|
A year ago, the Titan submersible imploded en route to the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people aboard. The accident ignited a litany of crass commentary on news and social media platforms.
Critics of these responses pointed the finger at the existence of social media and “kids who spend their days on the internet.” But today in The Conversation Canada, Cate Cleo Alexander of the University of Toronto explains that insensitive humour or opinions have always followed sensational events, especially when they involve the wealthy — including the wreck of the Titanic itself. It speaks to human nature, not social media.
She writes: “Memory and myth help us to make sense of a tumultuous world — as does humour. The kids haven’t been broken by social media. People have always reacted to the tragedies of the rich in weird ways.”
Also today:
All the best,
|
|
Ibrahim Daair
Culture + Society Editor, The Conversation Canada
|
|
The Titan submersible that imploded in the Atlantic Ocean on June 18, 2023 while attempting to reach the wreck of the Titanic.
(OceanGate Expeditions via AP, File)
Cate Cleo Alexander, University of Toronto
Humour plays a role in our collective memory of historical events, especially disasters. Public reactions to the Titan’s implosion were reminiscent of comments that followed the sinking of the Titanic.
|
Border wall separating the town of Nogales, Ariz. at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
(P. Molnar)
Petra Molnar, York University, Canada
Border technologies, including robodogs and surveillance drones, are increasingly used to violently manage people’s movements across borders.
|
Community researchers discuss the impact of brain injury at BC Consensus Day at the University of Victoria. As many as 600,000 overdose-related brain injuries have occurred in Canada during the toxic drug crisis.
(Mauricio A. Garcia-Barrera)
Mauricio A. Garcia-Barrera, University of Victoria; Cole J. Kennedy, University of Victoria
The toxic drug crisis is not only about fatalities. A much larger number of people survive overdoses, and are left with brain injuries. A national strategy to support and treat them is crucial.
|
Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada picket outside the Service Canada office during strike action in Canmore, Alta., in April 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Brendan Boyd, MacEwan University
New research suggests Canada’s public servant of the future must build relationships, communicate complex and controversial ideas and manage conflict more than ever before.
|
Overcoming societal disparities to achieve an equal opportunity path to leadership is challenging, but organizations can take tangible steps to foster leadership potential across the socioeconomic spectrum.
(Shutterstock)
Nick Turner, University of Calgary; Julian Barling, Queen's University, Ontario; Shani Pupco, Queen's University, Ontario; Steve Granger, Concordia University
While many view the path to leadership as a journey that begins later in life, new research suggests childhood and adolescence play keys roles in how it develops.
|
People gather out front of the burnt-out St. Anne’s Anglican Church during an evening vigil to mourn the loss of the church following a Sunday morning fire, June 11, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Christopher Brittain, Trinity College Faculty of Divinity at the University of Toronto
The building was celebrated for murals by Group of Seven artists and designated a National Historic Site, yet has struggled to pay to renovate its leaking roof.
|
La Conversation Canada
|
Grâce à la technologie, l’étude neuroscientifique des rêves est devenue possible.
(Shutterstock)
Dan Denis, University of York
Nous disposons désormais de la technologie et des connaissances nécessaires pour réaliser des expériences de rêve en temps réel avec des participants endormis.
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Cristina Bodea, Michigan State University; Ana Carolina Garriga, University of Essex
Monetary policy can be wielded as a tool to boost an economy around election time, which explains why politicians want to have a say on it.
|
|
Culture + Society
|
-
Benjamin Isakhan, Deakin University; Lynn Meskell, University of Pennsylvania
Our findings aren’t only important for Syria. They also hold clues about how we might approach heritage restoration projects in other post-conflict sites.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Michele Francis, Stellenbosch University
There is growing evidence that termites have a substantial, but still poorly understood, role in the carbon cycle.
|
|
Politics
|
-
Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia; Sonia Suter, George Washington University
The SCOTUS opinion did not take on the substance of the plaintiffs’ claims against mifepristone, and the abortion pill is already facing other challenges.
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
