The Conversation

Trump's immigration order is bad foreign policy

Written by David FitzGerald, Theodore E. Gildred Chair in U.S.-Mexican Relations, Professor of Sociology, and Co-Director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego

A rally against President Donald Trump's order that restricts travel to the U.S.AP Photo/Steven Senne

President Donald Trump banned the entry of people from seven majority Muslim countries last week. Leaders as far apart ideologically as former Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. Bernie Sanders warned the ban could become a recruitment tool for...

What the Bible says about welcoming refugees

Written by Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross

Essam Saad, CC BY

On Friday, Jan. 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that placed a stay on refugees from seven Muslim majority countries. Entrance of refugees from Syria, however, will be banned for the next 120 days.

Two days prior to that, he committed the United States to building a wall on its border with Mexico. Soon after...

SmallSat revolution: Tiny satellites poised to make big contributions to essential science

Written by J. Vanderlei Martins, Professor of Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Tiny CubeSats are ready to be our eyes in the skies.Earth Background: NASA; HARP Spacecraft: SDL; Montage: Martins, UMBC, CC BY-ND

Tiny satellites, some smaller than a shoe box, are currently orbiting around 200 miles above Earth, collecting data about our planet and the universe. It’s not just their small stature but also their accompanying...

Why advances in treating those with brain injuries require advances in respecting their rights

Written by Joseph J. Fins, The E. William Davis, Jr., M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine, Chief Division of Medical Ethics Weill Cornell Medicine and Solomon Center Distinguished Scholar in Medicine, Bioethics and the Law, Yale Law School, Co

A patient who suffered a traumatic brain injury works with a therapist.Steve Senne/AP

Several years ago a father approached me, concerned about the care his son was receiving. The son had been in a car accident that left him with severe brain injury. He was placed in a nursing home, and his dad stopped by regularly to check in on him. The father...

As Trump mulls another 'reset' with Russia, he should consider perils of Big Oil diplomacy

Written by Amy Myers Jaffe, Executive Director for Energy and Sustainability, University of California, Davis

Energy has long been used as a tool of U.S. foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. But it’s true in other regions and countries as well, most notably Russia, where President Donald Trump is pondering another possible “reset” in relations.

This will be the fourth such attempt at a relationship reboot with Moscow since the...

Research challenges the view that environmental regulators are anti-business

Written by Sara Rinfret, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, The University of Montana

Regulators test soil for hazardous chemicals at a brownfield cleanup site in West Seneca, New YorkNYSDEC/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Republican candidates strongly agreed that the United States has too many regulations, and that these rules often are bad for business or a waste of taxpayer dollars. President Trump...

Trump takes on federal workforce of 2.8 million that's showing signs of stress

Written by David E. Lewis, William R Kenan, Jr Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science; Co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions., Vanderbilt University

President Donald Trump signs an executive order implementing a federal government hiring freeze.AP Photo/Evan Vucci

On Jan. 20, President Trump became the head of a sprawling federal bureaucracy. His first major actions as manager were to freeze federal hiring, curb the public statements of federal scientists and reportedly ask the senior...

What drones may come: The future of unmanned flight approaches

Written by Brandon Stark, Director of the University of California Center of Excellence on Unmanned Aircraft System Safety, University of California, Merced

Drone via shutterstock.com

The once-small community of drone hobbyists has transformed into a worldwide phenomenon. In 2016 especially, significant technology improvements and regulatory clarity have paved the way for even more dramatic changes in the coming years.

Among the biggest adopters of drones, and experimenters with them, have been universit...

Trump isn’t lying, he’s bullshitting – and it's far more dangerous

Written by Lauren Griffin, Director of External Research for frank, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida

Lying means you're actually concerned about the truth.'Trump' via www.shutterstock.com

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the past week or so, you know that over the weekend America was introduced to the concept of “alternative facts.” After Trump administration Press Secretary Sean Spicer rebuked the media for...

2017 isn't '1984' – it's stranger than Orwell imagined

Written by John Broich, Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University

A week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, George Orwell’s “1984” is the best-selling book on Amazon.com.

The hearts of a thousand English teachers must be warmed as people flock to a novel published in 1949 for ways to think about their present moment.

Orwell set his story in Oceania, one of three blocs or...