Society, Law & Politics

Want to get published in a top-tier journal? Where you're from matters

Lisa Marshall — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Want to get published in a top-tier journal? Where you're from matters Lisa Marshall Wed, 07/15/2026 - 12:00

Lisa Marshall

Scientists from prestigious universities are more than three times more likely to have their research published in top-tier scientific journals than authors from lesser known schools are. Meanwhile, authors based in China and those studying politics, economics, gender or other social issues face a significant disadvantage.

These are a few takeaways from a sweeping new 91��ý-led study, published July 15 in the journal Science Advances.

The analysis of more than 110,000 manuscript submissions over five years offers the most comprehensive glimpse yet at who makes the cut, and who doesn’t, during the rigorous editorial and peer review process at elite science journals.

“These journals play a special role in the science ecosystem, shaping what ideas get attention, inform society and shape policy,” said senior author Aaron Clauset, a professor of computer science and researcher with 91��ý’s BioFrontiers Institute. “Yet very few studies have been able to open the black box and take a look at their review process.”

Aaron Clauset

Sam Zhang

The findings raise an important question: To what degree are important scientific discoveries going unnoticed because their authors lack certain characteristics?

By calling out potential biases and making their dataset available to the public, the authors also hope to help journals improve their processes.

“With the rise of AI slop and the ability to mass produce junk science, the role of established gatekeepers like these elite journals becomes more important,” said first author Sam Zhang, an assistant professor of mathematics and statistics at University of Vermont who earned his doctorate in applied math from 91��ý.

Probing the ‘science of science’

For a decade, Clauset has studied what he calls “the science of science,” scouring data to paint a clear picture of who enters (and leaves) academia, who gets tenure and whose ideas tend to spread.

“There is no science without scientists, so it’s important to know who has the opportunity to be ‘in the room’ so to speak, and who does not, to make discoveries,” said Clauset, who also serves as external faculty for the nonprofit Santa Fe Institute.

For the new study, Clauset and Zhang were joined by Dan Larremore, associate professor of computer science at CU, and Nick Laberge, then a doctoral candidate there. They analyzed anonymized manuscript records for 110,303 submissions to Science and Science Advances between 2016 and 2020.

Unlike topical journals, general interest journals cover everything from health to space to politics and are regularly covered by the mainstream media. They strongly influence careers, with grants and tenure often tied to publishing there.

The competition is stiff. In 2023 alone, Science received more than 15,000 submissions.

As a result, such journals have a two-tiered review process: In-house editors make a first pass and then enlist outside subject experts to make suggestions and then accept or reject.

Over five years, the study found, Science accepted just 6.1% of submissions; Science Advances accepted 10.5%. About 83% of submissions to Science and nearly 75% to Science Advances were screened and rejected by in-house editors prior to undergoing peer review.

It also found that:

Papers with 10 or more authors are three times as likely to be published than papers with 1–5 authors.
Manuscripts with corresponding authors from the most prestigious institutions had an 11.6% acceptance rate, compared to 3.4% for those from the least prestigious institutions.
Studies with authors from China were more than three times less likely to be published than papers with U.S.- or Canada-based authors. Notably, authors with Chinese names, but based in the U.S., also faced a disadvantage.
Even pre-COVID, research related to viruses, infection, RNA and immune response had a six-fold greater likelihood of being accepted than research on politics, economics, gender and the societal dimensions of health.
Work by female corresponding authors was slightly less likely to be accepted. Had this trend not been there, Science would have published about 23 more papers by women per year.

“The fact that we find only a very marginal association with gender is in some sense reassuring,” said Clauset. “But the number is still not zero.”

Are editors and reviewers biased?

The authors stress that the findings do not prove journal editors or reviewers are inherently biased. Instead, they shine a light on questions they and other researchers should explore.

Are reviewers inherently biased toward papers that come from Harvard or Stanford, or are those papers truly of better quality?

Are journals somehow biased against Chinese-based researchers, or do Chinese government incentives and other factors prompt China-based authors to submit an inordinately high number of papers?

In the spirit of transparency, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the journals’ parent organization), volunteered to share the data, as long as the team developed a way to anonymize it.

“The current evidence suggests, overall, these journals seem to be doing pretty well at just treating the science as the science. But this is not a totally clean bill of health,” said Clauset. “In the current environment where the integrity of science is being attacked in bad faith, we need to be thinking about whether the processes at these journals live up to the ideals the scientific community has set for them.”

