The Conversation

Can student loans be cleared through bankruptcy? 4 questions answered

Written by Brent Evans, Assistant Professor of Public Policy & Higher Education, Vanderbilt University

Proving that student loans are too hard to pay off is often a difficult burden to meet.Kameleon007

For decades, student loans have mostly been prohibited from being discharged through bankruptcy proceedings. That could change under the FRESH START through Bankruptcy Act. Here, public policy scholars Brent Evans and Matthew Patrick Shaw, both of...

Unverified reports of vaccine side effects in VAERS aren't the smoking guns portrayed by right-wing media outlets – they can offer insight into vaccine hesitancy

Written by Matt Motta, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State University

Studying trends in public adverse event reporting could help researchers address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.Pict Rider/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Chances are you may not be not familiar with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. Co-managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug...

What's a major donor? A fundraising expert explains

Written by Renee Irvin, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Management, University of Oregon

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark donates millions of dollars to journalism schools as well as other causes.Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation

Major donors are the people who give the most money to a specific nonprofit. The amount they must donate to attain that status varies, depending on the nonprofit’s budget.

If...

Why people feel guilty about using effort-saving products when taking care of loved ones

Written by Ximena Garcia-Rada, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M University

Does effort equal love?Cavan Images/Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

People who care for friends, children or other loved ones may avoid products and services that make caregiving easier – such as ready-made meals – because they believe that doing so undermines their ability to...

Presidents declare more disasters during reelection years – and the decisions come faster

Written by John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Heavy rains struck Middle Tennessee, causing flash floods that killed people and swept away homes and vehicles.AP Photo/John Amis

When torrential rains tore apart Middle Tennessee, Tropical Storm Fred hit the Gulf Coast and Henri hit the northeastern U.S. all in one week of August 2021, the scope of the deaths, injuries and damage quickly...

I studied people who think leisure is a waste of time – here's what I found

Written by Selin Malkoc, Associate Professor of Marketing, The Ohio State University

Some cultures champion rest more than others.Bettmann via Getty Images

When I first took my now-husband to Turkey, I tried to prepare myself for anything that could go wrong – delayed flights, language difficulties, digestion issues.

But I wasn’t ready when, as we walked into a beautiful beach club on the Aegean coast, he grumbled,...

How Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts infused one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands with a little jazz

Written by Victor Coelho, Professor of Music, Boston University

Charlie Watts – a humble drummer behind a humble kit.Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In an era when rock drummers were larger-than-life showmen with big kits and egos to match, Charlie Watts remained the quiet man behind a modest drum set. But Watts wasn’t your typical rock drummer.

Part of the Rolling Stones setup from 1963...

COVID-19 has spurred investments in air filtration for K-12 schools – but these technologies aren't an instant fix

Written by Mark Thomas Hernandez, S. J. Archuleta Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Low-cost air-ventilation systems have been installed in many classrooms across the U.S. to help reduce COVID-19 transmission.Halfpoint Images/Moment via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased attention to indoor air quality and the effect that ventilation has on reducing disease transmission in indoor spaces. A recent...

ANZUS at 70: Together for decades, US, Australia, New Zealand now face different challenges from China

Written by Patricia A. O'Brien, Visiting Fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University

The U.S., Australia and New Zealand have been friends, partners and allies for decades.New York National Guard via Flickr

Seventy years after the U.S., Australia and New Zealand signed a treaty committing them to defend one another and work together to ensure a peaceful Pacific, the alliance has assumed new and crucial relevance as all three...

Safety net policies are helping reduce the number of Americans below the poverty line – but that's not the whole story

Written by Elena Delavega, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Memphis

Food insecurity appears to have grown in 2020 despite the decline in poverty.Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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The share of Americans living in poverty shrank to an estimated 9.2% in 2020, according to the Urban Institute, a think tank that closely tracks this rate with a widely used model. There were 29.3 million Americans living below the...