The Conversation

What the early church thought about God's gender

Written by David Wheeler-Reed, Visiting Assistant Professor, Albertus Magnus College

All Saints Episcopal Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Carolyn Fitzpatrick

The Episcopal Church has decided to revise its 1979 prayer book, so that God is no longer referred to by masculine pronouns.

The prayer book, first published in 1549 and now in its fourth edition, is the symbol of unity for the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion is...

Why I use Harry Potter to teach a college course on child development

Written by Georgene Troseth, Associate Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt University

Harry Potter books have captured the imaginations of entire generations.Clark Jones/Courtesy of Scholastic, Inc./AP

In an effort to find a more engaging way to present child development to new psychology students, I decided to use a book about a little orphan boy who later discovers he is a wizard.

As the course evolved over the years, I found...

Citizenship through the eyes of those who have lost the right to vote

Written by Kimberly R. Kras, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies , University of Massachusetts Lowell

A fundamental right of U.S. citizenship is having your voice heard by voting to elect representatives. However, at least 6 million U.S. citizens cannot vote in the United States because they have been convicted of a felony.

Losing the right to vote is among numerous other consequences of being convicted of a crime. This so-called “civil...

Niños centroamericanos siguen migrando a EEUU porque huyen de la muerte

Written by Julio Ernesto Acuna Garcia, Assistant Professor, Economics Department, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)

La violencia de pandillas y sus crecientes redes criminales han convertido a El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala -países conocidos como el “Triángulo del Norte”- en una de las zonas más peligrosas del mundo.

La tasa de homicidios en El Salvador en 2016 -109 asesinatos por cada 100.000 personas- fue 25 veces la de...

Iran and America: A forgotten friendship

Written by Daniel Thomas Potts, Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and History, New York University

Students at the American Memorial School, Tabriz, 1923shahrefarang.com

As President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against Iran heats up again, it is worth recalling a time when the two countries had a distinctly different relationship.

That time began in the 1800s, as American missionaries journeyed to what was then called Persia.

The missionaries he...

A new look at racial disparities in police use of deadly force

Written by Joseph Cesario, Associate Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University

Protesters on the University of Cincinnati campus.AP Photo/John Minchillo

One of the most important social issues of the last five years is fatal police shootings of black Americans.

The concern that police fatally shoot blacks at higher rates than whites has given rise to a strong push for department-wide interventions for police officers. Such...

The lifesaving power of gratitude (or, why you should write that thank you note)

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

An attitude of gratitude may relieve stress, which in turn may lead to better health. michaelhelm/Shutterstock.com

Gratitude may be more beneficial than we commonly suppose. One recent study asked subjects to write a note of thanks to someone and then estimate how surprised and happy the recipient would feel – an impact that they...

American farmers want trade partners not handouts – an agricultural economist explains

Written by Amanda M. Countryman, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics, Colorado State University

Farmer Michael Petefish walks through one of his soybean fields in southern Minnesota.AP Photo/Jim Mone

The Trump administration plans to give American farmers and ranchers hurt by the current trade war US$12 billion in emergency relief to mitigate the impact of tariffs on their exports.

While this may lessen the blow of an already struggling...

More Republicans in the news? That's not media bias

Written by Dominik Stecula, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania

It's difficult to measure media bias.Lawrey/shutterstock.com

A July 20 report, analyzing news content from The New York Times and The Washington Post, found that Republican politicians get roughly 2.5 times as many mentions as Democrats.

The report, produced by a progressive nonprofit Media Matters, was shared widely on social media. Many readers...

Designing a 'solar tarp,' a foldable, packable way to generate power from the sun

Written by Darren Lipomi, Professor of Nanoengineering, University of California San Diego

What if it were a lot easier to install solar power?zstock/Shutterstock.com

The energy-generating potential of solar panels – and a key limitation on their use – is a result of what they’re made of. Panels made of silicon are declining in price such that in some locations they can provide electricity that costs about the same as...