The Conversation

How the 'guerrilla archivists' saved history – and are doing it again under Trump

Written by Morgan Currie, Lecturer at Woodbury University, University of California, Los Angeles

Both sea ice and government data are disappearing.U.S. Geological Survey, flickr

On Inauguration Day, a group of students, researchers and librarians gathered in a nondescript building on the north side of the University of California, Los Angeles campus, against a backdrop of pelting rain.

The group had organized in protest against the new U.S....

Threats of violent Islamist and far-right extremism: What does the research say?

Written by William Parkin, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Seattle University

On a Tuesday morning in September 2001, the American experience with terrorism was fundamentally altered. Two thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six people were murdered in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Thousands more, including many first responders, lost their lives to health complications from working at or being near Ground Zero.

The 9/11...

Red state rural America is acting on climate change – without calling it climate change

Written by Rebecca J. Romsdahl, Professor of Environmental Science & Policy, University of North Dakota

One primary concern in rural areas: higher temperatures put strain on water and energy sources. AP Photo/Robert Ray

President Donald Trump has the environmental community understandably concerned. He and members of his Cabinet have questioned the established science of climate change, and his choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency,...

Puzder's failed nomination reminds us why the secretary of labor matters

Written by Raymond Hogler, Professor of Management, Colorado State University

Andrew Puzder’s brief foray into government ended last week when he withdrew his nomination as Donald Trump’s secretary of labor. Just a day later, the administration named its new nominee for the job, Alexander Acosta, dean of the law school at Florida International University.

Put simply, Acosta is a qualified nominee for the...

In latest skirmish of western land wars, Congress supports mining and ranching

Written by Adam M. Sowards, Professor of History, University of Idaho

Sheep move through public lands near Shoshone, IdahoBLM/Flickr, CC BY

Republicans in Congress are enthusiastically using the Congressional Review Act to overturn regulations finalized during the last weeks of the Obama administration. One measure on their list is the Bureau of Land Management’s new Planning 2.0 rule, which is designed to...

Diversity is on the rise in urban and rural communities, and it's here to stay

Written by Jennifer Van Hook, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University

Schoolchildren play on a New York subway.AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Racial and ethnic diversity is no longer confined to big cities and the east and west coasts of the United States.

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan areas were more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Whiter metro and rural areas...

How social media stars are fighting for the Left

Written by David Craig, Fellow at the Peabody Media Center and Clinical Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Tyler Oakley speaking in California.Gage Skidmore/flickr, CC BY-SA

In the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. elections, numerous accounts surfaced of nefarious content creators profiting by posting fake content on social media. The most successful engaged in “anti-Clinton fervor,” promoted Donald Trump’s candidacy and spread right wing...

How governments and companies can prevent the next insider attack

Written by Matthew Bunn, Professor of Practice, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

An insider can bypass many layers of security. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Now that they are in office, President Donald Trump and his team must protect the nation from many threats – including from insiders. Insider threats could take many forms, such as the next Edward Snowden, who leaked hundreds of thousands of secret documents to the...

Building privacy right into software code

Written by Jean Yang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Putting privacy right in the code.Keyhole image via shutterstock.com

When I was 15, my parents did not allow me to use AOL Instant Messenger. All of my friends used it, so I had to find a way around this rule. I would be found out if I installed the software on my computer, so I used the web browser version instead. Savvy enough to delete my...

Inmates are excluded from Medicaid – here's why it makes sense to change that

Written by Tyler Winkelman, RWJF Clinical Scholar and Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan

Inmates wait to enter an assigned cell block at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

The incarcerated population in federal and state prisons has risen from about 200,000 to over 1.5 million since Medicaid was passed in 1965. That is a 650 percent increase.

However, individuals are ineligible for...