blog posts

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  Distracted much? New research may help explain why

  Oct 5, 2016 8:15 am1990 views

  A new study offers evidence that one’s motivation is just as important for sustained attention to a task as is the ease with which the task is done.

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  Do a candidate's promises match their deeds when elected?

  Oct 30, 2012 9:00 am31 views

  A Minute With™... political scientist Tracy Sulkin

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  Doctors played a role in ideas about racial differences

  Feb 6, 2018 9:45 am770 views

  Physicians played a key role in defining racial differences in the age of slavery, planting ideas that have carried to the present day, says a U. of I. historian in a new book.

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  Does climate change result in civil unrest?

  Nov 18, 2015 8:30 am190 views

  A Minute With...™ Peter Nardulli, political scientist

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  Does one-party rule mean all Trump promises become reality?

  Nov 16, 2016 12:00 pm1167 views

  Donald Trump may not get everything he wants from Congress, despite its Republican majorities, says Illinois political science professor Tracy Sulkin.

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  Does the Facebook Generation need limits on screen time?

  Nov 8, 2013 9:00 am5 views

  A Minute With™... Barbara Wilson,  an expert on the social and psychological effects of media on youth

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  Do Google search results reflect racial bias?

  Feb 18, 2013 9:00 am8 views

  A Minute With™... Safiya Umoja Noble, a professor of African American studies

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  Don't forget portion control when filling MyPlate

  Mar 23, 2009 9:00 am1 views

  A Minute With™... Karen Chapman-Novakofski, a professor of food science and human nutrition

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  Do politics or protests have a place in sports?

  Sep 28, 2017 12:30 pm1915 views

  A U. of I. professor who specializes in the history of sports says it’s not realistic to see sporting events as free of politics or protest

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  Do summer jobs provide lifelong benefits for teens?

  Jun 11, 2018 8:30 am597 views

  University of Illinois Extension educator Kathy Sweedler, whose focus area is consumer economics, spoke recently with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about what teens can gain from summer jobs.

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  Do voters ever learn anything from campaign commercials, or are the ads all just so much mudslinging?

  Sep 26, 2008 9:00 am17 views

  A Minute With™... Scott Althaus, a professor of political science and of communication 

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  Do we really know what's driving income inequality?

  Jun 6, 2016 8:30 am843 views

  Rethinking inequality and its causes: A Minute With™ sociologist Kevin Leicht

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  Dual-earner families, gender roles, and the economic recession

  Nov 8, 2010 9:00 am289 views

  A Minute With™... Amit Kramer, a professor of labor and employment relations

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  Ebert Symposium to feature IMAX film, astronaut videographer, storytelling with data

  Sep 13, 2018 10:15 am784 views

  The first Roger Ebert Symposium will explore the cinematic presentation of science with help from an IMAX film shot from space, a former astronaut and a diverse group of academics and experts.

• Education debate tonight at Columbia a duel of 'fundamental opposites'

  Oct 21, 2008 9:00 am8 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - If there's one issue the candidates have been near silent on in the run-up to Election Day, it's education. But when the education advisers for John McCain and Barack Obama square off in a surrogate debate about where their candidate stands on the issues tonight (Oct. 21), it will be a battle of "fundamental opposites" on the educational policy spectrum, says James D. Anderson, the Gutsgell Professor of educational policy studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• Educators to discuss how to better serve Latino pupils

  Oct 10, 2011 9:00 am6 views

  CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - A panel of local educators who specialize in meeting the needs of immigrant children will discuss strategies for providing early childhood and elementary education to young Latinos at noon on Oct. 14 (Friday).

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  Egypt historical study shows 'traditional' marriage more modern than we think

  Jun 15, 2015 9:00 am456 views

  Mention traditional marriage and family and it’s easy to think you’re talking about age-old customs. Those “traditional” ideals and practices, however, are more likely a product of the last two centuries, says a University of Illinois history professor.

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  Election recap: Illinois elected a Republican governor, but Democrats retain the legislature

  Dec 5, 2014 9:00 am11 views

  A Minute With™... Christopher Z. Mooney, the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the W. Russell Arrington Professor of State Politics on the Springfield campus. 

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  Emancipated blacks often targeted for relocation to the tropics

  Feb 19, 2018 10:45 am405 views

  Every significant emancipation of black enslaved people in North America came with plans to relocate them to tropical areas, says a U. of I. historian.

