The Conversation

Reading, writing and mental health care: why schools need added services

Written by Ann DiGirolamo, Director, Center of Excellence for Children's Behavioral Health, Georgia Health Policy Center, Georgia State University

Young students in classroom via Shutterstock.From www.shutterstock.com

Students across the country have stepped into their classrooms, filled with excitement to start a new year. In many cases, though, students also bring physical, social, and emotional concerns.

For some students, these concerns are normal back-to-school jitters that will not...

Weather forecasters can't manipulate hurricane warnings — here's why

Written by David Titley, Professor of Practice in Meteorology & Director Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for New American Security, Pennsylvania State University

Damage from Hurricane Matthew in North Charleston, South Carolina, October 2016.Ryan Johnson/Flickr, CC BY-SA

Many mini-dramas develop during major disasters like Hurricane Matthew, which has left a trail of devastation in the Caribbean and the southeastern United States. One such drama occurred outside of the storm zone: Conservative news blogger...

Should I grade-skip my gifted child?

Written by Jonathan Wai, Research Scientist, Duke University

When should you let your gifted child skip grades?Children image via www.shutterstock.com

The American school system puts students in grades based on age. However, for a large number of students, being with same-age peers in the classroom does not work.

A recent report from Johns Hopkins University shows that about two out of every seven children...

Latino voters respond to outreach, not insults

Written by Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Chancellor's Professor of Education and Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

There has been much conversation among political pundits, including some Latino leaders, about the “Trump Effect.”

Many believe the unprecedented level of insult and racial bias espoused by Donald Trump toward Latinos, particularly Mexicans, will result in overwhelming increases in Latino turnout in November. Some commentators estimate...

Fixing US elections

Written by Pippa Norris, ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard University

Experts rate the performance of recent American elections as the worst among two dozen Western democracies. Why?

Some longstanding practices are to blame. Partisan gerrymandering insulates incumbents. Infotainment-dominated commercial news reduce campaigns to spectator sport. Social media amplifies angry trolls. Ballot access laws restrict...

Is it time for a new model to fund science research in higher education?

Written by Brian Herman, Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota

Academic researchers need funding – especially as the federal government devotes less to basic research.Check image via www.shutterstock.com

The United States is at a crossroads with respect to many societal issues – think about the challenges of improving human health, eradicating hunger, protecting human rights. At the same time,...

Donald Trump and the dangerous rhetoric of portraying people as objects

Written by Jennifer Mercieca, Associate Professor of Communication and Director of the Aggie Agora, Texas A&M University

In Donald Trump’s 2005 hot mic conversation with entertainment reporter Billy Bush, he confessed to kissing women and grabbing their genitals without their consent.

I’ve previously noted how Trump, on the campaign trail, will often use the rhetorical strategy of reification (which comes from the Latin word for thing, res, and in this...

Donald Trump is taking a page from Reconstruction-era white supremacists

Written by Donald Nieman, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Donald Trump has a lot in common with former Confederates – white southerners who “redeemed” the South by bringing an end to Reconstruction 140 years ago. Like the “Redeemers,” Trump fears that electoral fraud threatens the republic. And like them, Trump equates electoral fraud with black and brown voters.

Trump has...

Where the parties stand on environmental regulation: Six essential reads

Written by Jennifer Weeks, Editor, Environment and Energy, The Conversation

www.shutterstock.com

Editor’s note: The following is a roundup of archival stories related to environmental regulation and the presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have taken starkly opposing positions on environmental regulation. During their second debate on Oct. 9, Trump stated,

“The EPA is so restrictive that they...

Getting to yes in Colombia: What it would take to reintegrate the FARC

Written by Kimberly Theidon, Professor of International Humanitarian Studies, Tufts University

The Nobel Committee has awarded Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize.

His key accomplishment was the Sept. 26 signing of the Colombian peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, as known as FARC. The signing marked the formal end of 52 years of civil war. In the words of Humberto...