Authorities in Nigeria disbanded a controversial police unit following nationwide protests to end police brutality. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) had been linked to several recent cases of kidnapping, murder and extortion that fueled citizens’ outcry over its tactics and government protection.
Sabrina Karim, assistant professor of government at Cornell University, studies police and…
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded on Wednesday to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their 2012 work on the development of Crispr-Cas9, a method for genome editing. This is the first time a Nobel Prize has been awarded to two women.
Ailong Ke, a chemistry professor at Cornell University, is a CRISPR expert who trained as a postdoc with Nobel winner Jennifer Doudna…
Questions swirl about President Donald Trump’s health status following his COVID-19 diagnosis late last week, even as he left the hospital to greet supporters. Mabel Berezin, professor of sociology at Cornell University and an expert on the history and development of populism and fascism in Europe, weighs in on the president’s public appearance Sunday during treatment and his disregard for…
On Monday, British company Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas in the United States, announced it would temporarily close all of its 663 movie theaters in both countries, a move expected to impact 45,000 employees and send the future of the entertainment industry further into uncertainty. Austin Bunn, associate professor of performing and media arts at Cornell University, is an award-winning…
Systems of polynomial equations are useful for describing many phenomena in mathematics, engineering, and the physical sciences. Such a system often has a set of solutions with a complicated and interesting multidimensional shape that varies with changes to the system’s parameters. Recently, the problem of determining how altering the system’s parameters affects the geometric properties…
President Trump and others in the White House testing positive for COVID-19 has raised questions about what impact the news will have on coronavirus messaging.
Doug Kriner, professor of government, is an expert on presidential power. Kriner is also the co-author of a recently published study examining how politicians’ rhetoric and media framing affect support for using COVID-19…
Yagna Nag Chowdhuri, Ph.D. ’20, is a recent alumna of the Asian literature, religion, and culture program at Cornell from which she holds a Ph.D. Now, she will be starting a new position as Manager of Strategic Research at Asian Cultural Council in New York as a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow. What is your area of research and why is it important? My research is on the history of practices and…
President Donald Trump will debate former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening in Cleveland, Ohio. Chris Wallace of Fox News will moderate the matchup and announced the debate will include discussion of the Supreme Court, COVID-19, economy, race and violence, and election integrity. Alexandra Cirone is a professor of government at Cornell University, where she teaches a course on post…
Following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Saturday to the Supreme Court. Barrett, a federal appeals court judge, is a religious conservative and draws criticism from Democrats for her positions on healthcare and abortion.
Landon Schnabel, assistant professor of sociology at Cornell University, is writing a book titled “Is Faith…
Protests continued in Thailand on Friday after parliament failed to reach an agreement on possible constitutional reforms. Demonstrators have been taking to the streets since July in an effort to pressure parliament to limit the powers of the country’s monarchy. Tamara Loos, professor and chair of history, says that the rallies highlight how Thai society has changed its approach to politics,…
On Sept. 23, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky declared a state of emergency for the city in advance of the attorney general’s announcement regarding possible charges against the police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor in March. Joe Margulies, professor of practice in government and law, is a civil rights attorney and expert on the national security state. He says that charging…
The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards (CCHK) presents a full program of virtual events for the fall 2020 semester, comprised of two distinct series: "Music as Refuge," beginning Sept. 23; and "Beethoven and Pianos: Off the Beaten Path," beginning Oct. 2. Event dates and times will be announced as they become available at historicalkeyboards.org. Music as Refuge Starting with an online…
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump will host leaders of Israel, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House in a ceremony to mark the normalization of relations between Israel and the two Gulf countries. The deal, which the Trump administration has described as a pivotal step towards peace in the Middle East, signals a shift amongst Arab countries, traditionally wary of siding too…
An international team of researchers has discovered the presence of the chemical compound phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus — a discovery that could indicate some form of life on the hot planet. They describe their findings in the journal Nature Astronomy. Jonathan Lunine, who was not involved in the Nature study, is a professor of physical sciences and chair of the astronomy department at…
On Tuesday, China announced a global data security initiative that aims to safeguard global data and promote more cooperation between countries in the way digital data is handled.
