Ask the Expert: Making Holiday Meals More Welcoming

Holidays and celebrations often involve eating together with family and friends. But what does it mean to eat well together? How can food allergies, restricted diets, and even certain medications make sharing a meal more challenging for guests as well as hosts? Megan Dean, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University, explores the ethics of eating and brings to…

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Ask the Expert: How Do the Olympics Connect People, Athletics, and Art?

The modern Olympics continue to highlight athletic excellence and a spirit of teamwork even after more than 125 years since their inception in Athens, Greece. Now, every two years, the Olympics — with either the Summer Games or Winter Games — connect people and cultures in peaceful competition. Roughly 10,500 athletes from around the world will compete at the 2024…

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Ask the Expert: How Are Mental Health and Wellness Connected?

Mental health has become a part of wellness discussions in schools, workplaces, and health care organizations. In higher education, there has been a greater focus on mental health as one component of wellness that supports students in learning and persisting through to graduation. LeConté Dill, Associate Professor of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University, finds her students…

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Ask the Expert: How Is Spirituality Expanding Beyond Religion?

Spirituality is declining in the United States if you focus on religious affiliation, but that isn’t the whole story according to Morgan Shipley, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. A recent Pew Research Center survey reports that 28% of U.S. adults say they are religiously unaffiliated. By digging a little deeper, Shipley finds the religiously unaffiliated, sometimes…

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Ask the Expert: How Does Black Horror Help Us Understand Cultural Anxieties?

The genre of horror, and specifically Black horror, has been gaining attention in mainstream media in the last decade. Films by Black writers and directors featuring Black actors — think “ Us” and “Get Out” by writer and director Jordan Peele — are exploring themes of race and gender through a different lens while opening larger dialogues about belonging and…

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Ask the Expert: How Can AI Support Writing and Student Learning?

With the start of the school year approaching, educators are wondering how artificial intelligence, or AI, may be used in learning environments, including by students for writing papers. Bill Hart-Davidson has been researching AI since he first came to Michigan State University in 2004 and launched a research center about writing in digital environments.

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