Author: TheConversation

By Neta C. Crawford, Professor of Political Science and Department Chair, Boston University Even if the U.S. administration decided to leave — or was evicted from — Iraq immediately, the bill of war to the U.S. to date would be an estimated US$1,922 billion in current dollars. This figure includes not only funding appropriated to the Pentagon explicitly for the war, but spending on Iraq by the State Department, the care of Iraq War veterans and interest on debt incurred to fund 16 years of U.S. military involvement in the country. Since 2003, the Department of Defense has received...

By Cathy Schlund-Vials, Professor of English and Asian American Studies, University of Connecticut In America’s imagination, the Vietnam War is not so much celebrated as it is assiduously contemplated. This inward-looking approach is reflected in films like “The Deer Hunter” and “Apocalypse Now,” best-selling novels and popular memoirs that dwell on the psychological impact of the war. Was the war worth the cost, human and otherwise? Was it a winnable war or doomed from the outset? What are its lessons and legacies? These questions also underpin the Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns. But many forget that before the...

By Daniel Genkins, Postdoctoral Fellow in History, Vanderbilt University Paper documents are still priceless records of the past, even in a digital world. Primary sources stored in local archives throughout Latin America, for example, describe a centuries-old multiethnic society grappling with questions of race, class and religion. However, paper archives are vulnerable to flooding, humidity, insects, and rodents, among other threats. Political instability can cut off money used to maintain archives and institutional neglect can transform precious records into moldy rubbish. Working closely with colleagues from around the world, I build digital archives and specialized tools that help us...

By Wendy Cadge, Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University Congregational membership in the United States is slowly declining. Data from the General Social Survey show that 17 percent of Americans attended a religious gathering weekly in the 1990s. By 2010, this number had dropped to 11 percent. These changes spark new questions about how people’s personal religious and spiritual beliefs are changing. They also raise questions about where, if at all, people experience the sacred. With architectural historian Alice Friedman and photographer Randall Armor, I located and documented more than 50 hidden sacred spaces...