An analysis of 110,000 submissions to elite general science journals shows that researchers from prestigious universities are more than three times more likely to get published than those from lesser-known schools. Meanwhile, China-based researchers, small teams and social scientists face a disadvantage.

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What video evidence can reveal—and conceal

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 18:50:47 +0000

What video evidence can reveal—and conceal Megan M Rogers Tue, 07/14/2026 - 12:50

Lisa Marshall

From police body cams to cellphone videos, visual evidence plays a growing role in courtrooms and public discourse. 91��ý researcher Sandra Ristovska explores the challenges of interpreting footage in the age of AI.

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Is it temple robbery? That depends on who is doing the taking

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:40:55 +0000

Is it temple robbery? That depends on who is doing the taking Megan M Rogers Fri, 05/22/2026 - 06:40

A new book from 91��ý scholar Isabel Köster examines temple robbery and the ancient Roman politics of moral blame.

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Heightened ICE enforcement harms US-born workers, shrinks workforce

Lisa Marshall — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:33:36 +0000

Heightened ICE enforcement harms US-born workers, shrinks workforce Lisa Marshall Mon, 05/04/2026 - 07:33

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles in June 2025. Credit: U.S Department of Homeland Security

Lisa Marshall

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles in June 2025. Credit: U.S Department of Homeland Security

Heightened immigration enforcement during the second Trump administration has not expanded job opportunities for U.S.-born workers and is associated with a reduction of employment for U.S.-born men with no more than a high school degree, according to new 91��ý research.

The study also found that employment among remaining immigrants declines 4% on average after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge, likely due to a “chilling effect” in which they stop going to work out of fear.

The study is the first national assessment of the impact the Trump administration’s immigration policy has had on the labor market.

It was published May 4 by the nonprofit, non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research.

“We show that heightened ICE activity is harming the labor market overall, and we find no evidence that it is benefiting U.S.-born workers,” said author Chloe East, associate professor of economics at 91��ý. “If anything, job opportunities for U.S.-born workers are going down as a result.”

Thousands of lost workers

For the study, East and co-author Elizabeth Cox, a research assistant with CU’s Institute for Behavioral Science, analyzed data from the federal Current Population Survey (CPS)—a monthly employment survey of about 59,000 households. They also looked at detailed data on ICE arrests across 58 regions around the country.

When comparing regions that had experienced a large and sudden increase in monthly ICE arrests between January 2025 and October 2025 with regions that had not, they found major differences in labor markets.

On average, in a region that had experienced an ICE surge, 4% fewer “likely undocumented” immigrants remaining in the community reported working in the previous week. (Because no U.S. survey asks for immigration status, economists use a proxy to estimate undocumented immigrant populations).

The study found no evidence that employers increased wages to attract U.S.-born workers to jobs once taken by undocumented immigrants, or that U.S. workers had more job opportunities after ICE enforcement surges.

But it did find that, on average, in regions which had experienced an ICE surge, 1.3% fewer U.S. born males with a high school degree or less had jobs.

These reductions in workforce are on top of the number of immigrants removed from communities through detention, arrest or deportation, notes East.

For instance, in a region where 1,200 people were arrested or detained by ICE over the study period, approximately 7,574 fewer undocumented immigrants and 1,200 fewer U.S.-born men with a high school degree or less would be employed, the study suggests.

“For every six male undocumented workers lost, we found that the labor market also loses one male U.S.-born worker,” said East.

Labor economist Chloe East

Employers cutting back

The CPS survey does not ask exactly why people leave the workforce. But previous studies of enforcement surges during the Great Depression and the Obama administration have shown that heightened immigration enforcement can have a chilling effect on remaining immigrant communities, prompting them to avoid going out in public—including for work.

That effect has been much stronger during the recent ICE surge than in previous enforcement upticks, the study suggests. That’s likely due to a change in tactics in which agents are arresting more people in public spaces, such as schools, streets and churches, and more people without criminal records are being detained.

Forty-three percent of U.S. immigrants report being concerned about themselves or someone they know being deported, according to previous research.

For U.S.-born workers, East said job opportunities can wither when employers—unable to find foreign laborers willing to do lower paying or more dangerous jobs—are forced to turn down jobs or decrease their production.

This phenomenon has been particularly strong for the U.S. agriculture sector, in which 17% of workers are undocumented, the manufacturing sector, in which 6% are undocumented, and the construction sector, in which 13% are undocumented.

