The Conversation

This year at the Supreme Court: Gay rights, gun rights and Native rights

Written by Morgan Marietta, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

The Supreme Court begins its newest session on the first Monday in October.AP/J. Scott Applewhite

The Supreme Court begins its annual session on Oct. 7 and will take up a series of cases likely to have political reverberations in the 2020 elections.

Major cases this year address the immigration program for young people (“Dreamers”) known...

Trump's bad Nixon imitation may cost him the presidency

Written by Ken Hughes, Research Specialist, the Miller Center, University of Virginia

President Richard Nixon, left, and President Donald Trump, right.AP//Frank C. Curtin; REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Whatever Donald Trump does, Richard Nixon usually did it first and better.

Nixon got a foreign government’s help to win a presidential election over 50 years ago. Trump’s imitation of the master has proven far from perfect, and...

What moons in other solar systems reveal about planets like Neptune and Jupiter

Written by Bradley Hansen, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles

Exomoons orbiting an exoplanet outside our solar system.Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock.com

What is the difference between a planet-satellite system as we have with the Earth and Moon, versus a binary planet – two planets orbiting each other in a cosmic do-si-do?

I am an astronomer interested in planets orbiting nearby stars, and gas giants –...

Gandhi's 150th birthday: A little-remembered philosopher translated the Mahatma's ideas of nonviolence for Americans

Written by John Charles Wooding, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

School children in India celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

October this year marks Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday. One of the 20th century’s most iconic figures, Gandhi’s legacy defines how many people think about peace, self-reflection and the path to a more just world.

Much less celebrated...

3 reasons Forever 21’s bankruptcy doesn’t spell the end of brick-and-mortar retailing

Written by Anthony Dukes, Professor of Marketing, University of Southern California

Clothing racks won’t be going away anytime soon.AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Affordable fashion brand Forever 21’s decision to file for bankruptcy and shutter hundreds of its stores has resurrected the notion that online retailing is killing old-fashioned brick and mortar retailing.

Some are suggesting the strong growth of e-commerce –...

Untangling tattoos' influence on immune response

Written by Christopher D. Lynn, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Alabama

A schoolteacher in the midst of receiving a full pe'a, the traditional Samoan tattoo generally worn by males.Christopher Lynn, CC BY-ND

I lay on the mat of the open-air bungalow in Apia, Samoa, looking up at a gecko. As its tail quivered, I felt a sympathetic twitch in my leg. Su’a Sulu’ape Paulo III, the sixth-generation Samoan...

South America's second-largest forest is also burning – and 'environmentally friendly' charcoal is subsidizing its destruction

Written by Joel E. Correia, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies, University of Florida

The Paraguayan Chaco, South America's second largest forest, is rapidly disappearing as agriculture extends deeper into what was once forest. Here, isolated stands of trees remain amid the farms.Joel E. Correia, CC BY-NC-ND

The fires raging across the Brazilian Amazon have captured the world’s attention. Meanwhile, South America’s...

How a 1905 debate about 'tainted' Rockefeller money is a reminder of ethical dilemmas today

Written by David Mislin, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Heritage, Temple University

MIT President L. Rafael Reif acknowledged in a letter that the late Jeffrey Epstein gave funding to many researchers.AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File

Many nonprofits, including top universities and museums are confronting serious ethical dilemmas regarding accepting tainted money.

The MIT Media Lab, an interdisciplinary research lab, has been widely...

Cultural studies key to national security

Written by Nicholas Tampio, Professor of Political Science, Fordham University

A lack of understanding between American and Middle-Eastern culture is a national security risk.Lightspring/shutterstock.com

After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a commission formed to figure out why the attacks occurred. One of the culprits, according to the commission’s 9/11 report, was “lack of imagination.”

With few...

Harvard can use race as an admissions factor, at least for now

Written by Vinay Harpalani, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico

A federal judge ruled that Harvad can continue to use race as one of many factors in its admission decisions.f11photo/Shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: A federal judge has upheld Harvard University’s use of race in college admissions, rejecting claims that the school discriminated against Asian Americans to admit more black and Hispanic...