The Conversation

Some want to get rid of college majors – here's how that could go wrong

Written by Matthew J. Mayhew, William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration, The Ohio State University

Though criticized as outdated, college majors still serve a vital function, a scholar argues.Nerthus/www.shutterstock.com

Should college majors be a thing of the past?

That idea received a fresh airing when author Jeffrey Selingo suggested recently that it’s “time to end college majors as we know them.”

As a researcher who studies...

Do abused women need asylum? 4 essential reads

Written by Catesby Holmes, Global Affairs Editor, The Conversation US

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on June 11 reversed an appeals court ruling that granted asylum to a Salvadoran woman who had fled sexual, emotional and physical abuse back home, upending nearly a decade of legal precedent about who should qualify as a refugee.

In 2009, the Obama administration determined that foreign women who suffer severe sexual...

Summit with Kim is boosting Trump's confidence – that might not be a good thing

Written by Stephen Benedict Dyson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Moments after President Donald Trump shook North Korean leader Kim Jung Un’s hand for the first time, Trump pronounced: “We will have a terrific relationship.”

Trump’s snap judgment fulfilled his prediction before the June 12...

Is Venezuela's president afraid of a coup d'etat?

Written by Marco Aponte-Moreno, Assistant Professor of Global Business, St Mary's College of California

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced the release of 39 political prisoners on June 1, 2018, as a sign of his administration's "goodwill."AP Photo/Fernando Llano

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab announced on June 11 that the government would release more political prisoners, the third such group offered clemency since President...

Mind molding psychedelic drugs could treat depression, and other mental illnesses

Written by David E. Olson, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine; Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis

By agsandrew/shutterstock.com

It seems that psychedelics do more than simply alter perception. According to the latest research from my colleagues and me, they change the structures of neurons themselves.

My research group has been studying the effects of psychedelics on neuronal structure and function, and we found that these compounds cause...

Could science diplomacy be the key to stabilizing international relations?

Written by Paul Arthur Berkman, Director of the Science Diplomacy Center and Professor of Practice in Science Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University

A different kind of international dialogue.Kyle Glenn on Unsplash, CC BY

It’s no secret that United States–Russia relations are currently rife with tension and mistrust. The news is full of reports of Russia meddling in U.S. elections, seeding U.S. media with fake news, supporting the Syrian regime and so on.

The relationship between...

Living with neighborhood violence may shape teens' brains

Written by Darby Saxbe, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Violence in communities may have an additional unseen victim: young peoples' developing brains.Zoran Karapancev/Shutterstock.com

Flinching as a gunshot whizzes past your window. Covering your ears when a police car races down your street, sirens blaring. Walking past a drug deal on your block or a beating at your school.

For kids living in...

Why religions of the world condemn suicide

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

A mourner reads a sympathy card left for Anthony Bourdain at a makeshift memorial in New York.AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

The recent suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef and writer Anthony Bourdain have reminded all of us that, even for the wealthy, life can become too painful to bear.

The sad truth is that suicide rates have been...

Can Facebook use AI to fight online abuse?

Written by Daniel Lowd, Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science, University of Oregon

It can be complicated to teach a computer to detect harassment and threats.Palto/Shutterstock.com

Facebook has released statistics on abusive behavior on its social media network, deleting more than 22 million posts for violating its rules against pornography and hate speech – and deleting or adding warnings about violence to another 3.5...

Iran's mild response to unprecedented truckers' strike could be due to Trump's influence

Written by Nader Habibi, Henry J. Leir Professor of Practice in Economics of the Middle East, Brandeis University

Demonstrators show their support for anti-government protests in Iran in front of the White House in January. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Last month, the Trump administration backed out of the 2015 deal his predecessor made with Iran that traded giving up nuclear ambitions for sanctions relief.

The U.S. is expected to soon tighten the screws...