Water as a source of hope in the Middle East

United Auto Workers union hails its tentative strike-ending deals with Ford and Stellantis that would raise top assembly-plant hourly pay to more than $40 as ‘record contracts’

Marick Masters, Wayne State University

Rank-and-file union members employed by the automakers have to ratify the new contracts before they can become final.

Jewish response to Hamas war criticism comes from deep sense of trauma, active grief and fear

Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles

Many people who aren’t Jewish are responding as if what’s been taking place is just another episode of Israeli-Palestinian violence. But it’s different for many Jews.

In the Israel-Hamas war, children are the ultimate pawns – and ultimate victims

Omer Bartov, Brown University

For Jewish people, Hamas’ violence against children was reminiscent of the Holocaust. For Palestinians, the Israel Defense Force’s killing their children reminds them of a painful past, too.

Day of the Dead is taking on Halloween traditions, but the sacred holiday is far more than a ‘Mexican Halloween’

Mathew Sandoval, Arizona State University

Halloween’s influence is transforming popular festivities around Día de los Muertos and its ceremonial customs in rural and urban areas of Mexico in some fascinating ways.

Palestinian Christians and Muslims have lived together in the region for centuries − and several were killed recently while sheltering in the historic Church of Saint Porphyrius

Christine Shepardson, University of Tennessee

Many Christian and Muslim families in Gaza today were displaced following the creation of new Arab and Jewish states. Today, Palestinian Christians occupy a complicated place in this region.

This course uses big data to examine how American newspapers covered lynchings

Rob Wells, University of Maryland

Student journalists are using spreadsheets and databases to examine one of the darkest chapters in American history.

Violent and disturbing war images from the Mideast can stir deep emotions − a PTSD expert explains how to protect yourself and your kids from overexposure

Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University

People, including children and adolescents, are being exposed to horrifying imagery in the news and on social media. But there are ways to stay informed without overconsuming harmful content.

Are ghosts real? A social psychologist examines the evidence

Barry Markovsky, University of South Carolina

Ghosts can be spooky fun, but there’s no evidence they exist.

Being humble about what you know is just one part of what makes you a good thinker

Turkey faces competing pressures from Russia and the West to end its ‘middleman strategy’ and pick a side on the war in Ukraine

Space rocks and asteroid dust are pricey, but these aren’t the most expensive materials used in science