Author: TheConversation

By Virginia Raguin, Distinguished Professor of Humanities Emerita, Visual Arts, College of the Holy Cross The striking Emancipation Memorial statue in Washington DC, shows Abraham Lincoln standing, while a man wearing only a loincloth is appearing to rise from a kneeling position. The face in the memorial is that of Archer Alexander, who had escaped slavery in 1863 by fleeing to St. Louis, Missouri. Fundraising for a memorial was launched in 1864 by Charlotte Scott, who had been enslaved in Virginia before moving to Ohio. She did not design the monument, however. As a historian of art, I argue...

By Joseph G. Amoroso, Assistant Professor of American Politics, United States Military Academy West Point; Lee Robinson, American Politics Program Director, United States Military Academy West Point In general, Americans do not trust their government institutions as much as they used to, and that includes the military. In part, that’s because the military can be used as a tool to gain a partisan advantage rather than as a professional group that should be trusted by both parties. For instance, the day he was inaugurated as president, Donald Trump spoke at a luncheon and pointed to retired Marine four-star generals...

By Nkiru Nnawulezi, Associate Professor of Community Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Lauren Cattaneo, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, George Mason University About 1 in every 3 women, and 1 in 4 men, will experience domestic violence over their lifetime. Since domestic violence can escalate to the point of serious injury or murder, survivors must take action to increase their safety – potentially even fleeing their homes. Of the total homicides that occurred in the U.S. in 2020, 34% of women and 6% of men were murdered by their intimate partners. Research has clearly shown the connection between...

By Liz Sharples, Senior Teaching Fellow (Tourism), University of Portsmouth As Europe commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, visitors have traveled in large numbers to pay their respects at the Normandy beach landing sites. The event in 2024 takes place in a very different world than the 75th anniversary five years before. Donald Trump is facing numerous criminal charges from rigging the 2016 election to become president to the January 6, 2021 coup and insurrection to stay in office after he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. Trump’s benefactor, the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin,...

By Frank A. Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Between the villages of Vierville-sur-Mer and Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes in Normandy, France, is a 5-mile stretch of beach that was once called Côte d’Or, or “golden coast.” Since June 6, 1944, however, this beach has borne a different name: Omaha. Eighty years ago, on a day now known as D-Day, thousands of Allied soldiers crossed the choppy waters of the English Channel by air and sea to land on beaches and coastal areas of Normandy, France, to destroy the Nazi invaders and defeat Hitler’s regime....