Illinois Featured Content

A ruling in favor of college athletes in Johnson v. NCAA could potentially herald the most consequential change in college athletics since the NCAA was formed in 1906, says U of I labor expert Michael LeRoy, 

'You come to college to become a teacher, borrow a significant amount of money along the way, then go into the profession with a very low salary. ...that’s a very difficult invitation to accept,' says College of Education Dean Jim Anderson.

Birthright citizenship was enacted as part of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and no president has the authority to eliminate or modify a constitutional amendment, says immigration law expert Michael LeRoy.

'We found that very breathable fabrics are a good choice, like common t-shirt materials. They tend to have low droplet resistance, and their efficiency increases when used in a two-layer mask.'

While many think of COVID-19 as primarily a respiratory disease, its effects on the heart contribute to nearly 40% of deaths – and can strike even healthy children and athletes, says Illinois medical scholar Mariam Bonyadi Camacho.

'Oppenheimer' examines the process of building an organization of unprecedented scale and wrestles with how to view one individual’s decisions as relevant in the face of such a massive system, says Dean Kevin Hamilton.

'I think this strike will last much longer than three months. In 1988, the writers were on strike for nearly 22 weeks. This time, they're striking over job-killing issues, such as the use of artificial intelligence in generating creative works.' 

Horror films dominate Netflix queues right now. English professor Jim Hansen spoke about why we love horror. He says it’s because horror films let us 'choose the shape of our fears and then to face up to those fears.'

The NFL team in the nation’s capital will no longer be the Redskins. It’s the highest-profile retirement of an American Indian name by a sports team in decades.

An increasing number of states are proposing anti-transgender bills aimed at issues affecting children. They will lead to more legislation limiting the rights of transgender adults as well, says Professor Toby Beauchamp.

One of the problems with university 'speech codes' is that they’re selectively enforced, says Lena Shapiro, the inaugural director of the First Amendment Clinic at the U of I College of Law.

Historically, skipping inaugurations have generally been the result of bitter and divisive politics. It’s only happened four times before, with the most recent being 152 years ago.

Quality and health of urban green space is impacted by environmental factors such as air temperature and the height of surrounding buildings, making it more challenging, costly to maintain a healthy urban green space, says researcher Fang Fang. 

Professor Jerry Dávila, who specializes in the history of Brazil in the 20th century, spoke about civil unrest in Brazil. 'It was a coup attempt, and it was styled after the (Jan. 6, 2021) attack on the U.S. Capitol.'

Leyi Wang, a virologist and professor of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois, discusses the outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus.

Michael Schlosser is the director of Illinois' Police Training Institute, which has developed training programs that give officers a better understanding of their own implicit biases.

President Biden would likely alienate a key constituency ahead of the 2024 presidential election cycle if he used his presidential powers to intervene in a potential UPS strike, says labor expert Michael LeRoy, 

We may want to question some assumptions about state-level voting predictions and the role of the pandemic in the recent election, says Professor Scott Althaus, whose expertise centers around news coverage, politics and public opinion.

'One lesson that we should learn from this pandemic is that we really are all in this together. We are so connected that a new disease appearing anywhere...can quickly impact the whole world, and only a global response can control it.'

USA Today (Feb. 16) 'When we talk about why Black people wouldn’t trust a medical establishment a lot of people cite Tuskegee, which makes sense,' says Rana Hogarth, a history professor at Illinois. 'But Tuskegee is not the start.'

One year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the most likely outcome is a stalemate, despite the mounting cost in blood and treasure, says political science professor Edward A. Kolodziej,  an expert in global politics.

Illinois political scientist Brian Gaines discusses the impact of the pandemic during a pivotal election year.

Illinois men's wheelchair basketball coach Matt Buchi interviewed following the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament on the Illinois campus.

Following the loss of OceanGate's Titan submersible this week, U of I professor Viktor Gruev discusses the current state of the science behind underwater geolocation, and some advances his team is working on now.

