Author: TheConversation

By Matthew Baldwin, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Florida After following a white rabbit down a hole in the ground and changing sizes several times, Alice finds herself wondering “Who in the world am I?” This scene, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, might resonate with you: In a world that is constantly changing, it can be challenging to find your authentic self. I am a social psychologist, and over the past few years my colleagues and I have been conducting research to better understand what it means to be authentic. Our findings provide some valuable insights...

By Amy Potter, Associate Professor of Geography, Georgia Southern University; and Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee State legislatures across the United States are cracking down on discussions of race and racism in the classroom. School boards are attempting to ban books that deal with difficult histories. Lawmakers are targeting initiatives that promote diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education. Such efforts raise questions about whether students in the U.S. will ever be able to engage in free and meaningful discussions about the history of slavery in America and the effect it had on the nation....

By Denise M. Bostdorff, Professor and Chair of Communication Studies, The College of Wooster President Joe Biden faces an aggressive Russia waging war to expand its borders. He has rallied Americans to support Ukraine as it resists a devastating Russian attack. But Biden has also been careful not to intensify enthusiasm for entering that conflict, which could have horrific consequences, including nuclear war. He is not the first U.S. president to face the challenge of mobilizing a nation to support – but not join – a war about democracy that carried the potential for wider conflict. In 1947, President...

By Rabindra Ratan, Associate Professor of Media and Information, Michigan State University; and Dar Meshi, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University For people who comprehend what the metaverse is, they think it will be a bunch of interconnected virtual spaces, the world wide web but accessed through virtual reality. This is largely correct, but there is also a fundamental and slightly more cryptic side to the metaverse that will set it apart from today’s internet: the blockchain. In the beginning, Web 1.0 was the information superhighway of connected computers and servers that you could search,...