Kindergartners in face masks. Closed playground structures. Random COVID-19 testing. They are among the long list of hypothetical scenarios for school in the pandemic era. And as lawmakers and educators reimagine the K-12 model for fall, a new survey assessed parents’ plans for in-person school and support for 15 potential measures to reduce the risk...
Though race and racism are at the top of Americans’ public discussion, most white parents don’t talk about those issues with their kids. Research on how white parents discuss race with their children is sparse. However, past research has shown that conversations about race, much less racism, are rare, even when these issues are highly...
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has denounced his critics for the same claims made against him, attacking their credibility and portraying himself as a victim of conspiracies. His lies are well documented, yet he accuses reporters of perpetual deception. He was impeached for obstruction of Congress and abuse of power, yet he accuses Joe Biden...
Attorney General William Barr recently announced, late on a Friday, that Geoffrey Berman was “stepping down after two-and-a-half years of service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.” This announcement was news to Berman, who later contradicted Barr by declaring that he had not resigned and indeed had no intention of...
Ernest Hemingway was affectionately called “Papa,” but what kind of dad was he? In my role as Associate Editor of the Hemingway Letters Project, I spend my time investigating the approximately 6,000 letters sent by Hemingway, 85% of which are now being published for the first time in a multivolume series. The latest volume –...
From Homer Simpson to Phil Dunphy, sitcom dads have long been known for being bumbling and inept. But it wasn’t always this way. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, sitcom dads tended to be serious, calm and wise, if a bit detached. In a shift that media scholars have documented, only in later decades did...
When I read about Amy Cooper, the woman in Central Park who called the police on a black birder because he’d asked her to leash her out-of-control dog, I was horrified. But, as a sociolinguist who studies and writes about language and discrimination, I was also struck by the name given to Cooper in several...
In a recent interview, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was asked why it’s so difficult to prosecute cases against police officers. “Just think about all the cop shows you may have watched in your life,” he replied. “We’re just inundated with this cultural message that these people will do the right thing.” While two of...
As a professor of medieval Europe, I’ve taught the bubonic plague, and how it contributed to the English Peasant Revolt of 1381. Now that America is experiencing widespread unrest in the midst of its own pandemic, I see some interesting similarities to the 14th-century uprising. The death of George Floyd has sparked protests fueled by...
While millions of people across Europe and beyond have been forced into lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, some artists have used their time in isolation to create work using religious imagery as a way to tell the story of the crisis. On the streets of Madrid, graffiti artist Ernesto Muñiz reimagined the imagery related to...
