Author: TheConversation

By Donald Brand, Professor, Political Science Department, College of the Holy Cross On January 6, the United States Congress will gather in a joint session to tally the votes of the Electoral College, which cast its ballots in state capitols last month. In his role as president of the Senate, Vice President Mike Pence is slated to officially announce Joe Biden as the country’s next president. This formal certification process – the final step in the U.S. presidential election – is the latest target of President Donald Trump’s desperate, untenable and possibly criminal effort to overturn the 2020 results....

By Rashid Carlos Jamil Marcano Rivera, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science, Indiana University Puerto Ricans requested statehood on November 3, 2020, with 52.3% of voters asking to change the island’s status from unincorporated territory to U.S. state. This is the sixth time statehood has been on the ballot since Puerto Rico ratified its Constitution in 1952. Voters rejected the status change in 1967, 1993 and 1998. The 2012 election results were unclear because some voters did not answer both parts of a two-part statehood question. In 2017 statehood won decisively, albeit with very low turnout of around 23%. Puerto...

By Armon Perry, Professor of Social Work, University of Louisville Finding and keeping a good Black man in a relationship has become a cottage industry. From celebrities and reality TV stars to social media influencers, for better or worse, there is no shortage of relationship advice to people seeking to figure out Black men. And while much of this content is understood to be for entertainment purposes only, some of it is presented and received as legitimate and data-driven. This is a problem because too many people cannot distinguish what they see onscreen from reality. Media portrayals are often...

By Alex Newhouse, Research Lead, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Parler has caught on among right-wing politicians and “influencers” – people with large online followings – as a social media platform where they can share and promote ideas without worrying about the company blocking or flagging their posts for being dangerous or misleading. However, the website has become a haven for far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who are now interacting with the mainstream conservatives flocking to the platform. As the three highest-profile social media companies – YouTube,...

By Libby Richards, Associate Professor of Nursing, Purdue University Many of us have heard: “Don’t go outside without a coat; you’ll catch a cold.” That is not exactly true. As with many things, the reality is more complicated. Here is the distinction: Being cold isn’t why you get a cold. But it is true that cold weather makes it easier to get the cold or flu. It is still too early to tell how weather impacts the COVID-19 virus, but scientists are starting to think it behaves differently than cold and flu viruses. As an associate professor of nursing...

By Martha Ackelsberg, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government, emerita, Smith College I have been thinking a lot, recently, about the tension between demanding “individual rights” – in the sense of deciding whether or not to wear a mask – and calling for more action on the part of our government to protect us from the coronavirus pandemic. I am a political theorist, which means I study how communities are organized, how power is exercised and how people relate to one another in and between communities. I’ve realized – through talking to friends, and thinking about the protests...