The Conversation

Here's why colleges are being forced to close their doors - and what they can do to stay open

Written by Robert Massa, Adjunct Professor, Rossier School of Education, USC, University of Southern California

Marlboro College plans to close its Vermont campus after the 2019-2020 school year and move its programs to Emerson College in Boston.Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA

When Cincinnati Christian University became aware of its declining enrollment and dwindling tuition revenue in 2015, the university made a “series of bold bets” to stay...

Salad bars and water systems are easy targets for bioterrorists -- and America's monitoring system is woefully inadequate

Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University

Hospital workers wearing biohazard suits scrub down a man in a decontamination drill.AP Photo/Nati Harnik

In October 2019, a House Homeland Security Committee subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Defending the Homeland from Bioterrorism: Are We Prepared?” The answer was a resounding no.

The experts testified that our biodefense system...

Soft robots of the future may depend on new materials that conduct electricity, sense damage and self-heal

Written by Michael Ford, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Materials Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

Interactions between people and machines continue to increase.Tecnalia/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

Robots used to be restricted to heavy lifting or fine detail work in factories. Now Boston Dynamics’ nimble four-legged robot, Spot, is available for companies to lease to carry out various real-world jobs, a sign of just how common interactions between...

How Pete Buttigieg is reviving the pragmatic, progressive ideals of the Social Gospel movement

Written by David Mislin, Assistant Professor of Intellectual Heritage, Temple University

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg leads supporters on a march to the Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration event in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 1, 2019.AP Photo/Nati Harnik

Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign has attracted new attention since his aggressive performance in October’s Democratic primary debate.

O...

Inequality is higher in some states like New York and Louisiana because of corporate welfare

Written by Joshua Jansa, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University

New York's offer of incentives to Amazon to open a headquarters in the state faced significant opposition.AP Photo/Karen Matthews

Income inequality made big headlines recently, after the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is at its highest level in at least half a century.

Less reported...

How do we know when a species at risk has recovered? It's not just a matter of numbers

Written by H. Resit Akcakaya, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York)

Bison in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, N.D.Jay Gannett, CC BY-SA

Around the world, animals and plants are disappearing at alarming rates. In May 2019, a major U.N. report warned that around one million species were at risk of extinction – more than at any other time in human history.

Conservation scientists like me focus on predicting...

Mormons in Mexico: A brief history of polygamy, cartel violence and faith

Written by Rebecca Janzen, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

Bullet-riddled vehicles that members of the LeBaron family were traveling in sit parked on a dirt road near Bavispe, at the Sonora-Chihuahua border, Mexico, Nov 6, 2019.AP Photo/Christian Chavez

Nine members of a prominent Mormon family in northern Mexico, all women and children, were gunned down on Nov. 4 in territory whose control is disputed by...

Revenge porn is sexual violence, not millennial negligence

Written by Kristen Zaleski, Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi poses with Rep. Katie Hill and her husband, Kenny Heslep, in January 2019.AP Photo/Cliff Owen

U.S. Representative Katie Hill was the latest victim of a form of sexual abuse that’s become increasingly common: revenge porn.

Intimate photos of her were leaked to the media and published, without her consent, for the...

Peace advocates have long been found among veterans who fought in America's wars

Written by Michael Messner, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Veterans for Peace gather for a Veterans Day ceremony at the Minnesota State Capitol mall, Nov. 11, 2014, in St. Paul. AP/Jim Mone

If President Donald Trump had gotten his way, the nation would have celebrated the centennial of the World War I armistice last year on Nov. 11 with a massive military parade in Washington, D.C.

But that didn’t...

Making life-or-death decisions is very hard – here's how we've taught people to do it better

Written by Laurence Alison, Director of the Centre for Critical and Major Incident Psychology, University of Liverpool

When faced with a wildfire, responders must act quickly and decisively to save lives.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

When faced with a rapidly advancing fire threatening a community, it can be hard to know how best to save lives.

Is a rapid evacuation better, or is it safer for residents to stay where they are? The whole situation can change in an...