Category: Academic Reportage
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Grief feels unbearable, disorienting and chaotic – a grief researcher and widow shares evidence-based ways to face the early days of loss
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Liza Barros-Lane, Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Houston-Downtown Grief brings a person’s world to a halt. Valentina Shilkina/iStock via Getty Images Plus The July 4 floods in Kerr County, Texas, sent shockwaves across the country. Now that most of the victims’ burials are…
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AI is making reading books feel obsolete – and students have a lot to lose
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Naomi S. Baron, Professor Emerita of Linguistics, American University Workarounds to reading a book cover-to-cover have existed for decades, but generative AI takes it to new heights. dem10/E+ via Getty Images A perfect storm is brewing for reading. AI arrived as both kids and adults…
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Labor Day and May Day emerged from the movement for a shorter workday in industrial America
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jeffrey Sklansky, Professor of History, University of Illinois Chicago It took more than a century for Chicago’s Haymarket Square to get this memorial to the historic labor strife that occurred there. Jeffrey Sklansky Most of the world observes International Workers’ Day on May 1 or…
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Mindfulness is gaining traction in American schools – but it isn’t clear what students are learning
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Deborah L. Schussler, Professor of Education Policy and Leadership, University at Albany, State University of New York Sixth grade students start their science class with five minutes of meditation at George Washington Middle School in Alexandria, Va., in February 2020. Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via…
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Where America’s CO emissions come from – what you need to know, in charts
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Kenneth J. Davis, Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Science, Penn State Vehicles, energy production and industry are the largest emissions sources in the U.S. David McNew/Getty Images Earth’s atmosphere contains carbon dioxide, which is good for life on Earth – in moderation. Plants use CO2…
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4 out of 5 US troops surveyed understand the duty to disobey illegal orders
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA – By Charli Carpenter, Professor of political science, UMass Amherst National Guard members arrive at the Guard’s headquarters at D.C. Armory on Aug. 12, 2025 in Washington. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images With his Aug. 11, 2025, announcement that he was sending the National Guard – along with federal law…
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How to improve the monitoring of chemical contaminants in the human body
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – France – By Chang He, Professor of environmental sciences, The University of Queensland From pesticides in our food to hormone disruptors in our kitchen pans, modern life is saturated with chemicals, exposing us to unknown long-term health impacts. One of the surest routes to quantifying these impacts is the…
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4 laws that could stymie the Trump EPA’s plan to rescind the endangerment finding, central to US climate policies
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By H. Christopher Frey, Glenn E. Futrell Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, left, takes a selfie with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, center, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in front of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline. AP Photo/Jenny…
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Canadian cities are unprepared for climate-driven migration — here’s what they can do
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Kent Mundle, Senior Researcher, Lecturer in Architecture, University of Hong Kong This summer, wildfires have caused evacuations across Canada and recently forced thousands of people to flee their homes in Newfoundland and Labrador. Some of the biggest impacts are being felt in the Prairies. In Manitoba,…
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Canada and the U.K.’s conditional recognition of Palestine reveal the uneven rules of statehood
Source: ForeignAffairs4 Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Catherine Frost, Professor of Political Science, McMaster University Canada and the United Kingdom have said they will recognize Palestinian statehood during the United Nations General Assembly in September, provided certain conditions are met. Canada’s position is premised on seeing political and military reform from the Palestinian…