'There could very well be differences from one ball to another within a given year...and that's just a natural consequence of the materials that are used and the actual process...there's a lot of hand work done to create a baseball.'

Illinois wildlife biologist Tara Hohoff says the hypothesis that bats tranfered the novel coronavirus to humans has given them a bad rap, and public fears of exposure to bats are on the rise. 

In this symposium, 31 experts analyze the administration’s achievements—as well as its shortcomings and missteps—across a wide range of areas

Rohit Bhargava, a professor of bioengineering, explains how chemical imaging, machine learning, and 3D printing are changing how we think about and fight cancer

While pornography is a genre with a long history, the legal category of 'obscenity' was effectively invented for the US after the Civil War in reaction to moral panic about the Free Love movement, says English professor Justine Murison.

Heat stroke is a medical emergency, but recognizing the warning signs and knowing vulnerability factors and mitigation techniques can improve outcomes, says Dr. Holly Rosencranz, professor in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

The state of U.S. labor and the labor movement in 2023 is 'very agitated,' reflecting decades of stagnant wage increases and deteriorating job quality, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

Illinois physics professor Liang Yang discusses the significance of the recent neutrino detection in Antarctica and what it means for the future of observational astronomy

Russia used a hypersonic ballistic missile to destroy an underground arms depot in western Ukraine, marking the first known use of a hypersonic missile in combat. Professor Kelly Stephani explains what makes hypersonic missiles different.

Moving quickly to online instruction comes with many challenges for professors and students. School of Information Sciences instructor Melissa Wong has been teaching online since 2001.

The most likely outcome of the Clarence Thomas revelations is that the Supreme Court will announce new or clarified ethical standards for justices on the high court, says U of I law professor Jason Mazzone.

The Biden administration’s new rule to protect workers from the dangers of extreme heat ultimately may be undermined by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, says U. of I. labor expert Michael LeRoy.  

Thomas O’Rourke, a professor emeritus of community health, suggests that it is unrealistic to expect a vaccine to fully resolve the current coronavirus health crisis.

Atmospheric sciences professor Ashish Sharma is cautiously optimistic that academia can partner with industry and government on climate and sustainability goals that will benefit their financial statements, their employees and their communities.

The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act means some retirees will receive a modest increase in their monthly checks, says Richard Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy, elder law and retirement issues.

'There aren't many things that the U.S. public agrees on, but this seems to be an exception. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all feel like they're being overcharged,' says consumer economics professor Maria Kalaitzandonakes.

Following a pandemic, workers historically have recognized the value of their labor and become unwilling to accept poor wages and working conditions, said medieval studies expert Carol Symes.

The ultrawealthy aren’t breaking the law in avoiding taxes, but public outrage over their financial legerdemain could prompt legislators to consider an annual wealth tax, says tax policy expert Richard L. Kaplan.

International relastions expert Nicholas Grossman, author of 'Drones and Terrorism: Asymmetric Warfare and the Threat to Global Security,' talks about the implications of the U.S. killing former al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri by drone.

Social isolation is not a good situation for anybody, but for teenagers it’s particularly hard. Studies have long indicated that teens who are socially isolated are at higher risk for mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.

Professor Nicholas Grossman, an expert in international relations, speaks about the repercussions of the abrupt U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Although the omicron variants seem less deadly, COVID-19 vaccine boosters are needed to keep up with the virus as it evolves, says University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign microbiology professor Christopher Brooke.

President Trump’s much-hyped tax overhaul plan is tantamount to a 'tax-reform wish list,' said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy

Although presidential candidate endorsements can offer readers insight into a newspaper’s thinking about the direction, needs of the country, Professor Melita Garza says there's little evidence thier endorsements sway readers' votes.

Atmospheric sciences professor Atul Jain hopes the latest global carbon budget report encourages policies that conserve global ecosystems, limit global warming – and continue to push for low-carbon tech and phasing out fossil fuels.

The professor of Speech and Hearing Science talks about his study of the effects of ambient noise in restaurants and its relationship to customers' willingness to spend time in them