For instance, in the construction sector, recent immigration enforcement surges appear to have had twice the average impact on U.S.-born workers with a high school degree or less, reducing their employment rate by 3%.

“There is a common narrative out there that mass deportations will free up job opportunities for U.S.-born workers, but numerous studies, including ours, have shown that is false,” said East. “If a construction company can’t find laborers, they’re going to take on less work and hire fewer people overall.”

Longer term, the contraction of the labor market could lead to other problems for the economy, reducing supply and driving prices of things like homes and manufactured goods up, said East.

“I hope our study gets people thinking beyond the headlines and rhetoric about the real economic impacts these enforcement actions are having on communities, the labor market and our pocketbooks,” she said.

A new study shows that heightened immigration enforcement reduces employment opportunities for some U.S. born men while shrinking the overall workforce, particularly in the construction, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.

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A fresh take on the 'COVID generation': How the pandemic may have changed young people for the better

Lisa Marshall — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:15:32 +0000

A fresh take on the 'COVID generation': How the pandemic may have changed young people for the better Lisa Marshall Tue, 04/21/2026 - 12:15

Lisa Marshall

At the peak of the pandemic in 2021, teenagers from Sackets Harbor, New York, got certified as ambulance drivers and took over running the local emergency medical service when the usual, much older, volunteers had to step away due to COVID-19 concerns.

Eight members, all under age 21, of the Sackets Harbor EMS Crew in December 2021. Many had to leave high school class when a call came in. (Credit: Amy Feiereisel, NCPR)

In Los Angeles, youth with the nonprofit Teen Line fielded texts and calls around-the-clock from peers struggling with mental health issues amid isolating school lockdowns.

Elsewhere, kids as young as 5 years old assembled care packages for community members in need, while teens fired up their schools’ 3D printers to churn out face coverings for essential workers.

“It is true that the pandemic was a very difficult time for many young people. But there is also a quieter, equally important story that needs to be told,” said sociologist Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at 91��ý. “For some young people, it was also an awakening—a realization that they had the capacity to do something in the face of a crisis.”

In a new paper, published in the Journal of Hazard Literacy, Peek and her colleagues tell that story, analyzing more than 115 pandemic-era news articles to offer a fresh take on what some have referred to as the COVID generation.

Having grown up in the shadow of a global pandemic, with increased threats of natural disasters and mass shootings, today’s kids and young adults have often been framed as victims. But through her latest research, Peek—who has spent her career studying how disasters impact children and youth—illustrates the oft-overlooked strengths they bring to bear in times of crisis.

They can relate to young people in ways that adults can’t. They are fluent in digital technologies. And they often have more available energy and free time than busy adults can muster, she said. They’re also, as the paper concludes, more “disaster literate,” meaning they can identify who needs help and come up with creative solutions.

“With the rise in the number of disasters globally, we are growing a more disaster-literate generation,” said Peek. “The question now is, how do we harness what these young people have to offer?”

'Disasters are not equal opportunity events'

"Ring" by 17-year-old Shashank Salgam. "Me and my peers were hit hard by the isolation of quarantine, but we’re rebounding with a resolve to connect beyond boundaries," wrote the young artist in the caption of his painting.

For the study, Peek worked with Zoe Lefkowitz and Melissa Villarreal, both research assistants at the Natural Hazards Center and doctoral candidates in the sociology department, to develop a database of pandemic-related news articles from 2020 to 2023.

Most of the thousands of articles they found focused on kids’ vulnerabilities and what adults were doing to help them. They then conducted a qualitative analysis of 115 stories that included children’s voices, analyzing and coding them.

They found eight distinct ways kids behaved altruistically.

They ranged from making or collecting and distributing supplies, money and food, to creating art and offering emotional support for peers, to participating in vaccine research.

Peek noted that the children featured in the stories tended to, almost instinctively, recognize that some groups—like the elderly, people with disabilities, the unhoused and lower-income families—were hit harder than others.

“Disasters are not equal opportunity events, and kids realize this,” said Peek.

Lefkowitz was particularly moved by the story of 10-year-old Kaylan Park, who stood at a podium before a booing crowd at a school board meeting near Akron, Ohio, to support extending the district’s mask mandate after the omicron variant emerged.

“My teacher tells me when you do something for other people, they can do it back,” Park told the school board that day, wearing a mask reading “masks save lives.” “You’re showing kindness.”

