What place do Confederate statues and symbols have in society today? The question has triggered national debate and continues to fuel political clashes across the country. Riché Richardson, associate professor of African American literature at Cornell University, researches the public dialogue about controversial symbols, including lingering Confederate symbolism.

Arts and Sciences

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Lisa Pincus, an expert in seventeenth-century Dutch art and a visiting assistant professor of art history and visual studies at Cornell University, comments on a two-week intensive study of the 1665 painting, "Girl With a Pearl Earring."

Arts & Humanities

Arts and Sciences

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Mabel Berezin is professor of sociology at Cornell University and author of “Illiberal Politics in Neoliberal Times: Cultures, Security, and Populism in a New Europe” and “Europe Without Borders.” Berezin says Marine Le Pen – who lost the race for the French presidency yesterday – has established the Front National as France’s opposition party, pitting French against each other.

Arts and Sciences

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Don Banfield, a senior research associate specializing in planetary sciences at Cornell University, comments on Martian dust storms like the one threatening NASA's Opportunity rover. He says it's important to consider the risks associated with dust storms, like the one that has silenced the Opportunity rover, when designing future missions to Mars.

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Arts and Sciences

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Enzo Traverso, historian of modern and contemporary Europe at Cornell University, comments on a controversial bill - already passed by the Polish legislature - banning accusations of Polish complicity in Nazi crimes against Poles.

International Reach

Foreign Policy

Arts and Sciences

Law and Policy

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David Bateman, an expert on Congress and the legislative process and assistant professor of government at Cornell University, explains how the possibility of a Trump-era government shutdown harkens back to the days of Jimmy Carter’s presidency – the last time a significant funding gap appeared under one party’s control.

Arts and Sciences

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Robert L. Harris Jr., professor emeritus of African American history at Cornell University and former director of the Africana Studies and Research Center, reflects on the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and what it meant for his own life and career.

Arts & Humanities

Arts and Sciences

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Rebecca Slayton, assistant professor at Cornell University’s Science & Technology Studies Department and an expert on international security and cooperation, comments on the WannaCry cyber-attacks that have spread across 150 countries since Friday. Slayton says the attack shows both the vulnerabilities and resilience of our computer systems.

Cybersecurity

Arts and Sciences

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Lisa Kaltenegger, director of Cornell University’s Carl Sagan Institute and one of the world's leading experts on exoplanets, comments on the upcoming launch of NASA's new satellite telescope known as TESS. 

Physical Sciences & Engineering

Arts and Sciences

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As analysts speculate whether issues of education will make the cut in tonight’s State of the Union address, Noliwe Rooks associate professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University and author of “Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education,” says that should Trump’s approach to education be judged by the actions of some of his financial backers, we may face a dismantle of the American public education system.

Law and Policy

Arts and Sciences

Cornell in DC

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