The Conversation

Diversity is on the rise in urban and rural communities, and it's here to stay

Written by Jennifer Van Hook, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Sociology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University

Schoolchildren play on a New York subway.AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Racial and ethnic diversity is no longer confined to big cities and the east and west coasts of the United States.

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, racially and ethnically diverse metropolitan areas were more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Whiter metro and rural areas...

How social media stars are fighting for the Left

Written by David Craig, Fellow at the Peabody Media Center and Clinical Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

Tyler Oakley speaking in California.Gage Skidmore/flickr, CC BY-SA

In the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. elections, numerous accounts surfaced of nefarious content creators profiting by posting fake content on social media. The most successful engaged in “anti-Clinton fervor,” promoted Donald Trump’s candidacy and spread right wing...

How governments and companies can prevent the next insider attack

Written by Matthew Bunn, Professor of Practice, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

An insider can bypass many layers of security. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Now that they are in office, President Donald Trump and his team must protect the nation from many threats – including from insiders. Insider threats could take many forms, such as the next Edward Snowden, who leaked hundreds of thousands of secret documents to the...

Building privacy right into software code

Written by Jean Yang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Putting privacy right in the code.Keyhole image via shutterstock.com

When I was 15, my parents did not allow me to use AOL Instant Messenger. All of my friends used it, so I had to find a way around this rule. I would be found out if I installed the software on my computer, so I used the web browser version instead. Savvy enough to delete my...

Inmates are excluded from Medicaid – here's why it makes sense to change that

Written by Tyler Winkelman, RWJF Clinical Scholar and Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan

Inmates wait to enter an assigned cell block at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

The incarcerated population in federal and state prisons has risen from about 200,000 to over 1.5 million since Medicaid was passed in 1965. That is a 650 percent increase.

However, individuals are ineligible for...

Can Trump resist the power of behavioral science's dark side?

Written by Jon M Jachimowicz, PhD Student in Management, Columbia University

In the wrong hands, 'nudges' can be used in nefarious ways.Marionette strings via www.shutterstock.com

More than two dozen governments, including the U.S., now have a team of behavioral scientists tasked with trying to improve bureaucratic efficiency to “nudge” their citizens toward what they deem to be higher levels of well-being.

A...

Is your smartphone making you shy?

Written by Joe Moran, Professor of English and Cultural History, Liverpool John Moores University

Does technology shackle us, preventing us from interacting with real people?'Chain' via www.shutterstock

During the three years I’ve spent researching and writing about shyness, one of the most common questions people ask is about the relationship between shyness and technology.

Are the internet and the cellphone causing our social skills to...

Where is 'rural America,' and what does it look like?

Written by Kenneth Johnson, Professor of Sociology and Senior Demographer, University of New Hampshire

The view from Wyoming County, Pennsylvania.Cropped from nicholas_t/flickr, CC BY

Rural people and issues generally receive little attention from the urban-centric media and policy elites. Yet, rural America makes unique contributions to the nation’s character and culture as well as provides most of its food, raw materials, drinking water and...

How much does the Johnson Amendment curtail church freedom?

Written by Elizabeth Schmidt, Professor of Practice, Nonprofit Organizations; Social & Environmental Enterprises, University of Massachusetts Amherst

On National Prayer Breakfast day in early February, President Donald Trump repeated a pledge he had made several times on the campaign trail that echoed the 2016 Republican Party Platform:

“I will get rid of, and totally destroy, the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of...

More lessons from Dolly the sheep: Is a clone really born at age zero?

Written by Jose Cibelli, Scientific Director LARCEL-BIONAND, Spain and Professor of Animal Biotechnology, Michigan State University

More Dollies, cloned from the same cell line.Courtesy of Kevin Sinclair, University of Nottingham, CC BY-ND

In 1997 Dolly the sheep was introduced to the world by biologists Keith Campbell, Ian Wilmut and colleagues. Not just any lamb, Dolly was a clone. Rather than being made from a sperm and an egg, she originated from a mammary gland cell of...