Author: TheConversation

By Timothy D. Lytton, Distinguished University Professor & Professor of Law, Georgia State University Mass shootings have become a routine occurrence in America, and gun-makers have long refused to take responsibility for their role in this epidemic. That may be about to change. The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 12 refused to block a lawsuit filed by the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting victims, clearing the way for the litigation to proceed. Remington Arms, which manufactured and sold the semiautomatic rifle used in the attack, had hoped the broad immunity the industry has enjoyed for years...

By Sean Corcoran, Associate Professor of Educational Economics, New York University; Amy Ellen Schwartz, Professor of Public Policy, Education, and Economics and Director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy, New York University; and Michele Leardo, Assistant Director of Education and Social Policy, New York University Child hunger is a serious problem: 48 million Americans, including more than 15 million children, live in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food on a regular basis. In large cities, about 25 percent of households with children do not have sufficient food. The federally funded National School...

By Ronit Y. Stahl, Assistant Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley In 1919, Lee Levinger buried four soldiers in France. The responsibility to preside over a funeral was not unusual for military chaplains. But during World War I, most Americans would have been surprised to learn that a rabbi led a service for four Christian soldiers. In 1917, when the United States entered the war, chaplaincy was a majority white and fully Christian organization. No law specifically stated the acceptable religious backgrounds of military chaplains, but only mainline Protestant ministers and Catholic priests wore the insignia of the...

By Michael Messner, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences If President Donald Trump had gotten his way, the nation would have celebrated the centennial of the World War I armistice last year on November 11 with a massive military parade in Washington DC. But that didn’t happen. When the Pentagon announced the president’s decision to cancel the parade, they blamed local politicians for driving up the cost of the proposed event. There may have been other reasons. Veterans were especially outspoken in their opposition. Retired generals and...

By Kirby Farah, Lecturer of Anthropology, University of Southern California – Dornsife College Day of the Dead might sound like a solemn affair, but Mexico’s famous holiday is actually a lively commemoration of the departed. The nationwide festivities, which include a massive parade in Mexico City, typically begin the night of Oct. 31 with families sitting vigil at grave sites. Mexican tradition holds that on Nov. 1 and 2, the dead awaken to reconnect and celebrate with their living family and friends. Given the timing, it may be tempting to equate Day of the Dead with Halloween, a ghost-themed...

By Elizabeth Outka, Associate Professor of English Literature, University of Richmond Zombies have lurched to the center of Halloween culture, with costumes proliferating as fast as the monsters themselves. This year, anyone can dress as a zombie prom queen, a zombie doctor – even a zombie rabbit. But the rise of the living dead has a surprising link to another recurring October visitor: the influenza virus. One hundred years ago, 1919 saw the end of one of the worst plagues in human history: the deadly 1918-1919 influenza pandemic. The pandemic was a true horror show, with 50-100 million people...