The Conversation

Rebuilding ground zero: How twin mandates of revival and remembrance reshaped Lower Manhattan

Written by Lynne B. Sagalyn, Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Emerita of Real Estate at Columbia Business School, Columbia University

Lower Manhattan's new skyline.NYC skyline via www.shutterstock.com

From the beginning, rebuilding ground zero was fraught with strategic consequence, for the city of New York and for the nation.

The original World Trade Center complex, completed in 1973, represented the culmination of a decades-long effort to revitalize the city’s founding...

Corporate sponsors at Yosemite? The case against privatizing national parks

Written by John Freemuth, Professor of Public Policy and Senior Fellow Cecil Andrus Center for Public Policy, Boise State University

Camping under the Milky Way, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.Emily Ogden, National Park Service/Flickr, CC BY

The centennial of the National Park Service is inspiring an impressive amount of soul-searching about the agency and the lands for which it is responsible. This is timely and appropriate, as the NPS faces serious challenges that affect the...

The real reason the EpiPen and other off-patents are so expensive

Written by Timothy Holbrook, Professor of Law, Emory University

An injectable medication.From www.shutterstock.com

The rising price for EpiPens, a drug delivery system that is crucial for persons experiencing potentially life-threatening allergic reactions, has resulted in outrage. The price increase, from about US$94 for a two-pack of injectable epinephrine to more than $600 in just nine years, has members of...

David Duke, Donald Trump and the dog whistle

Written by Kirby Goidel, Professor of Communication, Texas A&M University

David Duke, the blow-dried wizard of Louisiana politics, is back. This time he is running to represent Louisiana in the U.S. Senate.

When asked by journalist Tyler Bridges if he appealed to the same voters as Donald Trump, Duke replied:

“He’s getting the same kinds of votes that I have gotten in Louisiana. He’s getting the same...

Fracking and health: What we know from Pennsylvania's natural gas boom

Written by Sara G. Rasmussen, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University

The fracking industry has been an energy success story: Natural gas prices have decreased as fracking has skyrocketed, and natural gas now produces more electricity than coal does, which has resulted in improved air quality. The first states to begin unconventional natural gas development with fracking have cited potential economic, energy and...

Could gay-straight alliances reduce school bullying?

Written by Robert Marx, Ph.D. Student, Vanderbilt University

One in five students report being bullied in school.Girl Image via www.shutterstock.com

As students across the country zip up their backpacks and get on the bus for the first day of school, many will have more to focus on than memorizing their new schedules or making it to homeroom on time.

For some, the chief concern will be avoiding the bullying...

This little-known pioneering educator put coding in the classroom

Written by Therese Keane, Senior Lecturer in Education, Swinburne University of Technology

Seymour Papert lectures on LOGO, computers and education.Shen-montpellier, CC BY-SA

A man who was arguably the most influential educator of the last 50 years – though he was not widely known to the American public – died on July 31. A respected mathematician and early pioneer of artificial intelligence, Seymour Papert was 88. His career...

Understanding mosquitoes can help us find better ways to kill them

Written by Aparna Telang, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of South Florida

Astronomer Royal Dr. Martin Rees wrote in 1999: “What makes things baffling is their degree of complexity, not their sheer size… a star is simpler than an insect.”

You might not think an insect like a mosquito could be so complex, so I thought I would share some lesser-known facts about them.

I am a mosquito researcher who lives...

Getting serious about funny: Psychologists see humor as a character strength

Written by Janet M. Gibson, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Grinnell College

Don't laugh at the psychological study of humor.Laughing image via www.shutterstock.com.

Humor is observed in all cultures and at all ages. But only in recent decades has experimental psychology respected it as an essential, fundamental human behavior.

Historically, psychologists framed humor negatively, suggesting it demonstrated superiority,...

Who dies in police custody? Texas, California offer new tools to find out

Written by Amanda Woog, Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute of Urban Policy Research and Analysis, University of Texas at Austin

How many people die in our criminal justice system each year?

It turns out it is hard to tell, and it depends who you ask.

Following the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray and many others at the hands of the police, this lack of information has emerged as one of the most pressing issues in criminal justice reform. Reading media...