The Conversation

Trump may reverse US climate policy but will have trouble dismantling EPA

Written by Sarah Anderson, Associate Professor of Environmental Politics, University of California, Santa Barbara

EPA personnel collect water samples along the Louisiana coast after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spillEric Vance, US EPA/Flickr

During the Republican primary debates, President-elect Trump threatened to gut the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), saying, “We are going to get rid of it in almost every form. We’re going to have...

Confirmation bias: A psychological phenomenon that helps explain why pundits got it wrong

Written by Ray Nickerson, Research Professor of Psychology, Tufts University

Like wearing psychological blinders.Horse image via www.shutterstock.com.

As post mortems of the 2016 presidential election began to roll in, fingers started pointing to what psychologists call the confirmation bias as one reason many of the polls and pundits were wrong in their predictions of which candidate would end up victorious.

Confirmation...

Cyber Monday gives a big boost to mobile commerce

Written by A. Ant Ozok, Associate Professor of Information Systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Shopping by smartphone is taking off.Credit card and mobile phone via shutterstock.com

Here is an accurate prediction for a change: No matter how Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales turn out, one big winner of the Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza will be mobile commerce.

Mobile users accounted for half of all product browsing last Cyber Monday....

Remembering the US soldiers who refused orders to murder Native Americans at Sand Creek

Written by Billy J. Stratton, Professor of Native American studies/contemporary American literature, University of Denver

Every Thanksgiving weekend for the past 17 years, Arapaho and Cheyenne youth lead a 180-mile relay from the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site to Denver.

The annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run opens at the site of the Sand Creek Massacre near Eads, Colorado, with a sunrise ceremony honoring some 200 Arapaho and Cheyenne people...

Do conservatives value 'moral purity' more than liberals?

Written by Kate Johnson, Doctoral Candidate, Psychology, University of Southern California

Signs of satisfaction after Donald Trump was elected. Jeff Karoub/AP

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, the overwhelming response among progressives was “how in the world did this happen?” Those of us who study the rise of political and moral polarization in the United States, however, were less surprised.

Think of the...

How to bridge the political divide at the holiday dinner table

Written by Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor at the Ross School of Business and Education Director at the Graham Sustainability Institute, University of Michigan

A time to join with close ones and, perhaps, open a dialogue?quinn/flickr, CC BY-NC

We are a divided nation; that is an understatement. What’s more, we increasingly hear we are living in our own “bubble” or echo chamber that differing views cannot penetrate. To correct the problem, many are calling for people to reach out, to talk...

After the 2016 presidential election: Fear, protest and what comes next

Written by Frederic Lemieux, Professor and Program Director of Bachelor in Police and Security Studies; Master’s in Homeland Security; Master’s in Cybersecurity Strategy and Information Management, George Washington University

Where does a divided country go from here?AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Since the results of the presidential election were made public, we have witnessed the emergence of a resistance movement protesting the election of Donald Trump.

Protests have taken place in at least 52 American cities. A few turned violent. There has also been a multitude of racial and...

In Iraq and Syria, humanitarian aid workers struggle within a strained system

Written by Thomas Arcaro, Professor of Sociology, Elon University

More than ever before, the humanitarian aid system as we know it is being stretched, questioned and tested. Among those bearing this strain are the individual aid workers.

Humanitarian aid workers around the world provide vital material and medical support to millions of people displaced by violent conflict. These women and men are the link between...

Why woman-bashing is a serious health threat

Written by Joan Cook, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University

From www.shutterstock.com

Polls indicate that one demographic slice instrumental in electing Donald Trump was white women. Indeed, 53 percent of white women cast their votes in his direction.

There’s current debate on why this might be – blatant or veiled racism, admiration for Trump’s business prowess or supporting someone...

What is behind the turkey pardoning ritual?

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

Since 1989, when President George H. W. Bush first formally instituted the practice, U.S. presidents have pardoned a turkey shortly before Thanksgiving each year.

Although the turkeys offer no offense, their presidential pardoning invites the question: What is the significance of such a public rite of forgiveness?

As a researcher of the history of...