Libraries in Wisconsin are keeping an eye on the unprecedented efforts nationwide to ban books
Nyama Reed said through her two decades as a librarian, she has always had to deal with book challenges. But as politicians and parents across the country quarrel over banning books, the Wisconsin Library Association president said on January 31 that librarians are...
Wisconsin Republican’s latest legislative attack on education aims to dismantle Milwaukee Public Schools
State Republican lawmakers are planning to bring forward a package of bills to overhaul K-12 education in Wisconsin and dissolve the Milwaukee public school district over the next two years. The sweeping proposals are expected to be released by State Senator Alberta...
Reaching toward Light: The vision of love as a moral imperative remains relevant to America’s future
By Joshua F.J. Inwood, Associate Professor of Geography Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State More than 50 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the United States remains divided by issues of race and racism, economic...
America’s modern-day slavery: A fatal flaw in the 13th Amendment created our forced labor prison system
By Kwasi Konadu, Professor in Africana & Latin American Studies, Colgate University; and Clifford C. Campbell, Visiting Lecturer, Dartmouth College The 13th Amendment is having a moment of reckoning. Considered one of the crowning achievements of American...
Asian study boom: Popularity of Anime and Hallyu has diminished student interest in European languages
Interest in Anime, gaming, and K-pop is fueling a boom in Korean and Japanese university degrees that is helping to revive modern languages departments struggling with falling enrollments. Acceptances to study Korean more than trebled from 50 to 175 between 2012 and...
Cup Noodles: How the instant food became a success story in America by hiding its Japanese roots
By Alisa Freedman, Professor of Japanese Literature, Cultural Studies and Gender, University of Oregon See a container of Cup Noodles at a convenience store and you might think of dorm rooms and cheap calories. But there was a time when eating from the product’s...
Why American policies must change for an End-of-War Declaration with North Korea to succeed
As the U.S. and South Korea continue to discuss an end-of-war declaration, they have a real opportunity to close this last chapter of the Cold War. However, the Biden administration is squandering this opportunity by continuing the same playbook that has failed for...
Like father, like grandfather: How Kim Jong Un’s grip has extended brutal repression to a new generational
By Sung-Yoon Lee, Professor in Korean Studies, Tufts University By the grim metric of fatalities in the first 10 years of a dictator’s rule, Kim Jong Un has yet to match the records set by his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, or father, Kim Jong Il – the two tyrants who...
Beyond Spycraft: Lessons from South Korea on how the business of disinformation fueled a dirty industry
By K. Hazel Kwon, Associate Professor of Journalism and Digital Audiences, Arizona State University Disinformation, the practice of blending real and fake information with the goal of duping a government or influencing public opinion, has its origins in the Soviet...
Advocating for Voter Suppression: When politicians don’t care if their constituents want fair elections
Every 10 years, legislators or appointed commissions across the country take the latest U.S. census data and redraw the boundaries of electoral districts to reflect the shifts of population. Too often, those new maps protect incumbents and partisan politics, not the...
False Certificates: Congressional committee subpoenas two Wisconsin Republicans over fake Trump electors
A U.S. House committee has subpoenaed two Wisconsin Republicans who cast votes as “alternate electors” for President Donald Trump after the 2020 presidential election. The committee — called the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the...
Why a lack of census classification leaves Milwaukee’s MENA ethnic groups without elected representation
By Janan Najeeb • Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service The City of Milwaukee’s recent redistricting process and efforts by Hispanic leaders to create a third Hispanic-majority, or near-majority, in the 13th Aldermanic District were fraught with emotion. On December 6,...
