The Conversation

Suburban sprawl and poor preparation worsened flood damage in Louisiana

Written by Craig E. Colten, Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography, Louisiana State University

U.S. Coast Guard personnel rescue stranded residents in Baton Rouge on August 14, 2016U.S. Department of Agriculture/Wikipedia, CC BY

This month’s extraordinary flooding in southeast Louisiana damaged some 40,000 homes, prompting more than 70,000 people to sign up for FEMA assistance. The proximate cause was a slow-moving storm system that...

Louisiana's Cajun Navy shines light on growing value of boat rescuers

Written by Tricia Wachtendorf, Associate Professor of Sociology, Director of Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware

As we look at the devastating losses suffered by Louisiana communities from the recent flooding, one of the inspiring aspects to emerge from the disaster are the reports of the “Cajun Navy” – everyday residents in their boats checking on and rescuing family, friends, neighbors and even strangers in need.

The efforts of the Cajun...

King Coal is dethroned in the US – and that's good news for the environment

Written by Lucas Davis, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley

A number of coal plants in the U.S. are closing in response to competition from inexpensive and cleaner natural gas. booleansplit/flickr, CC BY-NC

This is the worst year in decades for U.S. coal. During the first six months of 2016, U.S. coal production was down a staggering 28 percent compared to 2015, and down 33 percent compared to 2014. For...

Slavery on campus – recovering the history of Washington College's discarded slaves

Written by Kelley Deetz, Research Associate for the President's Commission on Slavery, University of Virginia

Profits from slavery funded education. Washington and Lee University campus.Robert of Fairfax, CC BY-NC

When First Lady Michelle Obama reminded Americans during the Democratic National Convention that she lives in a house literally built by slaves, it once again sparked discussion of slavery in the United States' history.

The White House is not the...

Relationship advice from the government doesn't help low-income couples – here's what might

Written by Justin Lavner, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Georgia

External stressors might have more to do with a low-income couple's success.Michael Newman, CC BY-NC-ND

Stable, satisfying marriages promote physical and mental health for adults and their children. However, marriage rates in the United States have dropped over the last few decades as more couples are choosing to delay marriage or simply live...

How racism has shaped welfare policy in America since 1935

Written by Alma Carten, Associate Professor of Social Work; McSilver Faculty Fellow, New York University

A recent UNICEF report found that the U.S. ranked 34th on the list of 35 developed countries surveyed on the well-being of children. According to the Pew Institute, children under the age of 18 are the most impoverished age population of Americans, and African-American children are almost four times as likely as white children to be in poverty.

Thes...

Big Tobacco aims its guns to kill California tobacco tax

Written by Stanton Glantz, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

California aggressively fights Big Tobacco usage in ads such as this, with funds voters allocated when they increased the tobacco tax by passing Proposition 99 in 1988. California Department of Public Health.California Department of Public Health

Public health and medical advocates have been working for nearly two years to increase...

Why we're wrong to blame immigrants for our sputtering economies

Written by Kevin Shih, Assistant Professor of Economics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Immigrants have become a major scapegoat in recent years for sputtering Western economies.

From the U.K.’s jarring “Brexit” from the European Union to Donald Trump’s infamous wall and more recent proposal to apply “extreme vetting” to those wishing to enter the U.S., many politicians have found success by casting...

With skateboarding's inclusion in Tokyo 2020, a once-marginalized subculture enters the spotlight

Written by Neftalie Williams, Lecturer, University of Southern California

On Aug. 6, skateboarding was added to the list of new sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Now, six million skateboarders in the United States – plus millions abroad – will have a global platform to promote skateboarding as a cross-cultural community that possesses a set of shared values.

Though skateboarding culture has often been...

How bigotry crushed the dreams of an all-black Little League team

Written by Chris Lamb, Professor of Journalism, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

The civil rights movement is often told in terms of court decisions, bus boycotts, lunch counter sit-ins, freedom riders, brutal beatings and racist demagogues. It’s rarely told from the point of view of children, who suffered in ways that left physical and emotional scars.

As hundreds of thousands of spectators convene in Williamsport,...