The Conversation

Why corporate climate pledges of ‘net-zero’ emissions should trigger a healthy dose of skepticism

Written by Oliver Miltenberger, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Economics, The University of Melbourne

Some companies' net-zero plans include continuing to emit climate-warming greenhouse gases for decades.Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Hundreds of companies, including major emitters like United Airlines, BP and Shell, have pledged to reduce their impact on climate change and reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. These plans sound ambitious,...

Culture matters a lot in successfully managing a pandemic - and many countries that did well had one thing in common

Written by Leah Cathryn Windsor, Research Assistant Professor, University of Memphis

Leaders can make rules in a pandemic, but it takes everyone's compliance for them to work.Ada daSilva via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Culture matters more than a leader’s gender in how a nation survives a global pandemic, according to a study I conducted on gender and COVID-19...

Why you should get a COVID-19 vaccine – even if you've already had the coronavirus

Written by Jennifer T. Grier, Clinical Assistant Professor of Immunology,, University of South Carolina

Vaccination produces a much stronger and more consistent immune response than infection. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

A few weeks ago, a message popped up in the corner of my screen. “What do you think about people who have recently had COVID–19 getting the vaccine?” A friend of mine was eligible for a COVID–19...

Who gets Cherokee citizenship has long been a struggle between the tribe and the US government

Written by Aaron Kushner, Postdoctoral Scholar, School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership, Arizona State University

A Cherokee Census card from 1904. Wikimedia Commons/U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

A recent decision by the Cherokee Nation’s Supreme Court struck down a law that freedmen – descendants of people enslaved by Cherokees in the 18th and 19th centuries – cannot hold elective tribal office. The ruling is the latest...

Robinhood app makes Wall Street feel like a game to win – instead of a place where you can lose your life savings in a New York minute

Written by James "Pigeon" Fielder, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Colorado State University

Casinos can make gambling away next month's rent feel like playing a game.mbbirdy/E+ via Getty Images

Wall Street has long been likened to a casino. Robinhood, an investment app that just filed plans for an initial public offering, makes the comparison more apt than ever.

That’s because the power of the casino is the way it makes people feel...

What the American Rescue Plan says about President Biden’s health care priorities – and what they mean for you

Written by Zack Buck, Associate Professor of Law, University of Tennessee

On the campaign trail Oct. 28, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden talks about the need to build up the Affordable Care Act.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

As millions of Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines, the Affordable Care Act just got a booster shot of its own.

After 11 years of existential threat and months after an argument before the...

This Passover, as in the past, will be a time to recognize tragedies and offer hope for the future

Written by Samuel L. Boyd, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, University of Colorado Boulder

A Jewish family gathers in person and over video conferencing for Passover celebrations in 2020.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Jewish families will gather for Passover this year in circumstances that will, like the celebration itself, reflect on dark times while holding out for better to come.

The holiday lasts from the evening of March 27 to the evening of...

Civics education isn't boosting youth voting or volunteerism

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

These students at the University of Pittsburgh urged their peers to vote in the 2020 presidential election.Aaron Jackendoff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

After the insurrection, the impeachment, the trial and ongoing partisanship in 2021, many Americans are looking to civics education as a source of hope, according to George Washington...

The US has never had much of a pilgrimage tradition – perhaps now is the opportunity

Written by James Mills, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, State University of New York at Oneonta

Sites of pilgrimages are few and far between in the U.S.Thomas A. Ferrara/Newsday RM via Getty Images

One feature of the pandemic has been the curtailment of a practice that for millennia has provided an outlet for healing in times of crisis: pilgrimage.

From restrictions on the Hajj for Muslims to the Catholic pilgrimage to Lourdes going virtual,...

When can kids get the COVID-19 vaccine? A pediatrician answers 5 questions parents are asking

Written by James B. Wood, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine

Vaccine trials are just getting started for younger children.FGTrade via Getty Images

A big question among parents and teachers as more schools reopen is when their kids will be vaccinated against COVID-19. Some have wondered whether the vaccine is even necessary for children. Dr. James Wood, a pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatric...