Is our digital experience with nature eclipsing our real experience with nature? What do we gain by watching wildlife on a webcam? What do we lose? In this essay, writer Diane Ackerman shares her opinion about our digital connection to nature.
Tag Archives: Culture & Society
The Israeli-Palestinian basketball teams that are breaking all barriers
Organized by PeacePlayers International, a basketball team of Israeli and Palestinian teenage girls is bringing people together.
An Emerging Entry In America’s Multiracial Vocabulary: ‘Blaxican’
Walter Thompson-Hernandez explores the multi-ethnic people of Los Angeles through research at the University of Southern California and through an Instagram account that features people of Mexican and black descent.
Are charter schools truly innovative? The answer can depend on your definition
As residents of Boston prepare to vote on the expansion of charter schools in their city, they examine the innovation and success of those that already exists.
From Bruce Springsteen to Tyson Fury, men are opening up about depression
A number of male celebrities have recently opened up about their mental health struggles, sparking conversations about male depression.
National Geographic Hosts the Energy Department’s STEM Mentoring Café for Students
The U.S. Energy Department sponsors a mentorship program for students interested in pursuing STEM careers. “Mentoring Cafés” give kids the opportunity to talk with professionals in these fields, who spark their curiosity about working with cutting-edge research and exciting new technology.
‘My Name, My Identity’: Educators Promote Cultural Awareness in Campaign
Many students, especially those from cultures outside the United States, feel embarassed when teachers mispronounce their names. A recently launched campaign urges educators to show respect for all their students by making the effort to get their names right.
Timeline of Flag Desecration Issues
As a key Supreme Court ruling notes, “Freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much.” Learn about how different views of how the American flag should be treated have been legislated and resolved over the years.
Can Shakespeare help reform prisoners?
Learn about a professor who set up a Shakespeare reading program for maximum security prisons and what the prisoners gained from the experience.
What can Shakespeare teach us about freedom?
One scholar explains how Shakespeare’s characters can inspire us to be our truest selves.
Little Red Riding Hood gets an evolutionary makeover
Using big data, researchers dig deeply into the origins of one of our best-known tales.
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America: Letter From the President
Neha Chauhan is the founder of AFA Teens: Teens for Alzheimer’s Awareness. Her research into Alzheimer’s disease began while at high school.
Want to succeed in business? Then play high school sports
Two new studies have confirmed previous research that participating in youth sports positively impacts future success.
10 Ways to Raise Brave Girls
Caroline Paul, author of The Gutsy Girl, discusses how to instill a sense of daring into girls and why it’s important.
Why The Consumer Internet Of Things Is Stalling
Mike Farley, the CEO of a Silicon Valley-based company, argues that technology companies should focus on solving simple everyday issues in order to connect to consumers.
Aziz Ansari Goes to India
In this essay, actor and comedian Aziz Ansari contemplates his American and Indian identities.
Middle school key to college, career pipeline
Do you really need to think about college or your career path while you’re in middle school? This article explains that getting kids engaged with the world of work early is crucial to their long-term success.
How Adulthood Happens
Is there a rite of passage into adulthood? Why does it take so long to grow up? In this column, David Brooks examines the process of becoming an adult in modern American society.
The importance of belonging
A sense of belonging plays a major role in a person’s well-being. This article discusses the work of social psychologist Gregory Walton, who believes that people can benefit from sharing their stories about overcoming feelings of isolation.
White clergymen urge local Negroes to withdraw from demonstrations
Read the newspaper commentary to which Martin Luther King Jr. responded in his powerful “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”