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  Emotional suppression reduces memory of negative events

  Mar 13, 2018 8:15 am1608 views

  By peering at the brains of study subjects prompted to suppress negative emotions, scientists have gained new insights into how emotional regulation influences negative feelings and memories. They hope the findings will lead to new methods to combat depression.

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  Epidemic played large role in shift of attitudes on abortion, author says

  Jun 23, 2010 9:00 am72 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Before Roe v. Wade, there was ... German measles.

• Exercise to let students experience what it's like to live on low income

  Sep 27, 2010 9:00 am61 views

  CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - About 150 students who are taking an introductory course in social work at the University of Illinois this semester will experience the problems that

• Expert compares high cost of health care to goods consumers can relate to

  Nov 16, 2007 9:00 am9 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - If Americans spent the same amount of money on health care as counterparts in Canada and a number of other countries, the difference between what they spend now and what they would save annually would be enough to pay for two plasma TVs or three Big Macs a day.

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  Expert says state policies can have an impact on public health

  Mar 12, 2010 9:00 am13 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In a new study, Tom O'Rourke, a professor emeritus of community health at the University of Illinois, examined 25 variables in four categories to see how state policies might affect residents' health.

• Experts should be thinking -- now -- beyond Katrina rescue effort

  Sep 2, 2005 9:00 am6 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - While post-Katrina rescue and evacuation operations continue to be the priority in New Orleans, urban planning expert Rob Olshansky says now also is the time to be staging the next phase of the city's disaster-recovery plans.

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  Facebook, 'soft surveillance,' and the Millennial Generation

  Oct 2, 2006 9:00 am13 views

  A Minute With™... Noshir Contractor, a professor of speech communication and of psychology

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  Fair play in sport not easy to define in a high-tech age, expert says

  Jul 26, 2012 9:00 am252 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The technological edge can come in a swimmer's revolutionary suit, in a cyclist's specialized bike, in any athlete's drug of choice - whether legal, untraceable or not yet banned.

• Family debt hurts children's chances for success in college, study says

  Jan 9, 2012 9:00 am14 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Families that have high amounts of unsecured debt, such as outstanding credit card balances and payday loans, diminish their children's prospects of attending or graduating from college, according to a new study by social work professors Min Zhan at the University of Illinois and Michael Sherraden, the founder of the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis.

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  Family thought to play part in reducing stress for young Mexicans, study shows

  Jan 8, 2013 9:00 am13 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Family members may play a unique and influential role in buffering Mexican youth against the negative effects of stress as they transition into adulthood, suggests a new study by an interdisciplinary group of researchers at universities in Mexico and the U.S.

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  Fashion, sex, 'gray market of power' helped lead to French Revolution

  Nov 22, 2013 9:00 am186 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Today we call it influence, clout, "who you know." It gets junior into the top school, swings the big business deal, gets legislation passed or killed.

• Fear of Germany's destruction drove Nazism's appeal, scholar says

  Jun 17, 2008 9:00 am248 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Seventy-five years after the Nazis rose to power, historians still struggle to explain how the Nazis could take such effective hold of Germany and bring it to such murderous extremes in war and in the Holocaust.

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  Federal health care reform law holds hope for mental health services

  Dec 15, 2011 9:00 am6 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Uninsured adults with serious mental illnesses may have a harder time finding care because state budgetary cutbacks are dramatically affecting services and staffing levels at community mental health agencies in Illinois and other states. But full implementation of the federal health care reform law could help alleviate that, according to scholars in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois.

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  Feeling anxious? Check your orbitofrontal cortex and cultivate your optimism, study suggests

  Sep 22, 2015 10:00 am2717 views

  A new study links anxiety, a brain structure called the orbitofrontal cortex, and optimism, finding that healthy adults who have larger OFCs tend to be more optimistic and less anxious.

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  Filmmaker's documentary tells story of groundbreaking church-state suit

  Sep 29, 2010 9:00 am146 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Prayer in the schools, Ten Commandments in the courthouse, Christmas mangers on public property.

• Film screening and panel to mark anniversary of church-state ruling

  Feb 26, 2013 9:00 am2 views

  CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - Recognizing the 65th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision McCollum v. Board of Education, the award-winning documentary "The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today" will be shown at 7 p.m. March 7 in the auditorium of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications Building, 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana.

