The Conversation U.S.

Curious about RedNote, where many #TikTok users in the U.S. have gone to, in an effort to find a similar Chinese-owned social video experience? Media scholar Jianqing Chen says the cross-cultural exchange going on there now revives the hope of social media that can bridge divides

Can studying art make you a better lawyer? The “Art of Advocacy” law class at the University of Michigan uses museum visits to teach students about balancing evidence and emotion in legal arguments. Students examine the intellectual, emotional and professional overlap between the craft of presenting art and the craft of presenting arguments. Both activities involve storytelling. Both involve putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. And both depend on properly balancing evidence and emotion, comprehensiveness and concision, provocation and restraint. Advocacy – whether in the courtroom, the boardroom or in private discussions and debates – is in many ways an act of curation. It calls for highlighting themes and making connections. It requires informed selection. It places a huge premium on context, contrast and having a bold, transformative vision. Most of all, though, advocacy, like art, involves the capacity to simultaneously connect with different audiences and push them to look at legal issues, people and ideologies in new ways. We can all learn a lot about how to develop and deploy that ability by spending time with the art collected – and strategically arranged – in museums. The best advocates serve as helpful guides. They don’t force their perspective on people. They don’t bludgeon us with dogma or overwhelm us with irrelevant details. They instead focus, like skillful museum curators, on directing our attention in ways that ultimately empower us to make more informed, evidence-based judgments and decisions. Illumination, not coercion, is the goal. By Patrick Barry, University of Michigan https://buff.ly/3DZwpDy #lawschool #advocacy #art #legaleducation

🔎 Why are the California wildfires spreading so fast? Soil moisture at historic lows and warm winds are creating perfect conditions for fires to spread. Watch to understand the science behind the spread. #CAWildfires #PacificPalisades #LAFire #MalibuFire Narrated by Adriana Lacy.

#journalism #humblebrag

A new study finds learning management systems may increase teacher burnout rather than reduce it. Technology intended to simplify educators' jobs sometimes adds to their workload instead. During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools adopted new technologies to facilitate remote learning during the crisis. These technologies included learning management systems, which are online platforms that help educators organize and keep track of their coursework. Instead of being used to replace old ways of completing tasks, the learning management systems were simply another task on teachers’ plates. Ideally, these tools should have simplified their jobs. Teachers who used systems such as Canva or Schoology reported higher levels of burnout in a study of 779 teachers.  Before the pandemic, teachers typically submitted hard copies of lesson plans to administrators. However, once school systems introduced learning management systems, some teachers were expected to not only continue submitting paper plans but to also upload digital versions using a completely different format. Asking teachers to adopt new tools without removing old requirements is a recipe for burnout. Educators, what’s your experience with these platforms? #LearningManagement #TeacherBurnout (David Marshall, Auburn University)

#ImpactInvesting surpassed $1.5 trillion globally by 2024, but research shows investors often presume certain businesses (like solar energy) are inherently good without evaluating real-world outcomes. Two business professors explain their findings:

After the fires, even for Los Angelenos whose homes are spared, there'll be another problem: getting safe drinking water. Water contamination can come from damaged infrastructure, melted plastic pipes, debris and smoke sucked into water systems, according to an environmental engineer who has been called in to help after some of the most destructive wildfires in U.S. history. https://buff.ly/40ivkym

Toxic behavior from bosses — including public ridicule, unfair blame and angry outbursts — can push talented employees to the brink. Good news: There are strategies for mitigating the harmful impact of “jerk boss” behaviors. Here are two low-cost, high-impact remedies: 1) Productive workplace social media use.  2) Flexible work arrangements. Social media platforms and workplace-based apps: An underappreciated quality of these platforms and tools — like Instagram, LinkedIn and Slack— is their role as a support system for workers facing toxic leadership. Journalist L.V. Anderson once aptly described Slack as “a safe space for mild grousing about management, power dynamics and subtle inequities in the workplace.” These platforms enable employees to connect, vent and bypass the formalities of traditional email. Flexible work: Workers feel valued when offered a tailored schedule that meets their needs. This sense of being appreciated helps offset the emotional toll of working under a jerk boss. Social media and flexible work interventions don’t directly tackle abusive bosses’ behavior.  But these strategies can go a long way toward creating more supportive, functional work environments. Read more on research from the University of Dayton: https://lnkd.in/eyb-Wi3C By Andrew Edelblum, Ashish Kalra, Na Young Lee, Riley Dugan, and Sangsuk Yoon #management #workplaceculture

Stereotypes abound about #liberalarts degrees leading to low-paying jobs, despite research showing that #humanities majors earn salaries comparable to students in many other majors. Authorities from the White House to high school guidance counselors have encouraged students to prioritize degrees in #STEM over the humanities because of their applicability to the job market. Some legislators have even argued that humanities courses should be defunded entirely. As a result, enrollment in humanities majors in college has plummeted by 24% since 2012. Lower enrollment also means fewer people are training to teach in this field as well. But employers value the skills that humanities majors have. Courses in art, literature, history and philosophy can provide students with life skills they can use outside the classroom too. This includes recovering from the current loneliness epidemic afflicting young people. By Anna Mae Duane, Humanities Institute, University of Connecticut: https://lnkd.in/gcnRyfQE

In 2-parent families, mothers not only actually do more of the chores, they shoulder more of the cognitive load of planning and delegating the chores. Two psychologists explain how this takes a serious toll on moms’ mental health. https://lnkd.in/gAAsig3z #parenting #genderinequality #labor