Society & Culture Archives - News Center

A split image contrasts the KivuWatt methane extraction barge on Rwanda’s Lake Kivu with fishermen working from wooden boats at sunset.

From the Magazine

Rethinking power on Lake Kivu

October 29, 2026

Anthropologist Kristin Doughty’s research shows how a vision of progress can be manipulated by those in power—and who bears those costs.

A hand in a stars-and-stripes sleeve holds a sign reading “The Science of Showing Up,” in red, white, and blue to illustrate voter turnout.

From the Magazine

What every American needs to know about voter turnout

October 21, 2026

Rochester political scientists explain why people do and don’t exercise their right to vote—and the implications of that choice for democracy.

A demonstrator helps carry an American flag as immigrants rights supporters march downtown.

Society & Culture

The power of being local in the immigration debate

October 21, 2026

A new book interrogates how the struggle over who counts as local shapes migration politics.

Claire Boeck against a white background and text that reads "ever wonder" with a thought bubble containing the sentence "what does it mean to be a good student".

Society & Culture

4 myths about what it means to be a ‘good student’

September 4, 2026

URochester experts challenge common assumptions about academic success—and offer practical ways to become a more successful college student.

John Blackshear against a white background next to blue text that reads "ever wonder" and a thought bubble that reads "how does someone become a criminal?" to explain incarceration and the prison pipeline.

Society & Culture

What crime and prison reveal about incarceration—and about us

URochester researchers on how childhood trauma, parental incarceration, and even discipline in schools shape criminal justice outcomes.

URochester men's soccer team player Johnny Makula curves a soccer ball during a kick to demonstrate the Magnus effect.

Science & Technology

The Magnus effect: The science that allows soccer players to ‘bend it like Beckham’

‘Miracle’ goals scored from seemingly impossible angles are made possible by physics.

Overhead shot featuring several editions of The Settlement Cook Book alongside Jewish foods like bagels, babka, and hamantaschen, with the central focal point on Nora Rubel's book, "Recipes for the Melting Pot: The Lives of the Settlement Cook Book."

Society & Culture

The cookbook that taught generations of Jews how to become American

A new book reveals how The Settlement Cook Book became an unlikely guide to immigration, assimilation, memory, and belonging.

A group of high school students sits in a classroom at a table with laptops and papers while teachers help them with their work.

Society & Culture

How AI is reshaping teaching and learning in schools

Warner School faculty share practical strategies for using AI to support teaching, not replace it.

Soccer ball on a pitch with the stadium blurred in the background. The ball looks like the globe to indicate world history as it relates to the World Cup.

Society & Culture

Beyond the pitch: The World Cup as world history

A URochester expert unpacks the history, identity, migration, fandom, and politics that collide on soccer’s biggest stage

Patriotic-themed ‘America’s Greatest Hits’ vinyl album cover featuring collage-style images of famous American musicians, instruments, stars, an eagle, a jukebox, and a classic car in red, white, and blue tones beside a black record.

From the Magazine

America’s greatest hits: The soundtrack of a nation at 250

URochester experts guide you through 250 years of American music, from Indigenous song and spirituals to jazz, rock, hip-hop, and Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX performance.

Pablo Sierra Silva stands with arms crossed in his Rush Rhees office in front of full bookshelves. (University of Rochester / J. Adam Fenster)

From the Magazine

Office hours with Pablo Sierra Silva

The URochester professor, who teaches World History Through Soccer, on the power of primary sources and sport as a window onto society.

Dan Wang seated at a table in front of an orange background.

From the Magazine

Our man in China

For seven years, Dan Wang ’15 observed, documented, and analyzed a nation changing at breakneck speed. Now he’s got world leaders hanging on his every word.