The Conversation

30 years ago global warming became front-page news – and both Republicans and Democrats took it seriously

Written by Robert Brulle, Professor of Sociology, Drexel University

James Hansen testified to Congress in 1988 that warming was caused by pollution and that 'it is time to stop waffling so much.' AP Photo/Dennis Cook

June 23, 1988 marked the date on which climate change became a national issue. In landmark testimony before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Dr. James Hansen, then director of...

More mental health care alone will not stop gun violence

Written by Jonathan Spiegler, PhD Student in Political Science, Michigan State University

Gun safety advocates hold signs during a rally to honor victims of gun violence on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, 2013.AP/Brennan Linsley

Gun violence remains a highly controversial issue in the wake of school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and other communities. At such times, politicians seem compelled to offer the public...

What it means to be a Christian in America today

Written by Matthew Bowman, Associate Professor of History, Henderson State University

Young people hold hands for a prayer during a gathering at sunset outside the Christian Fellowship Church in Benton, Kentucky.AP Photo/David Goldman

President Donald Trump spoke recently to the Campaign for Life Gala, an annual Washington gathering of activists opposed to abortion. There he declared that Americans depend upon divine protection to...

Schools must equip students to navigate alt-right websites that push fake news

Written by Jennifer Rich, Assistant Professor, Rowan University

Middle and high school students turn to alt-right websites for their research papers.Steve Heap/www.shutterstock.com

More than 60 percent of America’s middle and high school students rely on alt-right internet sites as credible sources for their research papers. The students are using alt-right sites to write papers on topics that range from...

Opiate addiction and the history of pain and race in the US

Written by Joseph M. Gabriel, Associate Professor of History and Social Medicine, Florida State University

Pain of the sick: 'Anatomy of Expression,' by Sir Charles Bell, 1806.Wellcome Collection, CC BY

“I have had little or no sleep, owing to the tooth ache or rather stump ache,” Elizabeth Drinker wrote in her diary one night in 1796. “One of my Eye teeth very sore, my face much swelled and painful.”

Drinker, a white woman from...

Colombia elects a conservative who promises to 'correct' its peace accord

Written by Fabio Andres Diaz, Researcher on Conflict, Peace and Development, International Institute of Social Studies

In the most peaceful election in its modern history, Colombia has elected as its next president a conservative who has promised to “correct” the country’s tenuous 2016 peace deal.

Iván Duque, of the Democratic Center party, won election on June 17 with 54 percent of the votes amid record high turnout. Duque opposes...

Nicaraguans try to topple a dictator — again

Written by Benjamin Waddell, Assistant Professor of International Studies, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas

Nicaragua, which overthrew its last violent dictator in 1979, is the only Latin American country since Cuba to stage a successful revolution. AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga

After months of near-constant protest in Nicaragua, at least 215 people are dead, 1,000 are injured, and President Daniel Ortega – an authoritarian leader who once seemed...

The Bible's message on separating immigrant children from parents is a lot different from what Jeff Sessions thinks

Written by Bharat Ranganathan, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Notre Dame

Jeff Sessions is citing the Bible in defending the Trump administration’s immigration policy.AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

In a speech to law enforcement officers on June 14, Attorney General Jeff Sessions cited biblical scripture Romans 13 to claim support for zero tolerance immigration policies, including the Trump administration’s...

Astronaut Sally K. Ride's legacy – encouraging young women to embrace science and engineering

Written by Bonnie J. Dunbar, NASA astronaut (Ret) and TEES Distinguished Research Professor, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University

Mission specialist Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

On June 18, 1983, 35 years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman to launch into space, riding the Space Shuttle STS-7 flight with four other crew members. Only five years earlier, in 1978, she had been selected to the first...

What 40 years of 'Space Invaders' says about the 1970s – and today

Written by Lindsay Grace, Associate Professor of Communication; Director, American University Game Lab and Studio, American University School of Communication

The iconic shooting game in its original stand-up arcade form.Jordiferrer, CC BY-SA

The “Space Invaders” arcade video game, celebrating its 40th anniversary, is an iconic piece of software, credited as one of the earliest digital shooting games. Like many early games, it and its surrounding myths showcase the cultural collisions and...