svitlana Popova’s students did not realize she was leading their online math class while outside the charred remains of her home in Ukraine until they saw a news video about it on...
Racial battle fatigue: The cumulative effects of hostility that Black people experience in White society
By Geremy Grant, Assistant Professor of School Psychology, Alfred University When William A. Smith, a scholar of education and culture, introduced the term “racial battle fatigue” in 2003, he used it to describe the cumulative effects of racial hostility that Black...
Reinforcing Redlining: Why Wisconsin’s outdated zoning codes adds to housing shortage difficulties
Wisconsin’s housing shortage is expected to worsen by the end of the decade, and outdated zoning codes could make it harder for municipalities to address the issue. A recent report from Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association, found...
Nonprofits face challenges in making transportation accessible to aging Wisconsinites with disabilities
On an unseasonably warm October morning in northeastern Wisconsin, Steve Maricque crisscrosses Brown County in a gray minivan. Orange-red foliage draws the gaze of passengers as overnight rain gives way to clear skies. A smart tablet guides Maricque along his route. A...
Story of Nearest Green: When a Black distiller was credited for teaching Jack Daniel how to make whiskey
By Stefanie Benjamin, Assistant Professor of Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management, University of Tennessee When you hear the name Jack Daniel, whiskey probably comes to mind. But what about the name Nathan “Uncle Nearest” Green? In 2016, The New York Times...
Graves of Black ancestors: How government officials and developers worked to erase the Moseley Cemetery
Nobody working to bring a $346 million Microsoft project to rural Virginia expected to find graves in the woods. But in a cluster of yucca plants and cedar that needed to be cleared, surveyors happened upon a cemetery. The largest of the stones bore the name Stephen...
Blind spots in color blindness: Black police officers are infected by same anti-Black bias as White society
By Rashad Shabazz, Associate Professor at the School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University Once again, Americans are left reeling from the horror of video footage showing police brutalizing an unarmed Black man who later died. Some details in the latest...
An infatuation with darkness: The character of the far-right can be seen in their hideous heroes
You can learn a lot about the people who make up a political party by identifying their heroes. So, who are the heroes of today’s Republicans? If your first thought was Ronald Reagan, you’re showing your age. Reagan was the answer of an earlier time, when we had a...
