Author: TheConversation

By Barry Markovsky, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of South Carolina On February 22, the world hits an unprecedented milestone. It is the date itself: 2/22/22. And the so-called “Twosday” also falls on a Tuesday. It is true the number pattern stands out, impossible to miss. But does it mean anything? Judging by the thousands of commemorative products available for purchase online, it may appear to. “Twosday” carries absolutely no historical significance or any cosmic message. Yet it does speak volumes about our brains and cultures. I am a social psychologist who studies how paranormal claims and pseudoscience...

By Christopher Lockett, Associate Professor, English, Memorial University of Newfoundland One year ago, some witnesses to the assault on the Capitol building in Washington DC, referenced zombies when describing the mayhem as the mob of Donald Trump supporters broke into the building and innocent people sought safety. “It was like something out of a zombie movie,” recalled a photographer who was at the scene, speaking of seeing hordes of rioters. Similarly, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it “almost felt like a zombie movie” as she described hiding and seeking shelter. In the 20 years that zombie apocalypse narratives have...

By Joel S. Elson, Assistant Professor of IT Innovation, University of Nebraska Omaha; Austin C. Doctor, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska Omaha; and Sam Hunter, Professor of Psychology, University of Nebraska Omaha The metaverse is coming. Like all technological innovation, it brings new opportunities and new risks. The metaverse is an immersive virtual reality version of the internet where people can interact with digital objects and digital representations of themselves and others, and can move more or less freely from one virtual environment to another. It can also involve augmented reality, a blending of virtual and...

By Alessandro Meregaglia, Assistant Professor and Archivist, Boise State University Eighty years ago, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which led to about 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry living in the western United States being moved into internment camps. At the time, Toshio Mori, a U.S. citizen with Japanese parents, was an aspiring writer who had a contract to publish a collection of his short stories in 1942. As a result of the executive order, however, he was sent to one of the camps, and the publisher delayed the book’s release. As an...