Lefkowitz also pointed to other “micro” acts of altruism. Around the country, children painted rocks with messages like, “The best is yet to come,” and “This will pass,” and placed them along sidewalks around their neighborhood. Another put on a “mini prom” for his babysitter to help her celebrate the milestone she missed during school lockdowns.

COVID-era books written by children

Lasting impacts

Lori Peek works with youth volunteers in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

It’s unclear how these experiences are shaping children’s lives today, but research on adults offers clues.

One study looked at adults who volunteered to help after the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Years later, they reported that the experience had helped them heal from their own trauma and made them feel more connected to their community and empowered to create change.

“I would like to think that these children in our study understand the impact they made and that it changed their opinion of themselves,” said Lefkowitz. “I also hope they will remember the empathy they felt and, as they grow older, that will encourage them to address other inequalities that they see.”

Peek cautioned that she does not intend to "romanticize" the pandemic. It had real, negative impacts on children, their families, their schools and their communities. Oftentimes, kids had to step up because the institutions created by adults failed them.

But, if we overlook their agency, she said, we might undermine an opportunity to build a more resilient generation that is ready for the next disaster. She advises policymakers to create and support youth advisory boards to give young people a voice on pressing community issues and crises.

For parents who may be uncertain how to talk to their children about an ongoing disaster, she offered this advice: Ask them what they would like to do to help.

New research highlights the altruistic acts of youth during the pandemic and suggests that their experiences may have prepared them to respond to future disasters with greater empathy and resilience.

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Teens practice social distancing with masks on during the Covid-19 pandemic. Credit: Adobe Stock Images

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TikTok doesn't change minds—it changes moods

Megan M Rogers — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 16:47:29 +0000

TikTok doesn't change minds—it changes moods Megan M Rogers Fri, 03/27/2026 - 10:47

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

New research from 91��ý political scientist Michelangelo Landgrave finds that watching political influencers on TikTok does not seem to influence young voters on the issues—but does leave them feeling sadder, angrier and more anxious.

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Preparing schools to respond to concerning behavior: Evaluation finds strong gains

Megan M Rogers — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 14:35:32 +0000

Preparing schools to respond to concerning behavior: Evaluation finds strong gains Megan M Rogers Tue, 03/17/2026 - 08:35

A new evaluation—led by 91��ý's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence—of Colorado's Threat Assessment and Management Protocol training found significant increases in participants' knowledge, skills and confidence in threat assessment.

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From the soccer field to the streets: How women are leading the resistance in Iran

Lisa Marshall — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:33:16 +0000

From the soccer field to the streets: How women are leading the resistance in Iran Lisa Marshall Thu, 03/12/2026 - 14:33

Protesters in the Women, Life, Freedom movement march in Parliament Square in London in October, 2022 to decry the death of Mahsa Amini. Credit: Wikapedia Commons

Lisa Marshall

Clad in black head scarves and white uniforms, the Iranian Women’s Soccer team stood in silence on an Australian soccer field earlier this month as the country’s national anthem played without their voices.

Their refusal to sing along was met with harsh criticism back home, where state media labeled them “wartime traitors” and called for “severe” punishment. On Tuesday, the Australian government granted asylum to seven as the remainder returned home.

Their quiet protest marks the latest example of Iranian women—at great personal risk—publicly pushing back against decades of oppression.

Marie Ranjbar

“Iranian women have always been at the forefront of social justice movements and have articulated very clear visions of what they want and need from a future Iranian government,” said Marie Ranjbar, an assistant professor of women and gender studies who studies social justice movements in Iran. “It’s important that we center their voices, especially in this moment.”

In honor of Women’s History Month, 91��ý Today caught up with Ranjbar, whose father is from Iran, to discuss the history of the women’s resistance movement in Iran, and the ongoing war.

First, how are you and your loved ones doing?

The hardest part is that we can’t reach our families. We had an internet blackout during the 12-day war last June, and another in January during government protests in which upwards of 36,000 Iranians were killed. I was finally able to get a proof-of-life text message from my uncle on Friday. The last communication I received from a good friend in Tehran was Tuesday, where she reported the constant sound of bombings.

How was life different for women after the Islamic Republic took hold in 1979?

There is no comparison between women’s rights pre- and post-revolution, particularly in the area of family law. For instance, child marriage is allowed as early as age 13, the right to divorce is limited, and women have been sidelined in terms of their ability to serve in certain government capacities. I say that while recognizing the incredible gains that Iranian women have made under the Islamic Republic and their efforts to get the state to respond to their demands.

