The Conversation

Once at the vanguard of national policy, California plays defense under Trump

Written by Char Miller, W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis, Pomona College

A May Day protest in San Francisco. The state is at odds with the Trump administration on a number of policies, notably immigration and environment. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Xavier Becerra, California’s combative attorney general, has become the Golden State’s face of resistance to the Trump administration’s domestic initiatives, the...

Trump nods to Cuban exiles, rolls back ties: Experts react

Written by Brian Gendreau, Director, Latin American Business Environment program, University of Florida

Will Trump's policy put a freeze on the U.S.-Cuba thaw?AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa

Editor’s note: President Donald Trump announced on Friday a partial reversal of former President Barack Obama’s policy of engagement with Cuba. Trump restored travel restrictions and prohibited financial transactions with the Cuban military. Under the new...

Is lead in the US food supply decreasing our IQ?

Written by Keri Szejda, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Arizona State University

A baby plays with blocks spelling out one of the most famous formulas in history. vchal/From www.shutterstock.com

The environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on June 15 released a study about dietary lead exposure, with a focus on food intended for babies and young children.

Using a Federal Drug Administration (FDA) database...

Can tiny Qatar keep defying its powerful neighbors? It may be up to Washington

Written by Nader Habibi, Professor of the Economics of the Middle East at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University

Nearly all of Qatar's residents live in its capital, Doha.Doha skyline via www.shutterstock.com

The recent decision by half the nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and a few other countries to isolate fellow member Qatar came as a surprise to many – though perhaps it shouldn’t have.

Essentially, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the...

How a journalism class is teaching middle schoolers to fight fake news

Written by Ed Madison, Assistant Professor of Journalism, University of Oregon

Research last year out of Stanford University revealed that students – from middle schoolers to undergraduates – are easily duped by false information they find online. The study goes on to describe this as “dismaying,” “bleak” and a “threat to democracy.”

These same students are the primary...

The Fresh Air Fund's complicated racial record

Written by Tobin Miller Shearer, Director of the African-American Studies Program and Associate Professor of History, The University of Montana

Fresh Air host Mark Stucky of Newton, Kansas shook hands with Thomas Flowers from Gulfport, Mississippi, as Doris Zerger Stucky – Mark’s mother – watched in this 1960 photo.Mennonite Library & Archives, Bethel, Kansas

New York City’s Fresh Air Fund has sent city kids, most of them low-income, to suburban and rural...

Was Trump's 'hope' Comey's command? We asked a language expert

Written by Thomas Holtgraves, Professor of Psychological Science, Ball State University

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference.AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Much of former FBI Director James Comey’s recent congressional testimony hinged on a single utterance from President Donald Trump: “hope.”

According to Comey, on Feb. 14 President Trump dismissed the other participants from an Oval Office meeting and...

Navigating the tricky waters of being a stepdad

Written by Joshua Gold, Professor of Educational Studies, University of South Carolina

Joining a family can be awkward: Are you supposed to act like a father? Should you discipline the kids? 'Man' via www.shutterstock.com

The American family is evolving. Fifty years ago, a nuclear family of two biological parents and children was the norm. But divorce rates and growing numbers of single parents have opened up more opportunities for...

In Tupac's life, the struggles and triumphs of a generation

Written by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, Professor of History and Founding Director, Center for the Study of Popular Music, University of Connecticut

Beginning June 16, moviegoers will be able to see the much-anticipated “All Eyez on Me,” the biopic of Tupac Shakur, one of the most iconic and influential musicians of the 20th century.

Since his death in 1996, Tupac’s place in the pantheon of cultural icons has been firmly cemented. Scores of books and documentaries have...

What Sharia law means: Five questions answered

Written by Asma Afsaruddin, Professor of Islamic Studies and former Chairperson, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Indiana University

A page from the Quran.~crystalina~, CC BY

Editor’s note: A conservative grassroots organization, ACT for America, organized a “March against Sharia” in at least 20 cities across the United States on Saturday, June 10. Professor of Islamic Studies at Indiana University Asma Afsaruddin explains Sharia and dispels a number of myths...