The Conversation

Are Puerto Ricans really American citizens?

Written by Charles R. Venator-Santiago, Associate Professor of Political Science and the Institute for Latino Studies, University of Connecticut

Pro-statehood supporters at the seaside Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico.AP Photo/Danica Coto

In a recent poll, 41 percent of respondents said they did not believe that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens, and 15 percent were not sure. Only 43 percent answered that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. Today, being born in Puerto Rico is tantamount to...

How Republicans and Democrats can both keep their promises on health care

Written by Darius Lakdawalla, Quintiles Professor of Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation, USC, Professor of Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation, University of Southern California

Medical students protest outside the office of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to express their views on changes to Obamacare. Tony Dejak/AP

Republicans who want to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) emphasize the importance of patient choice and market efficiency. Democrats opposing repeal focus on the need to protect the most vulnerable.

As...

'Alternative facts': A psychiatrist’s guide to twisted relationships to truth

Written by Ronald W. Pies, Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University; and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts University

Does your nose grow if it's a falsehood, not a lie?Thomas Hawk, CC BY-NC

The phrase “alternative facts” has recently made the news in a political context, but psychiatrists like me are already intimately acquainted with the concept – indeed, we hear various forms of alternate reality expressed almost every day.

All of us need to...

Our experiments taught us why people troll

Written by Justin Cheng, Ph.D Student in Computer Science, Stanford University

Trolling can spread from person to person.Cropped from Ayana T. Miller/flickr, CC BY-ND

“Fail at life. Go bomb yourself.”

Comments like this one, found on a CNN article about how women perceive themselves, are prevalent today across the internet, whether it’s Facebook, Reddit or a news website. Such behavior can range from...

The truth about Obama's economic legacy and Trump's inheritance

Written by Christian Weller, Professor of Public Policy and Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts Boston

President Donald Trump has been trashing the economy and his predecessor’s legacy lately.

For example, in his free-wheeling Feb. 16 press conference, Trump said he “inherited a mess” from President Barack Obama. His newly minted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin followed suit a week later by telling the Wall Street Journal that...

Why do some countries disapprove of homosexuality? Money, democracy and religion

Written by Amy Adamczyk, Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, City University of New York

Gay pride – but not everywhere. bensonkua/flickr, CC BY-SA

With Trump’s removal of federal protections for transgender students, debate over LGBTQ rights rage again across the U.S.

Despite these disagreements, Americans are relatively liberal compared to countries across the world, where the consequences for gay or transgender citizens...

How to talk climate change across the aisle: Focus on adaptive solutions rather than causes

Written by Thomas Bateman, Professor of Management, University of Virginia

Will talk of adapting to climate change be less polarizing politically? Faced with rising seas, Miami is adapting by raising its roads. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Conversations about climate change often derail into arguments about whether global warming exists, whether climate change is already happening, the extent to which human activity is a cause...

Does empathy have limits? Depends on whom you ask

Written by C. Daryl Cameron, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

Why do we lack empathy in certain situations?PROFrancisco Schmidt, CC BY-NC

Is it possible to run out of empathy?

That’s the question many are asking in the wake of the U.S. presidential election. Thousands have marched on streets and airports to encourage others to expand their empathy for women, minorities and refugees. Others have argued...

Can Ben Carson use the power of HUD to make America happier?

Written by Justin Hollander, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University

Ben Carson laughs, Jan. 12, 2017. AP Photo/Zach Gibson

With the full Senate scheduled to vote on Ben Carson’s nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, it is worth considering one question that must be on Carson’s mind: Is HUD working?

There can be no question that HUD has enormous impact. With an annual...

Trump's address to Congress: Expert reaction

Written by Jordan Tama, Assistant Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service

Editor’s note: President Donald Trump gave his first address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28. The speech featured policy ideas that appealed to Republicans, and others that sounded more Democratic. We asked scholars to react to the substance of the speech and evaluate its tone for hints of bipartisanship.