News Bureau

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marc Hertzman examined the longest-lasting society formed by people who escaped slavery and their descendants in Brazil and how its memory shapes concepts of Black resistance and national identity today in his new book, “After Palmares: Diaspora, Inheritance, and the Afterlives of Zumbi.”

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of gender and women’s studies Mimi Thi Nguyen explores the relationship between beauty and crisis, and how examining beauty can point to the social and political conditions necessary for a good life. Her new book is “The Promise of Beauty.”

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science students navigate ways to defuse and open dialogue in a polarized political environment as part of the Richard G. and Carole J. Cline Symposium “Bridging Political Differences in a Polarized World” held Oct. 24 at the Illini Union Ballroom.

New research led by Bo Zhang, a professor of labor and employment relations and of psychology at Illinois, points to a better way of helping researchers and employers identify the differences in how people respond to personality tests.

Gerald McWorter, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor emeritus of African American studies and information sciences, donated his faculty and personal papers to the University Archives.

“Battleground: Electoral College Strategies, Execution, and Impact in the Modern Era” draws on seven decades of data from public and private sources to explore the Electoral College strategies of every major presidential campaign from 1952-2020, said Scott Althaus, the Merriam Professor of Political Science at Illinois and co-author of the book.

A new book by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign emeritus professor of religion Wayne Pitard talks about the accomplishments of influential leader John J. Bird, the first Black trustee for the U. of I.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marsha Barrett examines Nelson Rockefeller’s career and the shift away from moderation in politics in her new book, “Nelson Rockefeller’s Dilemma: The Fight to Save Moderate Republicanism.”

Gender history is relevant to understanding political, economic and private life in the past and today, says Antoinette Burton, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor and the director of the Humanities Research Institute.

The increasingly militarized enforcement practices at the southern U.S. border have hardened attitudes toward migrants and contributed to violence against them, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Latina/Latino studies and anthropology professor Gilberto Rosas said about the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that targeted Latinos.

Doctoral student in humanities participating in community-based project to bring awareness to food sourcing and sustainable agriculture.

Popular music has a deep relationship with invoking the past, writes University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of African American studies John Paul Meyers in his new book “Same Old Song: The Enduring Past in Popular Music.”

Poet Corey Van Landingham, an English professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, writes about new marriage, its conventions and how it can both shrink and expand one’s world in her new collection of poems, “Reader, I.”

In a new book, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor David Beck describes how the federal government used bribery to end its legal and political relationships with Native American tribes.

Support for reparations for people of African descent to compensate for slavery and racial oppression is growing because U.S. political and corporate leaders have retreated from a commitment to racial justice, says Sundiata Cha-Jua, an Illinois professor of history and of African American studies.

Diminshed humanitarian and miliary assistance for Ukraine has severe implications and is critical to U.S. national security and its influence within NATO and around the globe, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sociology professor and demographer Cynthia Buckley.

How should voters feel about polls heading into the presidential election? With the small number of swing states in play, national polls will be of limited value, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Brian Gaines.

Americans struggle to tell the difference between statements of fact and statements of opinion – a troubling trend that has grave implications for civic discourse in the U.S., says research co-written by U. of I. political scientist Jeffery J. Mondak and graduate student Matthew Mettler.

Elizabeth Hoiem, an information sciences professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, examines how children’s literature and material culture responded to industrialization and shaped the class politics of playful learning in her new book “The Education of Things.”

Russian dissident Aleksei Navalny possessed a unique ability to unite activists and set the agenda for the anti-Putin movement. Now that he’s gone, the coalition he built might splinter, says Richard Tempest, a professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

With the prospects of a more sympathetic U.S. president taking office in 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin almost certainly won’t seek an off-ramp this year from the war in Ukraine, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor and international relations expert Nicholas Grossman.

The Biden administration’s approach to Venezuela has been influenced by the increasing number of Venezuelan migrants coming to the U.S. and the current instability in the Middle East affecting the crude oil market, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign political science professor Damarys Canache.

Two manuscripts that played a crucial role in the Czech cultural revival turned out to be forgeries. But their contributions to Czech literature and national culture were real, says Slavic languages and literatures professor David Cooper.  

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research and an interdisciplinary team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign experts have developed a nationwide registry on the use of lethal force by police officers in the U.S., identifying more than 23,000 incidents between 2014-2021.

