The Conversation
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The Conversation: A conservative activist’s quest to preserve all network news broadcasts
Professor of History Thomas Alan Schwartz discusses the origins of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, called the “preeminent video resource for scholars of TV news,” in this Conversation piece. The archive celebrates 50 years of continuous operation this August. Read MoreAug 28, 2018
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The Conversation: ‘Why I use Harry Potter to teach a college course on child development’
Associate Professor of Psychology Georgene Troseth explains how she uses Harry Potter books to make child development more relatable to her first-year Vanderbilt students, many of whom grew up on the wildly popular tomes, for "The Conversation." Read MoreAug 1, 2018
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The Conversation: What we can learn from closure of charter school praised by DeVos
On Jan. 11, the D.C. Public Charter School Board voted unanimously to shut down a charter school previously praised by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and first lady Melania Trump. Associate Professor of Public Policy and Education Claire Smrekar breaks down why some charter schools fail and what factors may lead to their success in "The Conversation." Read MoreJan 19, 2018
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Reverse engineering mysterious 500 million-year-old fossils that confound our tree of life
In "The Conversation," Vanderbilt paleontologist Simon Darroch explains how computational fluid dynamics can help researchers understand some of the earliest life on Earth. Read MoreJun 21, 2017
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The Conversation: Organizing a student protest? Have a look at 1970s Germany
Christoph Zeller, associate professor of German, writes: "Looking back at the protest movement in Germany reveals parallels that help to understand the present." Read MoreMar 11, 2016
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The Conversation: Are looser gun laws changing the social fabric of Missouri?
Jonathan Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, writes: "Again and again, people with whom I spoke raised concerns, not just about the lethal potential of firearms, but about the ways that allowing guns into previously gun-free communal spaces might impact a host of commonplace civic encounters as well." Read MoreMar 10, 2016
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Op-ed: Why do so few black males go into STEM areas?
Low expectations, peer pressure, lack of role models and lack of opportunity to pursue advanced study keep black males who are good at math out of STEM fields when they grow up, writes Ebony O. McGee in The Conversation. Read MoreMay 1, 2015
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The Conversation: Robert Scherrer on dark energy
Explainer: the mysterious dark energy that speeds the universe’s rate of expansion Read MoreApr 24, 2015
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The Conversation: Hubble Space Telescope’s chief scientist on what it took to get the project off the ground
Bob O'Dell reflects on the challenges of building the Hubble Space Telescope, launched 25 years ago. Read MoreApr 22, 2015
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Op-ed: Cuba: notes from a frequent visitor
Jane Landers, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History, says that the breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relations is long overdue, but Cuba must still address its profound social problems. Read MoreDec 22, 2014
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Op-ed: Rebooting the history of the world
James McFarland, assistant professor of German, Cinema and Media Arts, asks: How does Ridley Scott's strange and violent retelling of "Exodus" fit into our own moral universe? Read MoreDec 18, 2014
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Op-ed: An online ‘erasure service’ for California minors – but can it work?
Human nature itself can undermine privacy laws that seek to balance the government’s interests in surveillance and protecting the country against terrorism with a citizen’s right to be left alone, argues Lydia Jones, adjunct professor of law. Read MoreDec 16, 2014
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Op-ed: Is your religion ready to meet E.T.?
"No matter which (a)theistic background informs your theology, you may have to wrestle with the data astronomers will be bringing to houses of worship in the very near future," writes astronomy professor David Weintraub for The Conversation. Read MoreDec 2, 2014
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Op-ed: Ferguson is not a special case
"Ferguson is not a special case. It’s just evidence that race cleaves our nation, tensions simmer just below the surface, and far too many people who believe in justice are comfortable watching its miscarriage," writes Vanderbilt sociologist Tony Brown for The Conversation. Read MoreDec 2, 2014