By Abigail Parrish, Lecturer in Languages Education, University of Sheffield
Anthony Gordon – one of the stars of England’s football team at the 2026 World Cup – surprised many when he was presented as a new Barcelona player at the end of the 2025-26 domestic football season: he answered a question at the press conference in confident Spanish. Gordon explained that he had been learning the language for years with the hope of one day playing for Barcelona.
I research motivation, particularly when it comes to learning languages. Gordon’s ambition to learn…
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By Jonathan Peter Skinner, Reader in Anthropology of Events, University of Surrey
The continued reinvention of the Titanic across television, immersive exhibitions, virtual reality and theatre suggests the emergence of what might be called a “Titanic signature”. This is a recognisable way of retelling the disaster that repeatedly combines familiar characters, dramatic moments, emotional themes and immersive experiences. Rather than simply recounting history, each new version reworks a shared cultural template for contemporary audiences.
The term echoes Belfast’s 2012 Titanic…
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By Kris Gledhill, Professor of Law, Auckland University of Technology
Same-sex marriages and an apology from the state followed the homosexual law reform, but gaps remain for some people trying to have historic convictions expunged.
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By Joseph J. Gonzalez, Associate Professor of Global Studies, Appalachian State University
When I first visited Cuba, the island was recovering from a severe economic crisis. It was 1996, and the collapse of the Soviet Union had ushered in a prolonged period of deprivation and hardship.
On my latest visit, in early June, I encountered yet another crisis, a slow-motion humanitarian…
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By Kerri J. Malloy, Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies, San José State University
The Pentagon recategorized Native religions as ‘other.’ A scholar of Native American and Indigenous Studies explains the implications of that change.
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By Stefani Langehennig, Assistant Professor of Practice, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
When Colorado replaced its landmark AI law in May 2026, the move looked like a retreat from ambitious lawmaking. The state abandoned a first-of-its-kind framework that required companies to actively prevent algorithmic discrimination. That’s the risk that automated systems produce biased outcomes based on race, gender, age or other protected characteristics when making…
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By Gerard Toal, Professor of Government and International Affairs, Virginia Tech
John O’Loughlin, Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder
Sarah Wilson Sokhey, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado Boulder
Despite holding a low opinion of the US president and his negotiators, most Ukrainians have favorable views toward Americans more generally.
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By Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College
Jackson’s concurrence traces the 14th Amendment to work done by people ‘beyond Congress’ and Black Americans who ‘helped galvanize the push for full equality.’
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By James Tuttle, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Montana
Most people credit policing or the lack of it, but the real story tracks three trends that rose and fell together.
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By Benjamin Leff, Professor of Law, American University
The rulings are good news for borrowers who work for groups with missions at odds with the Trump administration’s agenda and those nonprofits themselves.
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