The Conversation

What Trump’s picks for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – like Rush Limbaugh and Antonin Scalia – say about him

Written by E. Fletcher McClellan, Professor of Political Science, Elizabethtown College

Rush Limbaugh reacts as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

President Donald Trump awarded his 15th Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh on Feb. 4.

This award was notable for two reasons. First, it was controversial because Limbaugh is a polarizing...

Deported to death: US sent 138 Salvadorans home to be killed

Written by Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College

Street gangs that operate with impunity make El Salvador one of the world's most violent countries. Few murders are ever solved.MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images

At least 138 people deported from the United States to El Salvador since 2013 have been killed, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch, which investigates human rights abuses...

The 6 countries in Trump's new travel ban pose little threat to US national security

Written by Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The new ban applies to citizens of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania.Ingus Kruklitis/Shutterstock.com

Over the past two decades, how many people have been killed in the U.S. by extremists from the six countries on the Trump administration’s new travel ban list?

The answer is zero, according to data I have collected from...

The secret to the success of two Oscar-nominated scores

Written by Michael Slowik, Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Wesleyan University

Randy Newman and Hildur Guðnadóttir have been nominated for their scores for 'Marriage Story' and 'Joker,' respectively.Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, Hildur Guðnadóttir: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards an Oscar to the film with the best original score.

The best...

Sanders called JPMorgan's CEO America's 'biggest corporate socialist' – here's why he has a point

Written by Paul Adler, Professor of Management and Organization, Sociology and Environmental Studies, University of Southern California

JPMorgan's Dimon, center, recently criticized socialism.AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari

Sen. Bernie Sanders called JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon the “biggest corporate socialist in America today” in a recent ad.

He may have a point – beyond what he intended.

With his Dimon ad, Sanders is referring specifically to the bailouts JPMorgan...

Violence and other forms of abuse against teachers: 5 questions answered

Written by Eric M. Anderman, Professor of Educational Psychology and Quantitative Research, Evaluation, and Measurement, The Ohio State University

Teachers can suffer abuse on the job.Krakenimages.com/Shutterstock.com

Concerns about violence and other forms of abuse in schools typically emphasize the safety of students. But teachers and other school staff also suffer acts of violence and abuse. A group of scholars on a task force organized by the American Psychological Association studying viol...

Soil carbon is a valuable resource, but all soil carbon is not created equal

Written by Jocelyn Lavallee, Research Scientist, Colorado State University

Planting cover crops, like this red clover in Sussex County, Delaware, can help return carbon to farm fields.Michele Dorsey Walfred/Flickr, CC BY

Human society is literally built on soil. It feeds the world and produces vital fuel and fiber. But most people rarely give soil a second thought.

Recently, though, soil has been getting some well-deserved...

What's a church? That can depend on the eye of the beholder or paperwork filed with the IRS

Written by Samuel Brunson, Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago

This might be a church. Or not.Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

In 2016, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association told the Internal Revenue Service that it no longer wanted to be treated merely as a tax-exempt religious organization, free from the obligation to pay taxes on its income. Instead, the association – a Charlotte, North...

Re-creating live-animal markets in the lab lets researchers see how pathogens like coronavirus jump species

Written by Richard Bowen, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University

Places where lots of animals come into contact can help pathogens move from species to species.Baloncici/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Nobody yet knows for sure the definitive origins of the newly recognized coronavirus now known as 2019-nCoV that’s currently spreading across the globe as a human respiratory pathogen. Early reports indicate...

Fighting coronavirus fear with empathy: Lessons learned from how Africans got blamed for Ebola

Written by Kevin J.A. Thomas, Professor of Sociology, Demography, and African Studies, Pennsylvania State University

Decontee Sawyer, wife of Liberian government official Patrick Sawyer, a naturalized American who died from Ebola after traveling from Liberia to Nigeria, on July 29, 2014.AP Photo/Craig Lassig

With coronavirus cases exploding in China, the U.S. is once again responding to a global epidemic. Five years ago, when the Ebola virus infected more than...