• Financial education programs would benefit low-income people, scholars say

  Oct 11, 2004 9:00 am52 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Personal finance education is a growing trend in schools and workplaces, but it misses many of those who need it most, say social work professors Steve Anderson and Min Zhan.

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  Financial penalties trigger welfare exits, study finds

  Dec 16, 2013 9:00 am13 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Welfare recipients in Wisconsin who received financial sanctions for failing to comply with the program's work requirements were from two to 33 times more likely to exit welfare - with or without jobs - and the effect increased with the duration of the sanctions, according to a new study by a University of Illinois expert on poverty.

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  First dogs in the Americas arrived from Siberia, disappeared after European contact

  Jul 5, 2018 1:00 pm3014 views

  A study reported in the journal Science offers an enhanced view of the origins and ultimate fate of the first dogs in the Americas. The dogs were not domesticated North American wolves, as some have speculated, but likely followed their human counterparts over a land bridge that once connected North Asia and the Americas, the study found.

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  Five years after the Arab Spring: Despair, but also hope

  Jan 21, 2016 11:15 am933 views

  A Minute With...™ Asef Bayat, sociologist and Middle East expert

• Forum Feb. 1 to explore world response to tsunami disaster

  Jan 19, 2005 9:00 am2 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - How the world has responded to the Dec. 26 tsunami will be the topic of a 90-minute forum beginning at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• Forum to look at earthquakes, including potential in central U.S.

  Feb 1, 2006 9:00 am2 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Should the October earthquake in Pakistan, and the widespread devastation it caused, raise concerns in the central United States?

• Four-day Katrina 'Summit' at U. of I., elsewhere, strives for positive change

  Sep 14, 2006 9:00 am10 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A year after hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Louisiana and Mississippi gulf coasts, rebuilding efforts are finally moving forward. But it's the remaining, deeper tears in the region's social fabric that will be the main focus of a unique series of dialogues and events at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed to build community, connect diverse local and national audiences and ignite real and long-lasting positive change.

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  Gang presence in urban parks complicates lives of residents

  Aug 20, 2009 9:00 am375 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - When most people think of parks, images of slides and swings, ball fields and basketball hoops, Rollerbladers and moms pushing strollers may come to mind.

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  Gangs, violence rob inner-city kids of physical activity, study says

  Jul 27, 2011 9:00 am973 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Many of the adults living in Chicago's South Lawndale neighborhood are first-generation immigrants, raised in Latin American communities where people feel close to nature, leave their doors wide open to their neighbors and the outdoors is an extended space for socializing with the community.

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  Gather the family for the holidays (but leave old conflicts in the past)

  Dec 19, 2011 9:00 am6 views

  A Minute With™... Leanne Knobloch, a professor of communication

• Gay Talese to receive lifetime journalism achievement award

  Nov 1, 2010 9:00 am44 views

  CHAMPAIGN,Ill. - Gay Talese, the author of acclaimed books and articles on topics as varied as the Mafia, sports, immigration, the sexual revolution, The New York Times and Frank Sinatra, will be this year's recipient of the IIlinois Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism.

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  Geeks may be chic, but negative nerd stereotype still exists, professor says

  Mar 3, 2009 9:00 am1167 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Despite the increased popularity of geek culture - movies based on comic books, video games, virtual worlds - and the ubiquity of computers, the geek's close cousin, the nerd, still suffers from a negative stereotype in popular culture. This may help explain why women and minorities are increasingly shying away from careers in information technology, says Lori Kendall, a professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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  Gender differences in vocational interests decrease with age, study finds

  Mar 27, 2018 12:30 pm906 views

  Gender differences in vocational interests increase drastically during puberty but tend to decrease across the lifespan, researchers at the University of Illinois found in a new study.

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  Gender, social orientation affect children's reactions to bullying

  Sep 24, 2014 9:00 am98 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new study of nearly 600 third-graders may explain why some children who experience peer victimization develop problems with depression or aggression while other children who also get bullied have healthy emotional and social adjustment.

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  Genealogical tourism redefining leisure travel market, professor says

  Mar 4, 2010 9:00 am98 views

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - For the work-weary, the word "vacation" may conjure images of leisurely, carefree days at the beach sipping umbrella drinks. But according to published research by a University of Illinois expert in tourism and recreation, genealogical tourism is one of the fastest growing markets in vacation travel because it represents a conscious shift away from relaxation and into the realm of personal enrichment and fulfillment.