The Conversation

Costa Rica looks a little less exceptional after its heated election

Written by Rachel E. Bowen, Associate Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State University

Progressive values won in Costa Rica -- for now, at least.AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco

Carlos Alvarado Quesada has won the Costa Rican presidency with 61 percent of the vote, an overwhelming victory for a progressive candidate who entered election day in a dead heat with his conservative rival.

Alvarado Quesada, a 38-year-old former labor minister under...

Statesman, strongman, philosopher, autocrat: China's Xi is a man who contains multitudes

Written by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of Chinese and World History, University of California, Irvine

Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way to take the oath of office on March 17, 2018 after being formally re-elected to a second term, with no limit on the number of terms he can serve. AP Photo/Andy Wong

What kind of leader is Xi Jinping, who became general secretary of China’s Communist Party in November 2012 and China’s president in...

Trump's military policy overlooks data on why transgender troops are fit to serve

Written by Brandon Hill, Executive Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health, University of Chicago

Transgender U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer Sims lifts her uniform. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

The Trump administration released a memorandum on March 23 that imposes limits on transgender troops and excludes transgender people from enlistment in the U.S. military.

The policy states that individuals with a history of “gender dysphoria” are now...

Why prime numbers still fascinate mathematicians, 2,300 years later

Written by Martin H. Weissman, Associate Professor of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Cruz

Primes still have the power to surprise. Chris-LiveLoveClick/shutterstock.com

On March 20, American-Canadian mathematician Robert Langlands received the Abel Prize, celebrating lifetime achievement in mathematics. Langlands’ research demonstrated how concepts from geometry, algebra and analysis could be brought together by a common link to...

Fabiano Caruana is poised to do what no American has done since Bobby Fischer. Here's the path he took to get there

Written by Daaim Shabazz, Associate Professor of International Business, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

U.S. chess grandmaster Fabiano Caruana is set to vie for the world title.Soeren Stache/dpa via AP

Whenever a glimmer of chess talent is spotted in the United States, people often ask: “Is this the next Bobby Fischer?”

In the early 2000s, a diminutive, bespectacled young boy – who by age 9 was already battling seasoned competitors...

Colleges must confront sexual assault and sexual harassment head on

Written by Tricia Serio, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Sexual assault and harassment are prevalent at U.S. colleges and universities.Jason Salmon from www.shutterstock.com

In the past month the National Science Foundation and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators both introduced measures that would require higher education leaders to review and report cases of sexual assault and harassment on their...

FDR's forest army: How the New Deal helped seed the modern environmental movement 85 years ago

Written by Benjamin Alexander, Lecturer in social science, New York City College of Technology, City University of New York

Bridge built by CCC workers, Shady Lake Recreation Area, Arkansas.Jerry Turner, CC BY-SA

Eighty-five years ago, on April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order allocating US$10 million for “Emergency Conservation Work.” This step launched one of the New Deal’s signature relief programs: the Civilian...

MLK's vision matters today for the 43 million Americans living in poverty

Written by Joshua F.J. Inwood, Associate Professor of Geography Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. displays the poster to be used during his Poor People's Campaign in 1968.AP Photo/Horace Cort

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, while fighting for a 10-cent wage increase for garbage workers. These efforts by King were part of a broader and more sustained initiative known as the Poor...

'Oklahoma!' at 75: Has the musical withstood the test of time?

Written by Ryan Raul Bañagale, Crown Family Professor for Innovation in the Arts, Colorado College

After opening in 1943, “Oklahoma!” was an instant hit and had a run of over 2,000 performances.Charles Lucas/AP Photo

Musicals have long depicted utopian worlds, offering an escape for audiences, if only for a few hours. When Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” premiered in March 1943, the musical was a...

Martin Luther King Jr. had a much more radical message than a dream of racial brotherhood

Written by Paul Harvey, Professor of American History, University of Colorado

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.AP Photo

Martin Luther King Jr. has come to be revered as a hero who led a nonviolent struggle to reform and redeem the United States. His birthday is celebrated as a national holiday. Tributes are paid to him on his death...