The Conversation

Presidential corruption verdict shows just how flawed Brazil's justice system is

Written by Rubens Glezer, Law Professor, Fundação Getúlio Vargas

On Jan. 24, a Brazilian appeals court upheld a criminal conviction against former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, rocking Brazil’s already turbulent political scene. The verdict, which confirms a 2017 ruling against the wildly popular Workers’ Party leader on corruption charges, could carry a prison sentence of up to 10...

Trump's travel ban is just one of many US policies that legalize discrimination against Muslims

Written by Basima Sisemore, Researcher, Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, University of California, Berkeley

At the funeral of Nabra Hassanen, a Muslim girl who was beaten to death.AP Photo/Steve Helber

On Jan. 19, a year after President Donald Trump’s first travel ban was issued, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments against the latest third version signed by Trump on Sept. 24, 2017. This version remains in full effect.

Under the ban, nationals...

Millions of refugees could benefit from big data – but we're not using it

Written by Anirudh V. S. Ruhil, Professor of Leadership & Public Affairs, Ohio University

Hindu women, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wait for their turn to collect aid at refugee camp in September 2017.AP Photo/Dar Yasin

Today, 65 million people live as refugees or are displaced within their home countries – more than at any other point since the U.N. Refugee Agency began collecting data. Many countries have...

What happened at Davos? 8 essential reads

Written by Bryan Keogh, Economics + Business Editor

Marine One arrives in the Alps. AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Editor’s note: This is a roundup of material from The Conversation’s coverage of the 2018 World Economic Forum.

The annual gathering of global elites known colloquially as Davos is over – in case you missed it. So what does it matter?

While the rare attendance of the president of...

How should we decide what to do?

Written by Lori Gruen, William Griffin Professor of Philosophy, Wesleyan University

How many times do we wonder, 'what's the right thing to do'?Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA (Helping the homeless Uploaded by Gary Dee, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Most of us are faced with ethical decisions on a regular basis. Some are relatively minor – perhaps your cousin makes a new recipe and it really doesn’t taste good,...

Why don't STEM majors vote as much as others?

Written by Inger Bergom, Senior Researcher, Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University

college voters

There’s no shortage of talk about the need to get more students to go into STEM majors. But a growing body of research, including our own at the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University, indicates there might also be a need to get more STEM majors to go to the polls.

An analysis that we conducted shows...

Corporate sponsors of Olympians enter the #MeToo fray

Written by George B. Cunningham, Professor of Sport Management, Faculty Affiliate of the Women's and Gender Studies Program, and Director, Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, Texas A&M University

Dick's Sporting Goods presenting Team USA -- including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles -- a check for $236,000.Kevin Wolf/AP Images

Revelations brought to light during the trial of sports doctor Larry Nassar are reverberating.

High-level resignations are piling up at Michigan State University, the physician’s former employer. USA Gymnastics, the...

Artificial intelligence is the weapon of the next Cold War

Written by Jeremy Straub, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, North Dakota State University

With artificial intelligence weapons on both sides, are we in a new cold war?Dim Dimich/Shutterstock.com

It is easy to confuse the current geopolitical situation with that of the 1980s. The United States and Russia each accuse the other of interfering in domestic affairs. Russia has annexed territory over U.S. objections, raising concerns about milit...

Violent past, digital future: Angela Merkel's remarks at Davos

Written by Elizabeth Heineman, Professor of History and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, University of Iowa

Merkel after her address in DavosAP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Two world wars and a genocide have a way of focusing the mind.

Maybe that’s why references to “lessons of the past” are almost ritualistic in addresses such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s to the World Economic Forum. Here’s how Merkel checked that box in...

Macron calls for a 'global contract' at Davos

Written by Joshua Cole, Professor of History, University of Michigan

Macron in Davos on Jan. 24, 2018, where he argued that economic growth wasn't an end in itself.AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 24 called for nation-states and businesses to join in a “true global contract” to invest in human capital, and meet the...