Title of course: Contested U.S. Presidential Elections What prompted the idea for the course? I was looking for a way to make history relevant to students. Since I research and teach a lot about U.S. politics, I decided to focus on presidential elections that had contested results. Contested elections have happened when candidates failed to […] … learn more→

Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere, and we will interfere … Carefully, precisely, surgically, and in our own way, as we know how. During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and the liver at once. These are the words of the architect of Russian online disinformation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, speaking in November 2022, just before the […] … learn more→

Supporters of both major U.S. political parties tend to claim their presidential candidate is the “real” Christian or the “better” Christian or just the “true” Christian. For a majority of white evangelical protestants, Trump is the good Christian. Christians for Kamala, a newly created group of self-identified Christians who support the Democratic nominee, say that her […] … learn more→

Despite ongoing worries about how artificial intelligence will affect jobs, research shows that employers increasingly value something that only human workers can provide – soft skills. These include knowing how to communicate with co-workers, put others at ease and navigate conflict. However, these essential skills are often neglected in traditional higher education. Colleges and universities’ primary […] … learn more→

As the world becomes increasingly connected, digital fraud has evolved from a local problem into a global one. West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria, is witnessing the rise of “hustle kingdoms” – informal academies that train individuals to carry out digital scams. The term “hustle kingdoms” originated from online scammers themselves, used to describe their training centres. These environments are glorified […] … learn more→

  You have probably opened your smartphone using your face. If you have travelled internationally, you have used your face to exit and enter the country. You may have even scanned your face to “verify” your online dating profile. But are you willing to use your face to pay for your morning coffee? While facial […] … learn more→

Artificial intelligence (AI) prophets and newsmongers are forecasting the end of the generative AI hype, with talk of an impending catastrophic “model collapse”. But how realistic are these predictions? And what is model collapse anyway? Discussed in 2023, but popularised more recently, “model collapse” refers to a hypothetical scenario where future AI systems get progressively dumber due to the increase of […] … learn more→

We are currently witnessing the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, large language models such as GPT and Claude have been developing rapidly since 2018. These models can generate text that resembles human speech, to visual generative AI (GenAI) such as DALL-E and Midjourney that are able to create images from text descriptions. Other examples include AI models that can […] … learn more→

As the 2024 presidential election heats up, some people are hearing about the Heritage Foundation for the first time. The conservative think tank has a new, ambitious and controversial policy plan, Project 2025, which calls for an overhaul of American public policy and government. Project 2025 lays out many standard conservative ideas – like prioritizing energy production over environmental and […] … learn more→

This year has been a grim one for journalism, with layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, Time magazine, NBC News, Forbes, National Geographic, Business Insider and Sports Illustrated. Further cuts loom in newsrooms across the U.S. Growing numbers of reporters and editors, tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop, are exiting the profession, citing burnout as the reason for […] … learn more→