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You’ve had enough news for the week (or year). How about some comics?
Comic books, as Americans think of them today, were invented just shy of a century ago. The industry was based in New York, home to most of the country’s publishing houses – and most of its Jewish population, too. Jewish artists helped usher in the Golden Age of comics with instantly recognizable superheroes like Superman, Spider-Man and Batman.
Few comics characters are explicitly Jewish. But often, superhero stories reflect themes at the heart of many Jewish communities’ experiences, especially for immigrants and their children: fleeing one’s home, starting over anew and hiding aspects of their identities while trying to stay true to themselves. Superman’s origin story parallels that of the biblical hero Moses, and Yiddish-tinged English makes its way into Spider-Man’s speech.
Comics history offers “insight into the ways that Jewish American anxieties, ambitions, patriotism and sense of place in the U.S. continually changed over the 20th century,” writes University of Michigan historian Miriam Eve Mora. “To me, this understanding makes the retelling of these classic stories even more meaningful and entertaining.”
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A five-story replica of a stamp of Superman in 1998 in Cleveland, home of the superhero’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File
Miriam Eve Mora, University of Michigan
Jewish American artists were at the heart of the comics industry – and a closer read of beloved characters reflects fears about assimilation and acceptance.
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Environment + Energy
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Albert C. Lin, University of California, Davis
President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration does not qualify as an emergency that would exempt energy projects from environmental laws and regulations.
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Science + Technology
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Julia Standefer, Iowa State University; L. Alison Phillips, Iowa State University
Two social psychologists explain the ways unconscious biases influence how people think and can fuel discrimination against transgender people and other minority groups.
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Benjamin Roulston, Clarkson University
When a spacecraft is too far from the Sun to use solar panels, it needs a different reliable source of power.
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W. Keith Robinson, Wake Forest University
US patent law says inventors must be human, but they can use AI. This changes the nature of invention and raises the question: Is this what the founders had in mind when they set up the patent system?
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Economy + Business
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Michael Moats, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Bringing chip manufacturing back to America is a national security and economic priority, but a shortage of skilled workers threatens to derail the effort.
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Health + Medicine
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Laurie Archbald-Pannone, University of Virginia
Reading a pamphlet in the doctor’s office about which vaccines to get may help nudge older adults to get vaccinated.
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Arts + Culture
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Arthur Daemmrich, Arizona State University; Eric S. Hintz, Smithsonian Institution
Technological advances that lead to fairer, more accurate calls are often seen as triumphs. But new technology doesn’t mean perfect precision – nor does it necessarily create a better fan experience.
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Education
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Erica Frankenberg, Penn State; Maithreyi Gopalan, University of Oregon
The layoffs further complicate staffing shortages at the Office for Civil Rights, which plays a vital role in promoting a fair education for public school students.
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Rachael Cody, Oregon State University
A better understanding of why parents of children with special needs choose homeschooling can provide insights to help improve public schools.
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