Mary McLeod Bethune: How the “First Lady of Negro America” sought to unify the African diaspora
By Ashley Robertson Preston, Assistant Professor of History, Howard University When I first landed an internship as an archives technician at the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House-National Historic Site, the DC home of the woman who founded Bethune-Cookman University,...
Study finds Trump-era tax cuts contributed to steep decline in charitable giving for higher education
By Jin Lee, Associate Professor of Educational Foundations and Leadership, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Policy changes brought on by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which former President Donald Trump signed into law at the end of 2017, appear to have led many...
Toxic Spills: Why there are safety regulations about transporting hazardous materials across the country
By Michael F. Gorman, Professor of Business Analytics and Operations Management, University of Dayton Ever wonder what those colorful signs with symbols and numbers on the backs of trucks mean? They are just one visible part of a web of regulations that aim to keep...
Indigenous wisdom: How the book “Dune” became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement
By Devin Griffiths, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences “Dune,” widely considered one of the best sci-fi novels of all time, continues to influence how writers, artists and inventors envision...
Billions in losses: Why the warming ocean is leaving coastal economies in hot water
By Charles Colgan, Director of Research for the Center for the Blue Economy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies Ocean-related tourism and recreation supports more than 320,000 jobs and US$13.5 billion in goods and services in Florida. But a swim in the...
Global populations face threat of radioactive pollution from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
By Nino Antadze, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Prince Edward Island Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the country’s nuclear facilities at considerable risk. For example, on April 7 a drone attacked Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power...
Myopia epidemic: Record number of people across the world are wearing glasses due to Nearsightedness
By Andrew Herbert, Professor of Psychology, Visual Perception, Rochester Institute of Technology Myopia, or the need for corrected vision to focus or see objects at a distance, has become a lot more common in recent decades. Some even consider myopia, also known as...
Designed to crash: Why Traffic engineers build dangerous roads based on outdated research
By Wesley Marshall, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Colorado Denver “Can you name the truck with four-wheel drive, smells like a steak, and seats 35?” Back in 1998, “The Simpsons” joked about the Canyonero, an SUV so big that they were obviously kidding....
Unethical behavior: Why attempts by companies to empower their employees often fail
By Tobias Dennerlein, Assistant Professor of Management, Purdue University A majority of American workers right now are not feeling very motivated on the job, a new survey suggests. Management experts often encourage business leaders to motivate employees by...
Charitable giving: Why U.S. regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom of donor-advised funds
By Brian Mittendorf, Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State University A revolution in charitable giving is underway due to the growth of donor-advised funds in the United States. Known widely as DAFs, these financial accounts are designated for charitable giving....
Facing a firing squad: Lessons on dissent from a U.S. intelligence officer who committed mutiny in Vietnam
By Rodney Coates, Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Miami University During the late 1960s, when protests against the Vietnam War erupted across the country, college campuses emerged as places of more than intellectual debate over U.S foreign policy and...
John Andrew Jackson: The Black fugitive who inspired “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and the end of slavery
By Susanna Ashton, Professor of English, Clemson University In or around 1825, John Andrew Jackson was born enslaved on a plantation in South Carolina and trained to spend his life picking cotton. But instead of living a life as a slave, he escaped bondage and became...
