The Conversation

What is 'right to try,' and could it help?

Written by Morten Wendelbo, Lecturer, Bush School of Government and Public Service; Research Fellow, Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs; and, Policy Sciences Lecturer, Texas A&M University Libraries, Texas A&M University

In this March 18, 2011 photo, Cassidy Hempel waved at hospital staff as she was being treated for a rare disorder. Her mother Chris, left, fought to gain permission for an experimental drug.AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

After a year in which President Donald Trump devoted much of his health policy attention to the repeal and replace of the...

DC graduation scandal shows how chronic absenteeism threatens America's schools

Written by Shaun M. Dougherty, Assistant Professor of Education & Public Policy, University of Connecticut

Millions of American students miss large chunks of the school year. Shutterstock.com

Each year in the United States, approximately 5 to 7.5 million students in the nation’s K-12 schools miss a month or more of school. That means 150 to 225 million instructional days are lost every school year.

The problem is more pronounced in low-income urban...

Is full transparency good for democracy?

Written by Austin Sarat, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst College

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes.AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

With the approval of President Donald Trump, the House of Representatives released the so-called “Nunes memo” on Feb. 2.

In it, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes describes alleged abuses of surveillance practices by the FBI in the...

What the joyous solitude of early hermits can teach us about being alone

Written by Kim Haines-Eitzen, Professor of Early Christianity, Cornell University

Loneliness (feeling alone) and solitude (being alone) are not the same thing.jessicahtam, CC BY

In today’s world, loneliness seems to have reached epidemic proportions. Countless studies have highlighted the serious and negative impact that loneliness has on our health, our sense of well-being, and our ability to thrive in an increasingly...

More bad news for dinosaurs: Chicxulub meteorite impact triggered global volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor

Written by Leif Karlstrom, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon

Seismic shockwaves after a meteorite’s collision could affect systems all over the planet.solarseven/Shutterstock.com

The end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago was a rough time to be living on Earth.

Three global catastrophes occurred nearly simultaneously: The Chicxulub meteorite slammed into what is now Mexico’s Yucatan...

Why privatizing Puerto Rico's power grid won't solve its energy problems

Written by Arturo Massol-Deyá, Professor of MIcrobial Ecology, University of Puerto Rico - Humacao

Puerto Rico's power utility, PREPA, has been decimated by years of scarcity and bad management. But will privatizing it really turn the lights back on for Puerto Ricans?AP Photo/Carlos Giusti

Leer en español.

Perhaps nothing is clearer to Puerto Ricans right now than the importance of having a good power grid. Hurricane Maria battered the...

La privatización de PREPA compromete el desarrollo energético de Puerto Rico

Written by Arturo Massol-Deyá, Professor of MIcrobial Ecology, University of Puerto Rico - Humacao

¿Privatizar la generación energética de Puerto Rico ayudará a que esto no vuelva a pasar?AP Photo/Carlos Giusti

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Si algo se ve claro ahora en Puerto Rico es la importancia de un sistema energético fuerte y resiliente. Tras el Huracán María, que azotó la isla en septiembre 2017,...

Estate planning for your digital assets

Written by Natalie Banta, Associate Professor of Law, Drake University

Digital documents are not nearly as easy to retrieve.Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com

What will happen to your Facebook account when you die? What about all your photos shared on social media, your texts with loved ones, or documents on cloud-storage systems? In just the two-year period from 2012 to 2014, humans produced more data than in all of...

Suicide isn't just a 'white people thing'

Written by Kimya N. Dennis, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Studies; Creator and Coordinator of Criminal Studies program, Salem College

Research suggests that suicides by racial and ethnic minorities are undercounted. Joseph Sohm/shutterstock.com

As a sociologist and criminologist, I often do community outreach on mental health prevention. I urge organizations and programs to avoid “one size fits all” approaches. There are many ways that mental health issues can impact...

What's the difference between sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape?

Written by Sarah L. Cook, Professor & Associate Dean, Georgia State University

The terms “sexual abuse,” “sexual assault,” “sexual harassment” – and even “rape” – crop up daily in the news. We are likely to see these terms more as the #MeToo movement continues.

Many people want to understand these behaviors and work to prevent them. It helps if we are consistent and...