The Conversation

Going online due to COVID-19 this fall could hurt colleges' future

Written by Christopher Newfield, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara

California State University schools have ruled out in-person classes for this fall.FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

When the California State University system decided to conduct all of its classes online this coming fall, administrators said it was to avoid the health risks associated with COVID-19. Many other colleges are making similar...

Globalization really started 1,000 years ago

Written by Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, Yale University

'The Meeting of Two Worlds,' a sculpture at L'Anse aux Meadows, commemorates the meeting of Vikings and Native Americans around the year 1000.D. Gordon E. Robertson/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Viking ships touched down on the Canadian island of Newfoundland around the year 1000, at what is now the archaeological site known as L'Anse aux Meadows.

For...

Globalization really started 1,000 years ago

Written by Valerie Hansen, Professor of History, Yale University

'The Meeting of Two Worlds,' a sculpture at L'Anse aux Meadows, commemorates the meeting of Vikings and Native Americans around the year 1000.D. Gordon E. Robertson/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Viking ships touched down on the Canadian island of Newfoundland around the year 1000, at what is now the archaeological site known as L'Anse aux Meadows.

For...

State prosecutors and voters – not the feds – can hold corrupt officials accountable

Written by Stanley M. Brand, Distinguished Fellow in Law and Government, Pennsylvania State University

Bridget Kelly, one of two aides to Gov. Chris Christie whose convictions in the Bridgegate scandal were reversed. Kena Betancur/Getty Images

Two high-ranking officials with ties to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie hatched a plot in 2013 to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, a town adjacent to the George Washington Bridge – the...

First space tourists will face big risks, as private companies gear up for paid suborbital flights

Written by Sara M. Langston, Assistant Professor of Spaceflight Operations, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Ready to take your suborbital selfie?EvgeniyShkolenko

On May 30, 2020, millions of Americans watched the inaugural SpaceX Crew Dragon launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. This mission marked two significant events: First, the return of launch to orbit capability for human spaceflight from the United States. Secondly, it success...

Life on welfare isn't what most people think it is

Written by Tom Mould, Professor of Anthropology and Folklore, Butler University

Public assistance programs are intended to help people up – but that's not always how recipients experience the aid.Ascent/PKS Media Inc./Getty

When Americans talk about people receiving public assistance – food stamps, disability, unemployment payments and other government help – they often have stereotypes and inaccurate...

City compost programs turn garbage into 'black gold' that boosts food security and social justice

Written by Kristen DeAngelis, Associate Professor of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Compost awaiting distribution at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District's Rancho Las Virgenes compost facility, Calabasas, Calif.Brian Vander Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Almost overnight, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many Americans’ relationships with food. To relieve some of the stress associated with shopping safely...

COVID-19 is deadlier for black Brazilians, a legacy of structural racism that dates back to slavery

Written by Kia Lilly Caldwell, Professor, African, African American, and Diaspora Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Protesters in São Paulo declare 'Black Lives Matter' at a June 7 protest spurred by both U.S. anti-racist protests and the coronavirus's heavy toll on black Brazilians. Marcello Zambrana/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The United States and Brazil have much in common when it comes to the coronavirus.

Both are among the world’s hardest-h...

How the Federal Reserve literally makes money

Written by William J. Luther, Assistant Professor of Economics, Florida Atlantic University

The Fed is 'making' a lot of money. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Federal Reserve has vowed to provide up to US$2.3 trillion in lending to support households, employers, financial markets and state and local governments struggling as a result of the coronavirus and corresponding stay-at-home orders.

Let that number sink in: $2,300,000,000,000.

I have...

Why some nursing homes are better than others at protecting residents and staff from COVID-19

Written by Anna Amirkhanyan, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University School of Public Affairs

Life Care Center in Washington state was at the center of the U.S. outbreak back in early March. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, CC BY

The coronavirus pandemic has posed a serious threat to the U.S. long-term care industry. A third of all deaths have been nursing home residents or workers – in some states it’s more than half.

Yet some long-term...