Soccer has long been a focal point of women’s resistance. Why?

Following the 1979 revolution, girls and women were banned from soccer stadiums, although soccer fans disguised themselves as boys to attend soccer matches. In 2019, Sahar Khodayari attempted to watch a soccer match disguised as a man. Facing a prison sentence, she died by suicide through self-immolation outside the courthouse — a heart wrenching moment that highlighted the state’s discriminatory policies restricting girls’ and women’s access to public spaces.

The Hijab, or headscarf, has been central to many protests. Why?

Across pre- and post-revolutionary Iran, women’s bodies have been positioned as visible symbols of what the government wants to project about its society. For instance, in 1936, when Reza Shah sought to position Iran as a modern nation, he issued the Unveiling Act. It banned all Islamic veils in public and, in some cases, women were forced to unveil at bayonet-point. The 1983 Veiling Act mandated compulsory veiling. In both cases, women have been deprived of choice and bodily autonomy.

What is the Women, Life, Freedom movement?

Women, Life, Freedom was sparked in September 2022 by the state sanctioned killing of a young woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, who was detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her Hijab too loosely. For Iranian girls and women, the idea that a woman could be detained, beaten and die on the basis of what she was wearing was so horrific — it was really a flash point. Some women burned their headscarves publicly, and women and men protested in cities throughout Iran and around the world. It was the first time in modern Iranian history that mass anti-government protests centered first and foremost on women's rights. It was a cultural reckoning. In many places throughout Iran, some women no longer wear hijab.

How is the war impacting people on the ground?

U.S. media has focused primarily on the geopolitical analysis, but what's lost in those narratives are Iranian civilians. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place, dealing with incredible violence from this regime, and U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in very populous civilian areas. There are 16 million people in and around Tehran who are impacted by strikes on oil refineries, with smoke enveloping the area and Iranians warned not to step outside. Yes, we saw senior leaders of the regime assassinated, but we also saw a school with approximately 180 school-aged girls killed.

What is happening to the protesters there?

Human rights activists such as 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remain imprisoned, alongside tens of thousands of Iranians who were arbitrarily detained during the January 2026 crackdown. Within prisons, authorities may escalate mistreatment or carry out executions without due process. Simultaneously, the U.S. and Israel are striking detention centers, with limited information about whether political prisoners are safe or have been injured or killed. In effect, human rights activists are being targeted in the name of protecting human rights.

Could this military action advance the cause of women and girls in Iran?

I am very skeptical. Look at the case of Afghanistan, where I worked between 2005 and 2010: We went to war because of 911, but it was also framed through this idea of securing human rights for Afghan women. Twenty years and $2 trillion later, we handed the country back to the Taliban, and this iteration of the Taliban is arguably much worse than the one of the late 90s.

If war is not the answer, what is?

That’s a really complicated question. But I think the focus should continue to be on what the majority of Iranians are expressing that they need and want from a new government— a future Iran that is free, democratic and respects bodily autonomy and human rights.

91��ý Today regularly publishes Q&As on news topics through the lens of scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and university style guidelines.

In honor of Women's History Month, Marie Ranjbar, professor of women and gender studies, discusses the long history of feminist activism in Iran and how the ongoing war is impacting people on the ground.

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Protesters in the Women, Life, Freedom movement march in Parliament Square in London in October, 2022 to decry the death of Mahsa Amini. Credit: Wikapedia Commons

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Protesters march in Parliament Square in London in October, 2022 to decry the death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality policy in Iran. The protest movement came to be known as Women, Life, Freedom. Credit: Wikamedia Commons

CUriosity: Why is K-pop so popular in the United States?

Yvaine Ye — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:21:39 +0000

CUriosity: Why is K-pop so popular in the United States? Yvaine Ye Tue, 03/10/2026 - 13:21

Girl group Huntr/x in Kpop Demon Hunters. (Credit: Netflix)

Yvaine Ye

In CUriosity, experts across the 91��ý campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Stephanie Choi, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at 91��ý and a K-pop fan, talks about why this music genre has gained widespread popularity beyond South Korea.

Editor's note: “Golden” from "KPop Demon Hunters" has become the first K-pop song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 2026 Academy Awards.

Girl group Huntr/x in Kpop Demon Hunters. (Credit: Netflix)

Since last summer, few songs have been as inescapable as “Golden.”