Sarah Kreps is a professor of government at Cornell and an expert in the intersection of international politics, technology, and national security. She says that the move is unlikely to offer a viable alternative for…
In the wake of the largest anti-government protests in Thailand since 2014, the Thai King Vajiralongkorn reinstated his Royal Noble Consort, Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi, after having demoted her in October of 2019. Tamara Loos, professor and chair of history, says that the King’s treatment of Sineenat represents one of the many reasons why protestors in Thailand have targeted the monarchy for…
Name and title: Xin Zhou, Associate Professor, Mathematics Academic focus: Geometric analysis, calculus of variations, general relativity Current research project: I am working on variational theory of minimal surfaces and surfaces of prescribed mean curvature. These surfaces are mathematical models for soap bubbles and boundaries of black holes. I am developing analytical tools to study…
Name and title: Jason Sion Mokhtarian, Associate Professor and Herbert and Stephanie Neuman Chair in Hebrew and Jewish Literature, Near Eastern Studies Academic focus: Rabbinic Judaism, Iranian studies, Talmud in its Sasanian context, Jews of Persia Current research project: I just finished a book on the medical remedies in the Babylonian Talmud and am beginning a new project on the Jewish…
Name and title: Landon Schnabel, Robert and Ann Rosenthal Assistant Professor, Sociology Academic focus: I study inequality, how it changes over time and why it persists through social change in the United States and around the world. Most of my research focuses on gender inequality alongside other dimensions of social inequality including sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and class. Current…
Name and title: Amiel Bize, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Academic focus: Economic anthropology (value, capitalist margins, post-agrarian rural life, risk, gleaning) Current research project: I am working on a manuscript on post-agrarian rural economies in East Africa (“Risk, Rent, and Remainder”), beginning a project on index-based insurance and risk financing as development technologies,…
Name and title: Juno Salazar Parreñas, Assistant Professor, Science & Technology Studies and Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Academic focus: I am a feminist science studies scholar. I study human-animal relations and ideas of nature as a way to think about colonialism, global political economy, and environmental destruction, as well as misogyny, racism, and other entangled forms of…
The next event in the Democracy 20/20 Webinar series, hosted by the American Democracy Collaborative, will examine violence and policing in the context of American history and current events, analyzing their impact for democracy. The webinar will take place on Thursday, August 27 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. (ET). The event is free and the public is invited; registration is required. The…
Name and title: Nicholas Mulder, Assistant Professor, History Academic focus: European and international history from 1870 to the present, with a particular focus on the interwar period (1914-1945) and on questions of political economy. I am also interested in international organizations, international law and the history of war. Current research project: I am currently putting the finishing…
Name and title: Jason Simms, Assistant Professor, Performing & Media Arts Academic focus: Design in performing and media arts Current research project: The Hive, a social distancing performance and gathering venue Previous positions: Adjunct Faculty, Theatre Department, Montclair State University, 2018-2020 Visiting Lecturer and Design Mentor, Department of Theatre and Dance, Williams…
Name and title: Alexandra Domike Blackman, Assistant Professor, Government Academic focus: Middle Eastern politics, history, religion, gender Current research project: I am working on a book project that explores how French colonialism shaped Tunisian political identities, as well as several articles about the current challenges facing female politicians in Tunisia. Previous positions: Post…
Name and title: Kelly Presutti, Assistant Professor, History of Art & Visual Studies Academic focus: 19th-century European art, landscape, environmental history Current research project: A book on landscape representation and the changing politics of land use in post-Revolutionary France Previous positions: Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University…
Name and title: Chloe Ahmann, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Academic focus: Environmental anthropology, urban history, United States Current research project: I'm currently writing a book (tentatively) titled “Forgotten in Anticipation: Baltimore After Progress,” about how present-day residents cope with the legacies of deindustrialization on Baltimore's south side. COVID permitting, I'm…
Emily Donald is a doctoral student in history from Brisbane, Australia studying modern southeast Asian history; feminist, gender, and sexuality studies; and queer history. After attending the University of Queensland as an undergraduate, she chose to pursue further study at Cornell due to its scholars, library collections, and commitment to graduate student learning. What is your area of…
Name and title: Alex Nading, Associate Professor, Anthropology Academic focus: Medical anthropology, environmental studies, science and technology studies, labor Current research project: I am currently studying how health and environmental activists are confronting a new epidemic of chronic kidney disease among sugarcane plantation workers in Nicaragua. Previous positions: Senior Fellow,…
Name and title: Erin Stache, Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Chemical Biology Academic focus: Polymer chemistry and sustainability Current research project: Depolymerization of commodity polymers Previous positions: Cornell Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, 2018-2020 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Chemistry,…
Name and title: Jerel Ezell, Assistant Professor, Africana Studies and Research Center Academic focus: Health disparities and social inequalities Current research project: Exploring health, socioeconomic outcomes and political views in Flint, Michigan, following the city's water crisis and examining racial trends in opioid use in post-industrial cities Previous positions: Medical Sociologist,…
Name and title: Isabel M. Perera, Assistant Professor, Government Academic focus: Health, labor and social policy, in comparative and historical perspective Current research project: My research examines how public sector trade unions can influence the provision of social welfare, with a focus on the development of mental health policy in the United States and France. Previous positions: …
