Lasting Impressions: The Spiritual Life of van Gogh
He was an eccentric painter, whose artistic creations were inspired by his lifelong religious struggle. As the National Gallery of Art unveils an historic van Gogh exhibit, religion professor Cliff Edwards (Virginia …
Family Dispositions: Implications of Genetic Testing
Blame it on your parents and their parents before them. Science tells us that the predisposition for certain illnesses, including breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and sickle cell anemia, can be …
Dirty Secrets: Nuclear Mishaps and the Environment in Eastern Europe
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world has gotten a closer look at the flawed history of that nation’s nuclear weapons program. Geneticist and former Soviet dissident Valery Soyfer of …
Uncommon Bonds: Black Culture in 18th Century America
Prior to 1820, three times as many Africans came to American shores as Europeans. Most lived in the Chesapeake region of Virginia and Maryland or in the Lowcountry of South …
No Easy Assignment: Elementary School Reform in the ’90s
As the school year gets underway, Education school deans Gary Galluzzo of George Mason University and Elaine Witty of Norfolk State University offer a primer on how we’re educating our young …
Eastern Stars: The Futures of China, Hong Kong and Macao
The pomp and circumstance that surrounded the reversion of Hong Kong to the Chinese offered a glimmer of hope for continued prosperity on that island. But one year later, Asia …
Replay: Cutting Class: Education and the Lost Generation
A 1951 protest of poor conditions at Moton High School in Farmville resulted in the school becoming one of the plaintiffs in the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended legal …
Replay: By Definition: The Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924
Passed at the height of the Eugenics Movement, the Virginia Racial Integrity Act proclaimed the existence of only two racial categories in Virginia – “colored” and “white.” This law effectively …
Intoxicating Danger: Pfiesteria and Air Pollution
Part I: Fish kills from last summer’s outbreak of Pfiesteria panic for residents and watermen. Biologists Stephen Smith (Virginia Tech), Harold Marshall (Old Dominion University), and Larry Haas (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) unravel the complicated story of this …
Turning Points: The Election of Abraham Lincoln and First Manassas
Part I: The North calls it “Bull Run;” the South, “First Manassas.” But both agree that on July 21, 1861, the Confederacy was victorious – dashing any hope for a short …
Women’s Work: The 150th Anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention
When housewife Elizabeth Cady Stanton and four friends sat down to afternoon tea on July 13, 1848, they had no idea their impromptu discussion would sow the seeds of an …
Made to Order: The Rise of General Washington
On July 4, 1776, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were busy championing the Declaration, leaving George Washington in the field to fight a war with an undefined objective. What drove …
Tales of the Underground: Exploring Virginia Caves
Virginia and West Virginia have the second largest network of caves in the nation. John Holsinger (Old Dominion University) takes reporter Julieanne Welby on a tour of two underground vistas. And Karen Kastning (New …
Greek to Me: Teaching Foreign Language to Children
Foreign language is for kids. At least that’s what research shows. Children under age 10 learn languages better than adults who will always mentally translate into English. Susan St. Onge (Christopher Newport …
