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Advertising signs are used to sell everything from legal services to razor blades. But are there ways to leverage advertising psychology for the good of the planet? And could digital signs be used to encourage pro-environmental thoughts and action?

It’s been nearly a half-century since the Spanish Nationalist general-turned-fascist dictator Francisco Franco Bahamonde died after close to 40 years in power. That’s a long time for a country to exist under a dictatorship. But even now, Spaniards can’t agree on what it all meant or what lingering effects it may have on Spain today — if they bother to discuss it at all.

Eternal youth is sold by the bottle at beauty retailers and features heavily within U.S. mass media. But what if people who possess years of hard-won skills and knowledge experience prejudice at their jobs for looking younger than they are?

What makes a live performance unforgettable? Assistant Professor of Music Theory Samuel Gardner has uncovered compelling evidence that physical gestures—ranging from subtle, unconscious movements to lively, intentional displays—are central to understanding how both performers and audiences connect with sound.

In 1669, the colonial government of Carolina, which encompassed most of what is now Georgia and North and South Carolina, adopted the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina. This document specifically promised religious freedom for Jews, heathens, and other dissenters from the Anglican church. At a time when much of Europe was still embroiled in religious wars, this was historic and even radical.

What information gaps exist in history? Specifically, who are the people we don’t hear about, and where can their footsteps be seen today? Associate Professor of African and Black Atlantic Art History Matthew Rarey seeks to tackle those very questions in his book Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic (Duke University Press, 2023), which traces the history of sacred objects created by people of African descent living in South America and Europe.

Bacteria are everywhere you go. In the case of Caulobacter crescentus—the funky, crescent-shaped star of a recent paper by Assistant Professor of Biology Gaybe Moore ’15 —this is no exaggeration. It’s in the soil, in the water, and around your plants, and it surprisingly produces the world’s stickiest superglue as a biofilm.

From a very young age, we’re taught that being made of cells is a defining feature of life. In fact, associate professor of biology Aaron Goldman encountered this assumption in a college textbook and initially used it as a springboard to discuss the benefits of cellularity with his students. But the more Goldman thought about it, the more he realized that cellularity isn’t something to be taken for granted—even (and especially) when it comes to the origins of life.

The vocalist and songwriter brings her distinct blend of folk, blues, gospel, and more to Finney Chapel on April 6 in an appearance with the Martha Redbone Roots Project.

For Tracy Chevalier ’84, the Oberlin-In-London program was a magical, intense period of cultural and intellectual stimulation. As the beloved study-away experience celebrates 50 years, the New York Times best-selling author looks back on the semester she spent studying and living in London.