Category Archives: Uncategorized

Postcards from my Istrian “stay-cation”

Posted on 31 December 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

If I were to step outside here in Eugene, in the final days of 2020, I’d find rainy, windy, winter. Thankfully, I’ve had an alternative – I’ve spent much of the past week or two in sunny, cheery, Trieste and … Continue reading →

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The secret to social change

Posted on 3 December 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

We all have a lot of ideas about what people should be doing differently. What am I talking about? Well, pretty much everything – every topic of laws and norms and morality that affect other people’s decisions. It could be … Continue reading →

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The burden of George R.R. Martin – and what suspense and its resolution mean for us in the real world

Posted on 22 November 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

I can still picture the display in our local university bookstore, sometime around 1999 – a major new fantasy series, with at least two books in print: A Game of Thrones, and A Clash of Kings. It looked medieval, and … Continue reading →

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The story of Dido, Aeneas, a gender-queer Sorceress, and the fate of… England?

Posted on 17 November 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

This past weekend I had the good fortune to see a most unusual opera. I confess, I’m not actually an opera fan, not in the conventional sense – as of yet I have no interest in Verdi, Puccini, et al. … Continue reading →

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Choosing your battleground: Joe Brewer’s story

Posted on 2 November 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Today is my friend and colleague Joe Brewer’s birthday. In honor of Joe’s special day – and tomorrow’s U.S. election – I’m sharing part of my in-progress book’s chapter 11, “Transcending Loss,” where I write about Joe and the importance … Continue reading →

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The Axis of Awesomeness

Posted on 22 October 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Our collective stories about who we are and where we’re headed are potent elements of our culture, especially during election season, as you may have seen in my recent Scientific American essay and my earlier posts in this blog.  My … Continue reading →

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The greatest honor

Posted on 10 October 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

This week, when I saw that the Nobel Peace Prize had been won by the World Food Program, I confess my first reaction was, “Huh. That’s not as interesting as when an individual wins it,” and I scrolled on to … Continue reading →

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The Science of America’s Dueling Political Narratives

Posted on 3 October 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

I’m delighted to have my work appear in today’s Scientific American.  Please check it out!

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Our enduring debt to the 300 Spartans

Posted on 30 September 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Has it been 2,500 years already? It was in August or September of 480 B.C. that King Leonidas of Sparta and his 300 elite soldiers (with some allies) held off more than 100,000 Persian soldiers for three days at Thermopylae, … Continue reading →

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Oregon’s ex-fire marshal – too Good for the job?

Posted on 15 September 2020 by Laura Akers, Ph.D.

Last week, when Oregon’s fire marshal abruptly quit his job in the middle of the biggest wildfire disaster in state history, many of us wondered what could have happened. Did he make some inappropriate political remark, maybe? Or gross incompetence? … Continue reading →

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