The Conversation

How yoga is helping girls heal from trauma

Written by Rebecca Epstein, Executive Director, Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, Georgetown University

Photo copyright TheArtOfYogaProject.

Rocsana Enriquez started thinking about yoga again when she was pregnant. She was 19 and in an abusive relationship.

When she was younger, Rocsana, whom I interviewed as part of my research, had taken part in a yoga program in a San Francisco Bay Area juvenile hall run by The Art of Yoga Project. She began...

Private defense companies are here to stay – what does that mean for national security?

Written by Charles Mahoney, Professor of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach

Share prices of many military and intelligence contractors have risen sharply since President Donald Trump’s election.

Investors are betting that an increase in defense spending will provide a windfall for these firms. For instance, General Dynamics, a large contractor that develops combat vehicles and weapons systems for the U.S. military,...

The demographics of the #resistance

Written by Dana R. Fisher, Professor of Sociology and Director of Program for Society and the Environment, University of Maryland

Ninety percent of the protesters at the Women's March on Washington voted for Hillary Clinton.Liz Lemon/Flickr

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, hundreds of thousands of people have marched on Washington, D.C. – sometimes, repeatedly.

Two more big protests are scheduled for June: the March for Truth and the National Pride March.

The...

Mainstream media outlets are dropping the ball with terrorism coverage

Written by Philip Seib, Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Breathless reporting accompanies each attack, with little time spent addressing the underlying causes.Nick Lehr/The Conversation via Google, CC BY-SA

News coverage of the Manchester terrorist attack was sadly familiar: cellphone videos of screaming victims; details of first responders’ hectic efforts; “Was it terrorism?”...

CRISPR controversy raises questions about gene-editing technique

Written by Ian Haydon, Doctoral Student in Biochemistry, University of Washington

Laboratory mice are among the first animals to have their diseases treated by CRISPRtiburi via Pixabay.com

A new research paper is stirring up controversy among scientists interested in using DNA editing to treat disease.

In a two-page article published in the journal Nature Methods on May 30, a group of six scientists report an alarming number of...

Are esports the next major league sport?

Written by Galen Clavio, Associate Professor of Sports Media; Director of the National Sports Journalism Center, Indiana University

Two basketball teams go head-to-head in an esports competition, with spectators cheering them on.Dan Steinberg/Invision for NBA 2K/AP Images

In late 2016, a sports championship event was held in Chicago, drawing 43 million viewers during the series finals. That was 12 million more people than watched the 2016 NBA Finals.

It wasn’t soccer, or...

Does national service help heal America’s divisions?

Written by Cecilia Hyunjung Mo, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University

Teach For America teacher Sergio Santiago looks over an assignment with a student.pennstatenews/flickr, CC BY-NC

President Donald Trump’s budget proposes getting the government out of the business of national service. This comes at a time when the election has divided Americans like few in history. And individuals from different walks of life...

What rural, coastal Puerto Ricans can teach us about thriving in times of crisis

Written by Carlos G. García-Quijano, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island

A man fishing from a dock in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo

Puerto Ricans are searching for solutions to the island’s worst economic and social crisis in a long time.

An unprecedented debt level is creating widespread uncertainty about employment and the state’s ability to provide basic services. This crisis is not going...

Why stable relationships are 'poison control' in fighting trauma and stress in kids

Written by Melissa Bright, Research Scientist, University of Florida

A stable, supportive family is key to preventing childhood trauma. Pixelheadphoto/Shutterstock.

Editor’s note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This article is part of a series exploring how research into adverse childhood experiences – or ACEs – is helping therapists, parents, educators and the medical community better...

Saving Javan rhinos from extinction starts with counting them – and it's not easy

Written by Brian Gerber, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department., Colorado State University

Javan rhinos are one of the rarest mammals in the world.WWF-ID/Sugeng Hendratmo, Author provided

The Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is found only at the very western tip of the Indonesian island of Java, in the rainforest habitats of Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). However, this wasn’t always so. Many species have small natural ranges,...