The Conversation

College men more likely to seek grade changes than college women

Written by Cher Li, Assistant Professor of Economics, Colorado State University

If you don't ask for a higher grade you won't get one.ONOKY-Eric Audras/Getty Images

“Professor, my final grade in your class is a C. Is there anything I can do to get a B-minus?”

In my job as a college professor, I typically got one or two such requests from male students at the end of each semester. However, only one female student...

Why some of the best-known tunes, like 'Happy Birthday,' are the hardest to sing

Written by Bryan Nichols, Assistant Professor of Music, Pennsylvania State University

If the range of a song is good for you, you're much more likely to enjoy and find ease in singing it.Image Source/Getty Images

Some friends and I recently went to karaoke. You can likely picture the scene: a restaurant adjacent to a bowling alley with a cheerful crowd and enthusiastic DJ aiming lights at a small stage. We sang a popular duet, Lady...

Goldman Sachs' push for board diversity doesn't go far enough

Written by Christy Glass, Professor of Sociology, Utah State University

U.S. corporate boards still lack women.Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com

Several European countries – including Norway, Germany, Finland, France and Spain – have introduced quotas for women on company boards.

Other countries have introduced voluntary targets and imposed penalties for failing to appoint women directors. And this year, public...

Indian women protest new citizenship laws, joining a global 'fourth wave' feminist movement

Written by Alka Kurian, Senior Lecturer, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Bothell

Women in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh neighborhood are protesting a new Indian citizenship law that they say will discriminate against Muslims, women – and, particularly, Muslim women.Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Women are among the strongest opponents of two new laws in India that threaten the citizenship rights of vulnerable groups...

Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don't fail

Written by Christopher Sergeant, Research Scientist, Flathead Lake Biological Station, The University of Montana

The January 2019 collapse of a dam in Brumadinho, Brazil, sent mining tailings and mud over the landscape for miles, destroying this bridge and killing 300 people. Andre Penner/AP

Scars from large mining operations are permanently etched across the landscapes of the world. The environmental damage and human health hazards that these activities...

Blacks are at higher risk for Alzheimer's, but why?

Written by Renã A.S. Robinson, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University

Blacks have twice the incidence rates for Alzheimer's as whites.Getty Images / Science Photo Library

Blacks are at higher risk for several health conditions in the U.S. This is true for heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and stroke, which are often chronic diseases. And it is also for Alzheimer’s disease, in which blacks have two...

Albania's plan against disinformation lets Facebook and powerful politicians off the hook

Written by Elidor Mehilli, Associate Professor of History, Hunter College

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama uses social media as a way to reach constituents directly.Zhang Liyun/Xinhua via Getty

A new set of laws in Albania empowers a government agency to review citizen complaints about online news websites. If a site is found to have published untrue information, official regulators can fine the site’s owners and...

Trump White House goes 300+ days without a press briefing – why that's unprecedented

Written by Charles Bierbauer, Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus, University of South Carolina

The White House logo is displayed in the press briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 31, 2020. Getty/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

Journalists learn to adapt to current conditions, be they storms or tantrums, vagaries of nature or whims of officials. White House correspondents these days should be well past their withdrawal...

By filing for bankruptcy, the Boy Scouts may compensate more survivors of sexual abuse

Written by Pamela Foohey, Associate Professor of Law, Indiana University

Thousands of Americans, including James Kretschmer, say they experienced sexual abuse as Boy Scouts.AP Photo/David J. Phillip

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy to figure out how to fairly compensate thousands of survivors of alleged sexual abuse who accuse the Scouts of neglecting to protect them.

Revelations regarding decades of...

The ancient Greeks had alternative facts too – they were just more chill about it

Written by Joel Christensen, Associate Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University

Understandings of truth may be found in the Muses' words.Jacopo Tintoretto's The Muses/Wikpedia

In an age of deepfakes and alternative facts, it can be tricky getting at the truth. But persuading others – or even yourself – what is true is not a challenge unique to the modern era. Even the ancient Greeks had to confront different...