Author: TheConversation

By Esther Jones, Associate Professor of English, affiliate with Africana Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies, Clark University Young people who are “hooked” on watching fantasy or reading science fiction may be on to something. Contrary to a common misperception that reading this genre is an unworthy practice, reading science fiction and fantasy may help young people cope, especially with the stress and anxiety of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. I am a professor with research interests in the social, ethical and political messages in science fiction. In my book Medicine and Ethics in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction, I...

By Shauna Shames, Associate Professor, Rutgers University; and Amy Atchison, Associate Professor of Political Science & International Relations, Valparaiso University Dystopian fiction is hot. Sales of George Orwell’s “1984” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” have skyrocketed since 2016. Young adult dystopias – for example, Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games,” Veronica Roth’s “Divergent,” Lois Lowry’s classic, “The Giver,” were best-sellers even before. And with COVID-19, dystopias featuring diseases have taken on new life. Netflix reported a spike in popularity for “Outbreak,” “12 Monkeys,” and others. Does this popularity signal that people think they live in a dystopia now? Haunting...

By Gretchen Chapman, Professor of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University; and George Loewenstein, Professor of Economics and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University States are beginning to open up their economies after successfully slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Much of the credit for that goes to Americans dutifully following prescribed behavior. People have been washing their hands frequently, maintaining physical distance from others, wearing face masks, sanitizing door knobs and even disinfecting food and packages brought into the house. But in order to continue to contain the spread of the virus, we’ll still need to sustain these behaviors for weeks and...

By Jory Brinkerhoff, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Richmond Summer is field season for ecologists like me, a time when my colleagues, students and I go out into fields and woods in search of ticks to study the patterns and processes that allow disease-causing microbes – primarily bacteria and viruses – to spread among wildlife and humans. That field work means we’re also at risk of getting the very diseases we study. I always remind my crew members to pay close attention to their health. If they get a fever or any other signs of sickness, they should...