The Conversation

Divesting university endowments: Easier demanded than done

Written by Todd L. Ely, Associate Professor of Public Administration; Director, Center for Local Government, University of Colorado Denver

A 'divest from death' banner at a University of Oregon protest against the Israel-Hamas war on April 29, 2024. AP Photo/Jenny Kane

Campus protests expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and objecting to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza include many calls for universities and colleges to divest – a word that basically...

Polarization may phase out of American politics as younger generations shift into power

Written by Sally Friedman, Associate Professor of Political Science, University at Albany, State University of New York

Could the two political sides find common ground at last?JakeOlimb/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

The sharp increase in political polarization in America over the past 50 years has been driven in part by how different generations think about politics. But the rise of younger generations to political power may actually erase the deep social...

La Niña is coming, raising the chances of a dangerous Atlantic hurricane season – an atmospheric scientist explains this climate phenomenon

Written by Pedro DiNezio, Associate Professor of Atmospheric and Ocean Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

La Niña typically means cooler, wetter conditions on average globally, but not everywhere, and not every time.Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images

One of the big contributors to the record-breaking global temperatures over the past year – El Niño – is nearly gone, and its opposite, La Niña, is on the way.

Whether...

Why some people receiving federal benefits don’t consider themselves poor − even though poverty rates have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic

Written by Sherri Lawson Clark, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Wake Forest University

For the past 25 years, my research as a cultural anthropologist has taken me into the homes and neighborhoods of people living in poverty in cities and rural communities throughout the U.S.

To better understand their day-to-day lives, I also have spent time in grocery stores, churches, nightclubs, parks and health clinics.

I’ve asked...

Why US offshore wind power is struggling – the good, the bad and the opportunity

Written by Christopher Niezrecki, Director of the Center for Energy Innovation, UMass Lowell

The first U.S. offshore wind farm was built in 2016 off Rhode Island's Block Island. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms began sending power to the Northeast in early 2024, but a wave of wind farm project cancellations and rising costs have left many people with doubts about the industry’s future in...

Brain study identifies a cost of caregiving for new fathers

Written by Darby Saxbe, Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Dads have stepped up to do more hands-on parenting over the past few decades.Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez/Moment via Getty Images

Parenting makes the heart grow fonder, and the brain grow … smaller? Several studies have revealed that the brain loses volume across the transition to parenthood. But researchers like me are still figuring out what...

I interviewed moms with 5 or more kids − here’s what I learned about the women who are quietly going against the grain

Written by Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, Associate Professor of Social Research and Economic Thought, Catholic University of America

The U.S. fertility rate is the lowest it's been since the government started tracking it in the 1930s.Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Commentators link America’s declining birth rate to a number of factors: a lack of support for mothers in the workplace, expensive child care, delayed marriage and a rising cost of...

Commencement isn’t just about awarding degrees – and cancellations leave students disconnected and disillusioned

Written by Dimitris Xygalatas, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut

Rites of passage, such as graduation ceremonies, celebrate the transition to a new state. JC Olivera/Getty Images

Following the wave of protests over the war in the Gaza Strip, several U.S. universities have decided to cancel or ramp down commencement ceremonies. More are expected to follow.

Announcing their decision, these institutions cited...

5 books to help you better understand today’s campus protests

Written by Steve Friess, Independent writer and editor, University of Michigan

Police have been summoned to break up pro-Palestinian encampments of protesters at colleges throughout the U.S.Scott Olson for Getty Images

Every so often, a cause ignites a sustained fury on college campuses across the nation. In 2020, it was Black Lives Matter. In 2011, it was Occupy Wall Street. In the 1980s, it was apartheid in South Africa....

Pet-owners: watch out for foxtail seed pods that can harm your dog or cat this summer

Written by Erik Olstad, Health Sciences Assistant Professor of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis

A foxtail seed pod. Dario Argenti/Moment via Getty Images

Across much of the United States, spring is in full force. With warmer weather, people are taking their furry family members out on longer walks and spending more time outside. Alongside blooming flowers and trees, your pet might run into a small, unassuming grass seed pod known as a foxtail....