The American Ornithological Society’s decision to rename birds that were named after people will allow us to consider how we remember historical figures and acknowledge the oppression in our nation’s history, says University of Illinois history professor David Sepkoski, who studies how biological and environmental sciences interact with culture.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently announced new funding to support communities working to preserve and celebrate their unique cultural heritage. The “State Designated Cultural District” initiative will provide $3 million to selected cultural districts to aid such efforts. U. of I. anthropology professor Helaine Silverman, whose work focuses on the ways that nations and communities create and deploy cultural heritage as a means of building identity and attracting tourism, spoke to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the new program and its implications for the state.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor Janice Harrington has written a children’s biography of pioneering Black botanist Charles S. Parker, “Rooting for Plants: The Unstoppable Charles S. Parker, Black Botanist and Collector.”

The 15-millionth volume in the collection of the University Library is a copy of Walter of Henley’s 13th-century work “Hosbondrye,” one of the most influential works on agriculture and land management in the Middle Ages.

Naomi Oreskes, a leader in examining efforts to undermine the scientific truth on the causes of global warming, will give a Center for Advanced Study MillerComm lecture on how free market ideology is preventing action on climate change.

History professor Rosalyn LaPier, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and Métis, talks about the history of the bison and their connection to Indigenous people in the new Ken Burns documentary “The American Buffalo.”

Joanne Lee Molinaro, known as “The Korean Vegan,” gained fame through her TikTok videos and now is a best-selling cookbook author. She’ll be on campus at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as part of the PYGMALION Festival.

New research led by Bo Zhang, a professor of labor and employment relations and of psychology at Illinois, points to a better way of assessing noncognitive abilities such as personality and career interests.

African American studies professor Bobby J. Smith II tells the overlooked story of how food was used as both a weapon and a tool of resistance during the Civil Rights Movement in his new book “Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement.”

University of Illinois English professor Jamie L. Jones examines the massive energy transition from whale oil to fossil fuels and the continuing influence of the dying industry of whaling in her new book “Rendered Obsolete: The Afterlife of U.S. Whaling in the Petroleum Age.”

A new law requiring Illinois public schools to teach Native American history will help students learn about the Indigenous people who originally occupied the land, as well as the contemporary Native American community in the state, says Illinois history professor Rosalyn LaPier.

Russian president Vladimir Putin weathered a recent insurrection by the Wagner mercenary group, but the crisis has damaged his standing, said Illinois professor of Slavic languages and literatures Richard Tempest.

Comparative and world literature professor Eric Calderwood wrote about the diverse meanings attributed to al-Andalus and the enduring cultural influence it has today.

Illinois history professor Yuridia Ramírez and Latina/Latino studies professor José de la Garza Valenzuela have been awarded 2023 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowships.

Hong Kong was a battleground for the competing ideologies of China, Taiwan and the U.S. in the post-World War II period. The conflict drove the expansion and transformation of the Hong Kong media, says history professor Po-Shek Fu.

Educators need to help students understand and use artificial intelligence language tools in appropriate ways to prepare them for a future in which their use is commonplace, says English and information sciences professor Ted Underwood.

History professor Teri Chettiar said emotional well-being was seen as a key factor for a stable democracy in the period following World War II.

One year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the most likely outcome is a stalemate, despite the mounting cost in blood and treasure, said Edward A. Kolodziej, Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

A series of eight videos available online highlights the research of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Craig Koslofsky on ways of marking and understanding skin in the early modern world.

Ryan Cordell, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of information sciences and of English, is leading a project to examine how stories of racial violence circulated in late 19th century and early 20th century newspapers and how those stories relate to trends in contemporary social media.

The New Philadelphia National Historic Site in western Illinois, commemorating the first U.S. town to be legally founded by African Americans, is the nation’s newest national park. Several University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors were among those leading the effort seeking national park status for the site.

The Jan. 8 insurrection in Brazil’s seat of government was styled after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, says Jerry Dávila, the Lemann Chair in Brazilian History at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and executive director of the Illinois Global Institute.

Anthropology professor Erin Riggs has been awarded a 2022 National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.

English professor Gillen D’Arcy Wood’s Oceans 1876 project makes a treasure trove of 19th-century marine data accessible to help scientists better understand how our oceans have changed and how to protect them.

The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research’s Coup d’État Project initially categorized the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as an “attempted dissident coup.” But that classification has evolved to include the additional classification “attempted auto-coup d’état,” said Scott Althaus, the center’s director and a professor of both political science and communication at Illinois.

History professor Robert Morrissey wrote in his new book, “People of the Ecotone,” about how the ecology of the tallgrass prairie shaped the culture and created unique opportunities for the Indigenous people who lived there.