The Conversation

No aumenta el uso del español en EEUU, a pesar del miedo político sobre la inmigración

Written by Phillip M Carter, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Florida International University

Subyacente en el acalorado debate sobre la inmigración en Estados Unidos acecha una preocupación a menudo tácita: el lenguaje. Específicamente, si la inmigración de los países de habla hispana podría o no amenazar el dominio del idioma inglés.

Desde hace tiempo, el lenguaje y la...

How the Mormon church's past shapes its position on immigration today

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

Brigham Young and other men are shown preparing women in dresses for war.Harper's Weekly, volume v. 1, November 28, 1857, p. 768. Scan from BX8609.A1a#466, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee library, Brigham Young University.

On July 24, 1847, Brigham Young and 146 other Mormon pioneers made their way into the Salt Lake Valley. They...

As emerging economies bring their citizens online, global trust in internet media is changing

Written by Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business, The Fletcher School, Tufts University

Digital technology was dreamed of as the ultimate connector and leveler, the ideal destroyer of borders and boundaries. The digital community that assembled itself around this summer’s FIFA World Cup shows one example of a true global village, in which people share the same obsessions on the digital planet. That’s a significant...

As New York looks into whether the Trump Foundation broke the law, criminal charges remain unlikely

Written by Daniel Hemel, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Chicago

A demonstrator in New York demanding that President Donald Trump's tax returns be made publicAP Photo/Mary Altaffer

New York authorities have opened an investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation to determine whether the president or his charity broke state tax laws.

The state tax probe is just the latest example of the legal trouble the...

The Federal Reserve needs to remain independent of the whims of politicians

Written by Sheila Tschinkel, Visiting Faculty in Economics, Emory University

President Donald Trump recently attacked the Federal Reserve’s policy of gradually raising interest rates, breaking with decades of precedent respecting the U.S. central bank’s independence.

This isn’t the first time the Fed’s cherished independence has been threatened. Some conservative lawmakers have been arguing for...

Putin the hero

Written by Brian Taylor, Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

After U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented performance at a press conference with Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki Summit on July 16, Trump was criticized across the political spectrum for apparently siding with Putin rather than the U.S. intelligence community about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Multiple Republican senators...

Israel’s new nation-state law restates the obvious

Written by Dov Waxman, Professor of Political Science, International Affairs and Israel Studies, Northeastern University

Iraeli Arab Knesset member Jamal Zahalka is removed after protesting the bill's passageAP/Olivier Fitoussi

Early last Thursday, July 19, while most Israelis were sleeping, Israel’s right-wing coalition government narrowly passed a highly controversial law that had been years in the making.

The so-called “nation-state law” legally...

Why do paper cuts hurt so much?

Written by Gabriel Neal, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Texas A&M University

A boy with a paper cut.Suzanne Tucker/Shutterstock.com

Consider, for a moment, the paper cut. It happens suddenly and entirely unexpectedly, usually just as you are finally getting somewhere on that task you had been putting off.

Recall your sense of relief to finish that thank-you note to your aunt for the lovely sweater she sent you three months...

What is behind belief in weeping Virgin Mary statues

Written by Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross

In 2014, in, a small town in northern Israel, Christian worshippers gathered next to a statue of the Virgin Mary, that they said 'weeps' oil.AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

In a Catholic parish in Hobbs, New Mexico, a statue of the Virgin Mary has been “weeping.”

Onlookers have gathered out of curiosity, and also for prayer and healing. The...

A brief history of ketchup

Written by Ken Albala, Professor of History, University of the Pacific

Heinz is why ketchup seemed to become distinctly American.Reuters/Mike Blake

Trade wars have an interesting way of revealing cultural stereotypes.

Countries often propose tariffs not on the most valuable items in their trading relationships – since that would be painful to them as well – but rather products iconic of national...