Waleed Najeeb: A spiritual duty to bring specialized relief to those suffering from a decade of war
Medical Mission to Jordan: After more than a decade of Civil War in Syria, and continuing conflicts like the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine that further displaced millions of civilians, understanding the longterm conditions that war refugees face remains...
Horror and Anguish: Mental health scars extend far beyond those directly affected by mass shootings
By Arash Javanbakht, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University Yet another community is stricken with grief in the wake of the horrific shooting at Monterey Park, California, on January 21, 2023, that left 11 people dead and 9 more wounded. Families...
Governor Evers proposes expanded spending to cover unmet mental health needs in Wisconsin schools
The state of mental health in Wisconsin is a “quiet, burgeoning crisis,” and that includes unmet mental health needs in schools, Governor Tony Evers said during his State of the State address. He dubbed 2023 “the year of mental health” and laid...
A cartoon vision of tyranny: Americans overlook the roots of authoritarianism woven into our republic
Americans are afraid of the wrong thing. When you ask most Americans what authoritarianism looks like, they will describe jackbooted thugs goosestepping up to their house to drag them away to a concentration camp. That, however, is not authoritarianism: that was Nazi...
Echo Chambers: Why the info ecosystem of cable news drives America’s polarization more than social media
By Homa Hosseinmardi, Associate Research Scientist in Computational Social Science, University of Pennsylvania The past two election cycles have seen an explosion of attention given to “echo chambers,” or communities where a narrow set of views makes people less...
How fake news drove the American colonies into a bloody fight for independence
By Jordan Taylor, Adjunct Instructor in History, Indiana University Misinformation is often at the root of political extremism. During the 2022 United States midterm election, some of the most radical politicians in the Republican Party were fueled by the unfounded...
China faces looming economic crisis after recording first decline of birth rates in decades
For the first time in decades, China has fewer people than it did at the start of last year, according to official figures released in January. The world’s most populous country has worried for years about an aging citizenry’s effect on its economy and...
Ranked-choice voting: Green Party leader pushes for broader changes in how Wisconsin elections are run
As ranked-choice voting gains steam elsewhere in the country, a leader of Wisconsin’s Green Party is calling for that method of electing government officials to be adopted here, as the future of democracy and a way to increase enthusiasm for voting. “The current...
Why the success of bringing manufacturing back to America hinges on training American workers
By Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Distinguished Professor, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, & Interim Head, Department of Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology Supply chain disruptions during COVID-19 brought to light how interdependent nations are...
How nonprofits get back on their feet while also playing a key role in local recovery from disasters
By Joy Semien, Research Assistant at the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, Texas A&M University When hurricanes, floods and other kinds of disasters throttle a community, people from all over often rush to give those in need money, bottled water, diapers and...
Understanding Hikikomori: How shame and trauma push some people to live in extreme social isolation
By Maki Rooksby, Post-doctoral researcher, Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow; Hamish J. McLeod, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Glasgow; and Tadaaki Furuhashi, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Nagoya University It is...
Divided We Stand: How ALEC’s legislative agenda pushes racist reactions over egalitarian values
America is increasingly becoming two nations, a result of the Great Neoliberal Experiment playing out across the country since the start of Reaganism in 1981. One is made up of states representing modern democracy holding egalitarian values; the other has reverted to...
