News & Updates
Hindus see increasing numbers and changing role in Ghana
The largest religious populations in Ghana are represented by the Christian and Muslim faiths. But the fastest growing population in the country is the Hindu population, which is changing from both an increase in immigrants and a wave of newly converted Ghanians....
Hindu prayer spaces in the Southern Willamette Valley forge new norms for religious practice
Community members are providing spaces for the Hindu culture throughout the Southern Willamette Valley. Sravya Tadepalli speaks with those creating these spaces in places like their own backyards about the importance of providing a place for recitation, prayer and...
As students endure travel ban, universities may hold the key to help
This story originally aired in partnership with KLCC 89.7 FM during June 28 and 29. President Donald Trump’s travel ban was upheld in the Supreme Court tuesday on a 5-4 decision. Those at the University of Oregon are adapting to life under the ban, but universities...
North American physicians face a daunting problem as opioid crisis worsens
Victims of the opioid crisis in America grew to record levels over the last decade, and Canada is experiencing rising overdose rates throughout its provinces. In Eugene, Oregon, overdose rates and arrests for heroin possession are rising. In contrast, Montreal,...
Women at the University of Oregon create safe and equal space for prayer
The Islamic call to prayer is rarely recited by a woman; in fact, it almost never is. While many Islamic schools of thought discourage women from leading prayer, women at the University of Oregon are disrupting that norm. The women's prayer space is the new brainchild...
Lessons from Afghanistan — Keeping journalists safe and promoting the youth in media
Accra, Ghana -- The safety of journalists around the world was a prevalent theme at the 2018 World Press Freedom Day in Accra, Ghana. Posted around the conference hotel were posters featuring the faces of journalists killed in action, drawn in pencil, paint and pen....
World Press Freedom Day plenary recap: What are the New Challenges to Press Freedom 27 Years after the Windhoek Declaration?
Accra, Ghana -- The first plenary session at the World Press Freedom Day tackled the state of journalism 27 years after the Windhoek Declaration was signed. Listen to the panel of distinguished panelists from media giants around the world as they discuss the...
Voices from World Press Freedom Day
Story aired originally on KLCC 89.7 FM. In early May three University of Oregon journalism professors and six students, including KLCC's Franziska Monahan, traveled to the other side of the world. They covered UNESCO’s annual World...
Traveling to Jakarta for World Press Freedom Day
Story by Levi Gittleman After more than 20 hours of traveling and four airplane meals, I was ready for something sautéed from the street vendors of Jakarta, Indonesia. So our gang of six, which included some seriously talented journalism students — Andy Field, Emerson...
University’s global reach could blunt travel ban
The Trump administration’s second attempt to exclude visitors to the United States based on their nationalities (and hence by default their religion) remains stalled in the courts, for now. But its chilling effect lingers and grows, especially for U.S. universities....
María Blanco: Fighting for undocumented students
The core of Donald Trump’s campaign platform was to build a wall on the Mexican-American border to stop immigrants crossing without documentation. On January 26, Trump issued two executive orders: one mandating the construction of the wall and another ordering the...
The Trump Victory: Don’t Blame the Messenger
This piece by Dr. Peter Laufer was originally published in Spanish by Tiempo Argentino, the Crossings Institute's partners in Argentina. What follows is the English translation. Read it in Spanish here. Rare is the night when the TV is switched on in our living room....
Informatíon: the Danish newspaper that gave refugee journalists a chance
In October 2015, Informatíon, a newspaper based in Copenhagen, Denmark, experimented by allowing refugee journalists to guest-edit an entire issue. In this episode of Crossings Radio, research fellow Emerson Malone speaks with Informatíon's senior foreign...
The Apricot Tree: Kholoud Waleed Tells Stories to Make Sense of the Syrian Civil War
Kholoud Waleed had her hometown destroyed, her friends captured and her family split. The only way she could fight back was telling stories. Waleed — which is not her real last name — was the 2015 recipient of the Anna Politkovskaya Award for her bravery in reporting...
Freedom of Speech Under Attack in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – A year full of murky business dealings and unanswered questions became infinitely more horrifying for Buenos Aires newspaper Tiempo Argentino, when a gang of thugs attacked their building. Even worse, police at the scene of the crime helped...
Olga Stern: Hacking for Gender Equality
Every five years since 1995, the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) publishes a report tracking the representation of women in national and world media. Although an important tool for observing world trends in gender inequality, the GMMP report is less helpful to...
A Front-Row Look at State-Sanctioned Terrorism
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — "I hope you have the courage to live your own life," the self-described "difficult old man" instructed a couple of dozen University of Oregon students and faculty gathered around him in Montevideo’s ornate Legislative Palace. Between sips of...
UO students get a ‘very real’ lesson in freedom of speech
This op-ed by Will Johnson, an adjunct instructor of international studies at the University of Oregon, and Crossings Institute co-director Dr. Peter Laufer was originally published in The Register-Guard of Eugene, Oregon. To view the original article, click here....