Name and title: Helena Aparicio, Assistant Professor, Linguistics Academic focus: I use a combination of experimental and computational methods to study how humans process and interpret language. Current research project: Teasing apart what aspects of linguistic meaning are grammatically encoded vs. pragmatically derived during linguistic interactions. Previous positions: Postdoctoral Fellow,…
Name and title: Laura Niemi, Assistant Professor, Psychology Academic focus: Moral psychology, social psychology, cognitive science, psychology of language Current research project: I study how people judge each other, make morally relevant decisions, and live out their values. Previous positions: Assistant Professor, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto,…
Name and title: Imane Terhmina, Assistant Professor, Romance Studies Academic focus: Francophone African literature and culture, postcolonial theory, affect theory, political philosophy, petrofictions/eco-topias, Afropolitanism Current research project: I am currently working on a book manuscript that traces bureaucracy as a narrative trope in literature and film from North, West, and…
Name and title: Todd Hyster, Associate Professor, Chemistry & Chemical Biology Academic focus: Biocatalysis and organic synthesis Current research project: We use visible light to expand the synthetic capabilities of enzymes (nature’s catalysis). This work enables us to address long-standing challenges in chemical synthesis and to fundamentally alter how molecules of societal value are…
Name and title: Natasha Raheja Assistant Professor, Anthropology Academic focus: Documentary, ethnographic film, migration, borders, bureaucracy, nationalism, South Asia Current research project: A book manuscript, "From Minority to Majority: Pakistani Hindu Claims to Indian Citizenship," and companion documentary and short film series on borders and belonging Previous positions: …
Name and title: Leslie S. Babonis, Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Academic focus: Evolutionary development, the origin of novelty, invertebrate biodiversity Current research project: I study novelty. Specifically, I am interested in understanding the developmental mechanisms that give rise to new animal traits as a means to understand the processes driving the evolution…
Name and title: Barum Park, Assistant Professor, Sociology Academic focus: Political sociology, social networks, social mobility Current research project: I am starting two new projects: in one I examine polarization dynamics over the 2016 presidential election campaign using data on online forums. Another, unrelated, project develops network approaches to study intragenerational mobility using…
Name and title: Ivanna Yi, Assistant Professor, Asian Studies Academic focus: Korean literature, culture, and performance Current research project: My current book project, “Continuing Orality and the Environment in Korean Literature,” examines the flourishing of Korean oral traditions such as p'ansori (epic dramatic storytelling) and sijo (lyric poetry) through transformative encounters with…
Name and title: Chaoming Jian, Assistant Professor, Physics Academic focus: Theoretical condensed matter physics Current research project: Currently, I am trying to develop and apply new theoretical tools to investigate the properties of quantum matters that are highly entangled and strongly interacting. In particular, I am trying to combine the ideas from condensed matter physics, high energy…
Name and title: Casey Schmitt, Assistant Professor, History Academic focus: Early American and Caribbean history, slavery, labor, and human trafficking Current research project: My book manuscript titled: "The Predatory Sea: Human Trafficking, Colonization, and Trade in the Greater Caribbean, 1530-1690" Previous positions: Barra Postdoctoral Fellow, McNeil Center for Early Americans Studies,…
Name and title: Michele Belot, Professor, Economics Academic focus: Labor economics, health economics, behavioral economics Current research project: Randomized controlled trial testing interventions to support job seekers in their search Previous positions: Professor, Economics Department, European University Institute, 2016-2020 Professor, Economics Department, University of Edinburgh,…
Name and title: Noah Tamarkin, Assistant Professor, Anthropology Academic focus: Social politics of genetics, race, citizenship and belonging, South Africa Current research project: My first book, “Genetic Afterlives: Black Jewish Indigeneity in South Africa” comes out in October from Duke University Press. The book ethnographically examines how Lemba South Africans have repositioned their…
About 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday to demand reforms, including of the monarchy, in a continuation of unrest that began earlier this year with the dissolution of the Future Forward Party. The Sunday protest is one of the largest anti-government protests in Thailand since 2014. Tamara Loos, professor of history and Thai studies at Cornell University, says the…
On Thursday, President Trump announced a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. The agreement makes the United Arab Emirates (UAE) just the third Arab country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Uriel Abulof, a visiting professor in Cornell University’s government department and professor at Tel-Aviv University, says the agreement makes official a relationship…
Presidential candidate Joe Biden has selected Senator Kamala Harris as running mate and vice-presidential candidate, the first black and South Asian woman to serve on the ticket as a candidate for vice president. Carole Boyce Davies, professor of Africana studies and English in the College of Arts & Sciences, studies black women and political leadership. She is currently writing a book…
For the first time, a team of chemists has unveiled the mechanics involved in the mysterious interplay between sunlight and molecules in the atmosphere known as “roaming reactions.” The research could lead to more accurate modeling of climate change and other atmospheric phenomena. A detailed study of roaming reactions – where atoms split off from compounds and orbit other atoms to form…
The electrons in quantum materials strongly interact and influence one another’s behavior. In addition, some materials have significant spin-orbit coupling, in which electrons’ spins are coupled with their own orbital momenta. Researchers predict that spin-orbit coupling will generate exotic forms of cooperative electron ordering that should alter the material’s crystal structure…