In the Netflix blockbuster film “KPop Demon Hunters,” animated girls in stylish outfits, who slay monsters, belt out the anthem, “We’re goin’ up, up, up, it’s our moment / You know together we’re glowing,” a chorus that countless American children (and plenty of adults) can now sing on cue.

South Korean popular music, or K-pop, is having a moment in the United States, and 2026 could be its biggest year yet.

“Golden” recently became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy Award. It is also nominated for Best Original Song at the upcoming Academy Awards on March 15. Two of the genre’s biggest acts, BLACKPINK and BTS, are releasing new albums this year, while groups I-DLE and Twice are touring across North America.

Stephaine Choi saw the K-pop wave coming for years. An assistant professor in the College of Music who studies K-pop’s global influence, Choi is also a fan of the genre.

On top of a pastel-pink cabinet in Choi’s office sits a small shrine to her fandom: photos of EXO, a South Korean boy band she has followed for more than a decade, stuffed animals representing members of SHINee, another favorite, and souvenirs from K-pop concerts she’s been to.

Her most prized piece is a lipstick shaped like SHINee’s lightstick, an aqua-colored glow stick that resembles a diamond perched on a microphone.

“There are lots of social functions in music,” Choi said. “It could be for entertainment. It could be for ritual. It could also be for community building. K-pop culture makes you want to be part of the community.”

Despite its name, K-pop isn’t defined by a single musical style. Instead, Choi describes it as performance-centered music presented by idols. These artists are trained by entertainment companies, often starting in their early teens.

In the United States, K-pop first gained traction among Korean Americans before spreading through other Asian American communities in the early 2000s. In 2012, Psy galloped his way into the American mainstream with his viral hit “Gangnam Style.” The music video was the most viewed video on YouTube for five years.

The real turning point came in 2017 when the boy band BTS won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist, a fan-voted category.

Unlike traditional celebrity culture where the musicians are often viewed as gifted, Choi said the relationship between idols and fans feels more equal in K-pop culture.

Previously in CUriosity

Why does Colorado have so many hot springs, and are they at risk?

Or read more CUriosity stories here

Through livestreams, social media and subscription messaging platforms, fans can communicate with idols directly on a daily basis.

Because most idols debut as teenagers, fans often watch them grow, mature and eventually become full-fledged artists launching their own solo careers. Fans ride every high and low with the artists, and growing alongside them is what makes K-pop so irresistible.

“It feels like you’re building a history together,” Choi said.

This connection motivates fans to organize campaigns, translate music videos and promote their favorite artists. According to a 2024 survey by the South Korean government, more than 200 million people across 119 countries identify as fans of Korean culture, with the majority focused on K-pop.

By 2022, BTS had taken home 12 Billboard Music Awars, breaking a 17-year record previously held by Destiny’s Child. BLACKPINK headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2023. Another girl group called Twice is currently on a world tour with a Denver stop in April.

The popularity of Korean music also encouraged people in the United States to take up language lessons. Duolingo, a language learning app, saw a 22% growth in Korean learners in the United States last year.

“You can definitely enjoy music without understanding the language,” Choi said. “But K-pop opens up a whole new world for people to learn about other cultures.”

Stephanie Choi, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at 91��ý and a K-pop fan, talks about why this music genre has gained widespread popularity beyond South Korea.

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5 years after Atlanta spa shootings: Asian Americans still confront questions of belonging

Yvaine Ye — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:25:39 +0000

5 years after Atlanta spa shootings: Asian Americans still confront questions of belonging Yvaine Ye Mon, 03/02/2026 - 14:25

Stop Asian Hate protest in Washington D.C., March 27, 2021. (Credit: Elvert Barnes/Wikicommons)

Yvaine Ye

On March 16, 2021, a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian American women, in shootings at two spas and a massage business in Atlanta, Georgia. This tragedy became a national turning point, sparking Stop Asian Hate protests across the country and bringing long-overdue attention to the surge in anti-Asian violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Angie Chuang

This March marks the fifth anniversary of the shootings. Since then, violence against Asian Americans has continued across the country, but their stories have disappeared from mainstream media in the United States, said Angie Chuang, associate professor of journalism in the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

According to a report by the University of California, Los Angeles, the number of Asian Americans arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has tripled since President Donald Trump took office. In recent ICE operations in Minnesota, Hmong immigrants and refugees from Southeast Asia have been among the communities most affected.

