The Conversation

What is sex really for?

Written by Richard Gunderman, Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University

For millennia, theologians taught that the sole purpose of sex was reproductive. Now, almost everyone agrees that sex has many purposes -- and benefits.Dean Drobot/Shutterstock.com

Few topics arouse as much interest and controversy as sex. This is hardly surprising. The biological continuance of the species hinges on it – if human beings...

Deportation to Syria could mean death for women, children and LGBTQ refugees in Turkey

Written by Deina Abdelkader, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Refugees awaiting municipal bread distribution in Akcakale, Turkey, Oct. 20, 2019. Three-quarters of the Syrian refugees in Turkey are women and children. AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t limiting his assault on neighboring Syria to attacking Kurdish troops that run the country’s northern region. He...

If you’re using 'millennial' as a meaningful measurement, you should probably stop

Written by Joseph Cabosky, Assistant Professor of Public Relations, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Does your mental image of a millennial align with reality?Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com

What value does the word “millennial” actually have?

Americans have heard the term ad nauseum by now. In politics, public relations or marketing, it’s a buzzword.

But millennial doesn’t hold nearly as much meaning as Americans pretend it...

Voting could be the problem with democracy

Written by Bernd Reiter, Professor of Political Science, University of South Florida

Is the voting booth a stumbling block?AP Photo/John Minchillo

Around the globe, citizens of many democracies are worried that their governments are not doing what the people want.

When voters pick representatives to engage in democracy, they hope they are picking people who will understand and respond to constituents’ needs. U.S....

Have we become too paranoid about mass shootings?

Written by Jaclyn Schildkraut, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, State University of New York Oswego

A big discrepancy exists between the actual threat of mass shootings and the way the public perceives that threat.Tatiana Akhmetgalieva/Shutterstock.com

Many Americans worry about when – not if – another mass shooting will occur, and a Gallup poll from September found that nearly half of Americans fear being a victim of one of these...

Even when they aren't fired for being pregnant or gay, teachers face strict moral demands

Written by Kyle Greenwalt, Associate Professor, Michigan State University

Chances are she could be fired for 'moral turpitude.'ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com

Pregnant teachers in classrooms are routine these days. But the law didn’t always protect expectant women in any workplace.

As part of her stump speech, Sen. Elizabeth Warren tells a story about being fired from her job as a speech pathologist for special...

New evidence that an extraterrestrial collision 12,800 years ago triggered an abrupt climate change for Earth

Written by Christopher R. Moore, Archaeologist and Special Projects Director at the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program and South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina

The muck that's been accumulating at the bottom of this lake for 20,000 years is like a climate time capsule.Christopher R. Moore, CC BY-ND

What kicked off the Earth’s rapid cooling 12,800 years ago?

In the space of just a couple of years, average temperatures abruptly dropped, resulting in temperatures as much as 14 degrees Fahrenheit cooler...

Wildfire rebuilding: Taxes are better than bans for keeping homeowners from rebuilding in fire-plagued areas

Written by Alexander Smith, Associate Professor of Economics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Almost 200,000 Californians have been ordered to evacuate as ferocious winds drove several wildfires near Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere. Many fear they may yet again return to a home ravaged by fire.

For Californians in fire-prone areas, this has been a perennial cycle. As a result, a growing number of residents in the state want to ban...

Bans on rebuilding in disaster-prone areas ignore homeowners preferences – raising costs works better

Written by Alexander Smith, Associate Professor of Economics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

A Granada Hills, Calif., resident tries to save his home from a recent fire. AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker

As California’s wildfire season intensifies, a growing number of residents in the state want to ban people from building in areas at greatest risk.

That’s because taxpayers bear the burden of protecting homes in dangerous areas when...

Cities with more black residents rely more on traffic tickets and fines for revenue

Written by Akheil Singla, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University

How much does your city make from traffic tickets and other fines?vchal/Shutterstock.com

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the last time I got a speeding ticket. It was nearly a decade ago and it’s a pretty unremarkable story: I was on my way back to Columbus, Ohio, from a friend’s wedding and was going something like 15 mph...