The Conversation

It's naive to think college athletes have time for school

Written by Jasmine Harris, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ursinus College

The demands of college sports often take precedence over education.Don Feria/AP

From my first day as a sociology professor at a university with a Division I football and men’s basketball team, education and athletics struck me as being inherently at odds.

Student-athletes filled my courses to take advantage of the fact that the classes met ear...

Nobel award recognizes how economic forces can fight climate change

Written by Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor at the Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan

William Nordhaus argues markets can help curb climate change.AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Yale economist William Nordhaus has devoted his life’s work to understanding the costs of climate change and advocating the use of a carbon tax to curb global warming.

It’s no small irony, then, that on the same day his research shared in the Nobel...

An Indonesian city’s destruction reverberates across Sulawesi

Written by Jennifer Nourse, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Richmond

A bridge in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, was destroyed in the recent earthquake and tsunami.AP Photo/Aaron Favila

I’ve been visiting the city of Palu in Central Sulawesi, a province in Indonesia, for the past 38 years as part of my anthropological fieldwork.

So it was particularly harrowing for me to read about the 7.7 magnitude...

Why we can't reverse climate change with 'negative emissions' technologies

Written by Howard J. Herzog, Senior Research Engineer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Without rapid and dramatic changes, the world will face a higher risk of extreme weather and other effects of climate change.AP Photo/Mike Groll

In a much-anticipated report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the world will need to take dramatic and drastic steps to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.

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Justice Kavanaugh is a threat to Roe v. Wade – but not the only one

Written by B. Jessie Hill, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Judge Ben C. Green Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University

President Donald Trump with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his swearing in. AP Photo/Susan Walsh

With the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, some are wondering: Will Roe v. Wade, the landmark case recognizing a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy, continue to be the law of the land?

Kavanaugh...

Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome

Written by David Pride, Associate Director of Microbiology, University of California San Diego

Every surface of our body -- inside and out -- is covered in microorganisms: bacteria, viruses, fungi and many other microscopic life forms.vrx/Shutterstock.com

If you think you don’t have viruses, think again.

It may be hard to fathom, but the human body is occupied by large collections of microorganisms, commonly referred to as our...

Breast cancer survivors, who lose muscle mass, can benefit from strength training, studies suggest

Written by Lynn Panton, Professor, Exercise Sciences, Florida State University

Breast cancer is more survivable than ever. Strength training is a key to helping women survive well. wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

Breast cancer research has resulted in treatment that has greatly improved survival rates. As a result, there are 3.1 million breast cancer survivors alive in the United States today. The five-year survival rate is...

The Catholic Church's grim history of ignoring priestly pedophilia – and silencing would-be whistleblowers

Written by Brian Clites, Instructor and Associate Director, Case Western Reserve University

Widespread public shock followed the recent release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that identified more than 1,000 child victims of clergy sexual abuse. In fact, as I know through my research, the Vatican and its American bishops have known about the problem of priestly pedophilia since at least the 1950s. And the Church has consistently...

Statistics and data science degrees: Overhyped or the real deal?

Written by P. Richard Hahn, Associate Professor of Statistics, Arizona State University

Charting a path to success.everything possible/shutterstock.com

“Data science” is hot right now. The number of undergraduate degrees in statistics has tripled in the past decade, and as a statistics professor, I can tell you that it isn’t because freshmen love statistics.

Way back in 2009, economist Hal Varian of Google dubbed...

'Disillusioned' Brazilians choose Bolsonaro, Haddad after a tense and violent campaign

Written by Helder Ferreira do Vale, Associate Professor, Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

After a tense, violent and polarized campaign, Brazilians have voted to advance two candidates from opposite sides of the ideological spectrum to a presidential runoff on Oct. 28.

Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right congressman who enjoys strong evangelical backing for his law-and-order stance on policing, support for gun rights and opposition to abortion,...