“Anti-Asian hate crimes haven’t disappeared,” Chuang said. “But we are in this position where so many in Asian American communities decided to remain silent because they are struggling to survive.”

A veteran journalist, Chuang has spent years studying how the U.S. media portrays Americans of Asian descent. Her recently published book, “American Otherness in Journalism: News Media Representations of Identity and Belonging,” explores the news media’s struggles reporting on race and immigrant identity.

Ahead of the anniversary, 91��ý Today sat down with Chuang to discuss what has changed since the 2021 shootings, who is considered American, and how the media covered Asian American Winter Olympians.

Five years after the Atlanta spa shootings, how has the conversation around race and Asian American identity changed in the United States?

When we look back to March 2021, it really feels like a different moment in American culture. There was much broader awareness about race and systemic racism following anti-Asian hate crimes that surged during the pandemic and after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

CMDI Public Conversations: Who Gets to Be American, and Why?

At a time when historic ideas of the United States as a multicultural “nation of immigrants” have been replaced by “America First” and ICE raids, how does mainstream news media help construct Americanness?Join Angie Chuang for a presentation and Q&A about her new book.

Who: Open to the public
When: Tuesday, Mar 3, 5-6:30 pm
Where: Canyon Theater, Main Library, Boulder Public Library

There was also a moment of solidarity among communities of color. Asian Americans were supporting Black Lives Matter, and other communities stood up against anti-Asian hate.

At this point, we are confronted with the cancellation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, the end of affirmative action, and not feeling OK talking about race and racial equity. Many of the issues that were raised by the shootings have been muted. That's generally not a good change.

Why do we hear less about Asian Americans affected by immigration enforcement compared with other groups?

The model minority stereotype has contributed to a long history of Asian American invisibility. The stereotype creates a perception that Asian Americans are good citizens, financially better off and don't make a lot of trouble. As a result, Asian Americans are often not the focus of many stories, including those about ICE raids.

In your research, you talk about “conditional Americanness.” What does that mean, and how did it appear in coverage of the Atlanta shootings?

Asian Americans are considered American, but with an asterisk. Like Indigenous Americans, Latino/a Americans and Black Americans, their belonging can feel conditional, accepted until push comes to shove and that identity is questioned, or revoked.

"American Otherness in Journalism: News Media Representations of Identity and Belonging." (Courtesy of Angie Chuang)

After the 2021 Atlanta shootings, the white perpetrator told the police that he had a sex addiction and that he was trying to “eliminate temptation.” Despite no evidence that the victims were involved in illicit sex work, the media picked up on that narrative and portrayed the victims as foreign, because that's not something that we like to associate our definition of Americanness with.

The narrative became that because they were foreign, and allegedly sex workers, we didn't have to mourn them. These women were community members, mothers and wives with hopes and dreams. The mainstream media didn't carry these stories.

How do moments like the Olympics reveal conditional Americanness?

American figure skater Alysa Liu, who won a gold medal, was widely celebrated in the mainstream news media. But Eileen Gu, who also won gold and is the most decorated female freeskier, was widely scrutinized because she chose to compete for China, despite growing up in the United States.

Many athletes, including multiple National Hockey League players, competed for countries other than the United States, even though they live here and are paid millions of dollars by the United States. Nobody is upset that a professional hockey player has chosen to play for their home country. But the amount of hatred and skepticism Gu faces speaks to this conditional Americanness. Asian Americans are constantly being asked to prove their loyalty to the United States to be considered American.

Given today’s political climate and shifting conversations about race, what gives you hope?

We will enter the coming years bearing the scars of what's happened in the last couple of years, from ICE raids and the cancellation of DEI programs to the silencing of conversations about race.

But I find hope in our students here at 91��ý. Even though many of them don’t come from the same background, young people genuinely want to live in an accepting, pluralistic society where people learn from one another’s cultures and experiences.

I’m also hopeful because no matter what policies try to define Americanness narrowly, our society is becoming more multicultural. People are forming diverse friendships, families and communities, and you can’t stop that.

91��ý Journalism professor shares how mainstream news media shape ideas of Americanness and belonging.

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Stop Asian Hate protest in Washington D.C., March 27, 2021. (Credit: Elvert Barnes/Wikicommons)

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Stop Asian Hate protest in Washington D.C., March 27, 2021. (Credit: Elvert Barnes/Wikicommons)

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