The Conversation

Does national service help heal America’s divisions?

Written by Cecilia Hyunjung Mo, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University

Teach For America teacher Sergio Santiago looks over an assignment with a student.pennstatenews/flickr, CC BY-NC

President Donald Trump’s budget proposes getting the government out of the business of national service. This comes at a time when the election has divided Americans like few in history. And individuals from different walks of life...

What rural, coastal Puerto Ricans can teach us about thriving in times of crisis

Written by Carlos G. García-Quijano, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island

A man fishing from a dock in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo

Puerto Ricans are searching for solutions to the island’s worst economic and social crisis in a long time.

An unprecedented debt level is creating widespread uncertainty about employment and the state’s ability to provide basic services. This crisis is not going...

Why stable relationships are 'poison control' in fighting trauma and stress in kids

Written by Melissa Bright, Research Scientist, University of Florida

A stable, supportive family is key to preventing childhood trauma. Pixelheadphoto/Shutterstock.

Editor’s note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This article is part of a series exploring how research into adverse childhood experiences – or ACEs – is helping therapists, parents, educators and the medical community better...

Saving Javan rhinos from extinction starts with counting them – and it's not easy

Written by Brian Gerber, Postdoctoral Researcher in the Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Department., Colorado State University

Javan rhinos are one of the rarest mammals in the world.WWF-ID/Sugeng Hendratmo, Author provided

The Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is found only at the very western tip of the Indonesian island of Java, in the rainforest habitats of Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). However, this wasn’t always so. Many species have small natural ranges,...

How families with 2 dads raise their kids

Written by Andrew Leland, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University

The number of men married to each other who have children is rising following legal rulings about marriage equality.Shutterstock

Kentucky family court judge W. Mitchell Nance says he refuses to hold hearings on same-sex couples’ adoptions “as a matter of conscience.”

He’s not the only authority defying the 2015 Supreme Court...

How Trump's harsh education cuts undermine his economic growth goals

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

A student learns to operate a mill in an advanced precision machining class. AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

The Trump administration has some ambitious goals that include trillions in tax cuts, a significant military buildup and a fresh investment in infrastructure.

The White House released details of how it plans to pay for it all in its full budget...

Some graduation gifts really are better than others

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

'Gift' via www.shutterstock.com

Graduation season is upon us, and for many graduates, it’s a moment they’ll want to remember for the rest of their lives.

Yet families often wonder about the best way to mark this special occasion. The graduation gift, of course, is one way. But then comes the tough part: deciding on the gift.

I recently...

Research transparency: 5 questions about open science answered

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Medical University of South Carolina

Opening up data and materials helps with research transparency.REDPIXEL.PL via Shutterstock.com

What is “open science”?

Open science is a set of practices designed to make scientific processes and results more transparent and accessible to people outside the research team. It includes making complete research materials, data and lab...

7 in 10 smartphone apps share your data with third-party services

Written by Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez, Research Assistant Professor, IMDEA Networks Institute, Madrid, Spain; Research Scientist, Networking and Security, International Computer Science Institute based at, University of California, Berkeley

Where are all the data going?nmedia via shutterstock.com

Our mobile phones can reveal a lot about ourselves: where we live and work; who our family, friends and acquaintances are; how (and even what) we communicate with them; and our personal habits. With all the information stored on them, it isn’t surprising that mobile device users take...

America's mass incarceration problem in 5 charts – or, why Sessions shouldn't bring back mandatory minimums

Written by Tanya Golash-Boza, Professor, University of California, Merced

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is pushing for stricter sentencing in criminal cases.AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Today, the United States is a world leader in incarceration, but this has not always been the case.

For most of the 20th century, the U.S. incarcerated about 100 people per 100,000 residents – below the current world average. However,...