The Conversation

From Gettysburg to Minneapolis: How the American Civil War continues to shape how we understand contemporary political conflicts and their dangers

Written by John M. Kinder, Professor of History and American Studies, Oklahoma State University

Protesters clash with law enforcement after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis.Arthur Maiorella/Anadolu via Getty Images

The negative public reaction to Operation Metro Surge – the violent immigration dragnet in Minnesota – was “MAGA’s Gettysburg,” wrote New York Times columnist...

I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers? They quickly responded, ‘Why would I?’

Written by Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, Clinical Assistant Professor of Education, Health and Behavior Studies, University of North Dakota

Teachers are often expected to juggle many competing responsibilities, fueling a sense of burnout. www.andrerucker.com/Getty Images

I spoke in January 2026 with 150 high school students about career options. After explaining my own career as a professor of education, health and behavior, I asked the students a simple question: Would you want to be...

Iran-US nuclear talks may fail due to both nations’ red lines – but that doesn’t make them futile

Written by Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, Professor of International Relations, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto; USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

The latest rounds of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are going well enough for now, according to the steady drip of public statements from the main parties involved.

“I think they want to make a deal,” said U.S. President Donald Trump on the eve of the latest round of discussions held in Geneva on Feb. 17, 2026. Iran’s...

Revisiting the story of Clementine Barnabet, a Black woman blamed for serial murders in the Jim Crow South

Written by Lauren Nicole Henley, Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond

A grainy photograph of Clementine Barnabet.A 1912 edition of The Atlanta Constitution newspaper via Wikimedia Commons

In April 1912, a young Black woman named Clementine Barnabet confessed to murdering four families in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. The widespread news coverage at the time effectively branded her a serial killer.

Her confession,...

In World War II’s dog-eat-dog struggle for resources, a Greenland mine launched a new world order

Written by Thomas Robertson, Visiting Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Macalester College

Greenland's cryolite mine, essential for U.S. airplane production, was below sea level and vulnerable to Nazi sabotage.Reginald Wilcox, ca. 1941. Peary–MacMillan Arctic Museum, Bowdoin College

On April 9, 1940, Nazi tanks stormed into Denmark. A month later, they blitzed into Belgium, Holland and France. As Americans grew increasingly rattled...

Coffee crops are dying from a fungus with species-jumping genes – researchers are ‘resurrecting’ their genomes to understand how and why

Written by Lily Peck, Postdoctoral Scholar in Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

For anyone who relies on coffee to start their day, coffee wilt disease may be the most important disease you’ve never heard of. This fungal disease has repeatedly reshaped the global coffee supply over the past century, with consequences that reach from African farms to cafe counters worldwide.

Infection with the fungus Fusarium xylarioides...

New dietary guidelines prioritize ‘real food’ – but low-income pregnant women can’t easily obtain it

Written by Bethany Barone Gibbs, Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, West Virginia University

Most pregnant women in the U.S. aren't meeting dietary recommendations, especially in rural communities. ArtistGNDphotography/Getty Images

The federal government’s message in its new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released in January 2026, couldn’t be simpler: “Eat real food.”

But for pregnant women in rural America, that...

3 generations of Black Philadelphia students report persistent anti-Black attitudes in schools

Written by Leana Cabral, Researcher at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Over 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education, public schools in the U.S. remain deeply segregated.AP Photo/Phil Long

John Washington, now in his 50s, attended a public elementary and middle school in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia and then went to a large magnet high school, a type of public school that has a selective admission...

Warming winters are disrupting the hidden world of fungi – the result can shift mountain grasslands to scrub

Written by Stephanie Kivlin, Associate Professor of Ecology, University of Tennessee

Warmer winters in normally snowy places can interfere with the important activities of microbes in the soil.Seogi/500px via Getty Images

When you look out across a snowy winter landscape, it might seem like nature is fast asleep. Yet, under the surface, tiny organisms are hard at work, consuming the previous year’s dead plant material and...

White men file workplace discrimination claims but are less likely to face inequity than other groups

Written by Donald T. Tomaskovic-Devey, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Employment Equity, UMass Amherst

In March 2025 the EEOC characterized DEI programs as potentially discriminatory against white men.Wong Yu Liang/Getty Images

In December 2025, Andrea Lucas, the chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, invited white men to file more sex- and race-based discrimination complaints against their employers.

“Are you a white male...