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English professor’s novel tells of love triangle in post-WWII Paris, based on his family history
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new novel by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor David Wright Faladé tells the story of three people in a love triangle in post-World War II Paris. The characters in “The New Internationals” — a young French woman who has survived the Holocaust, a university student from West Africa and a […]

Study: Civil organizing persisted during Syrian civil war
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Where, when and how did civilians organize during the Syrian civil war that started in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2011 and lasted until the toppling of President Bashar Assad in late 2024? According to new research co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist, civil organizing persisted during […]

Paris research trip reconnects Native American tribes with historic painted robes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Robert Morrissey traveled to a Paris museum in November to see four ceremonial robes created more than 300 years ago by Native American tribes in Illinois. The research trip included members of the Miami and Peoria Nations and it was part of a collaborative project, “Reclaiming […]

Are climate-related calamities erasing Illinois’ cultural history?
In a new report, scientists with the Illinois State Archaeological Survey describe how increased flooding, erosion and other effects of human-induced climate change are degrading many of the state’s cultural sites. ISAS research archaeologist Andrew White, a co-author of the report, spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the scope of the […]

Illinois historian says Midwest played a crucial role in Black freedom movements worldwide
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Midwest played a central role in the growth of Black freedom movements in the 20th century. It was a key site for incubating and expanding the ideas of political activist Marcus Garvey, not only in the U.S., but globally, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of African American studies and history […]

What message did voters send this election?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Brian Gaines is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Honorable W. Russell Arrington Professor in State Politics at the U of I System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Gaines, who studies elections and public opinion, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the state of the […]

History professor’s book looks at Brazil’s longest-lasting maroon society, its influence today
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The largest and longest-lasting society formed by people who escaped slavery and their descendants endured for a century in northeastern Brazil, and it continues to be a potent political symbol of Black pride today. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marc Hertzman wrote about the settlement and how memories of it survive […]

Illinois professor’s book explores the relationship between beauty and crisis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Creating and nurturing beauty in dark times helps us endure another day. Beauty can help us appraise how we live and how we can build better lives. Its presence or absence is a critique of the social and political structures that are necessary to allow it to flourish, said Mimi Thi Nguyen, […]

Appealing to our ‘better angels’ with the Braver Angels
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — I’m sitting in the well-appointed Illini Union Ballroom on a sunny, late-October afternoon. My current mood: anxious. Sure, our 20th-ranked Illinois football team is taking on No. 1 Oregon this weekend, but that’s not on my mind right now. (Turns out my pregame butterflies were well founded.) Pre-election jitters are foremost, with […]

New research creates better tool to assess personality traits of job seekers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research co-written by two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts who study personnel psychology points to a better way of helping researchers and employers identify the differences in how people respond to personality tests. The tool — a hybrid of two existing measurement models called the “Mixture Dominance-Unfolding Model,” or “MixDUM” — could help human resources […]

Professor, pioneer in Black studies, Black liberation movements donates papers to Archives
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The faculty and personal papers of Gerald McWorter, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor emeritus of African American studies and of information sciences, show the arc of a freedom narrative, from his ancestors’ founding of New Philadelphia, Illinois — the first U.S. town to be incorporated by a Black man — to […]

New book reveals Electoral College strategies in modern political era
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new book co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political scientist explores the road to the White House through three distinct eras of presidential campaigning.