Author: TheConversation

By Michele Gelfand, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Since Republicans, on average, are five times more likely than Democrats to believe it is safe now to resume normal business activity, reopening the economy has often been framed as a partisan issue. But within households, many families are having their own arguments about how lax or strict they should be about the threat of the virus. Is it OK to have friends over? Can we invite Aunt Sally to our birthday party? Can dad slip away to the golf course? Can mom get a haircut? These...

By William Doan, Professor of Theatre, Pennsylvania State University I’ve lived much of my life with anxiety and depression, including the negative feelings – shame and self-doubt – that seduced me into believing the stigma around mental illness: that people knew I wasn’t good enough; that they would avoid me because I was different or unstable; and that I had to find a way to make them like me. It took me some time – I’m a classic late bloomer – but just before I turned 60, I discovered that sharing my story by drawing could be an effective...

By Thomas A. Russo, Professor and Chief, Infectious Disease, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York “WE ARE STILL IN A PANDEMIC,” Denver Black Lives Matter activist Tay Anderson shouted in capital letters on Twitter as he urged everyone who has protested police violence in recent days to join him in getting tested for the coronavirus. Crowds of people, many maskless and yelling, can pose a health risk to one another in the middle of a pandemic. One of the greatest threats is that people may be spreading the disease...

By Seema Mohapatra, Associate Professor of Law and Dean’s Fellow, IUPUI As the COVID-19 crisis wreaks havoc across the globe, a handful of countries, including Germany, Chile and the United States, are mulling the use of immunity passports to make clear who is immune from coronavirus infection. Several U.S. companies are also examining ways of testing employees, including for COVID-19 antibodies, before allowing them to return to the office. People cleared from infection would enjoy certain privileges like traveling internationally or working outside their homes. Other scenarios envision a more limited use, such as screening which hospital employees should...