Scholars Strategy Network's No Jargon

The 2020 election is quickly approaching and there is no lack of challenges for election administrators to overcome. From a pandemic that's made finding poll workers difficult, to a massive influx of vote-by-mail ballots that are likely to delay results, to perhaps the biggest challenge of them all: the false rhetoric coming from the White House around the validity of the entire process. In this s...

No Jargon is back for a special episode featuring Dr. Emma Sandoe. Medicaid has become the largest source of health care coverage in America. Just this year, even more states expanded their Medicaid programs, meaning that this trend is only going to continue. And yet, many people still don't know much about this program. Dr. Sandoe explains how we got here, what lessons we can learn from the histo...

Since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police at the end of May, the United States has been rocked by weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality, and it doesn't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon. Professor Vesla Weaver dives into how this movement is different from protests of the past, what brought us to the current situation, how our nation's police system has aff...

The 2020 election was already shaping up to be one of the most consequential and contentious in recent memory, and then came the COVID-19 pandemic. While much about the future is uncertain, we know this: the election cannot be run as originally planned. Professor Amel Ahmed lays out what policymakers can do to ensure that all voters can exercise their right to vote, what research can tell us about...

Even at the best of times, accessing abortion care in the United States can be an arduous process. During a pandemic, the challenges only mount further. Clinics are closed down and, in some places, politicians have begun using COVID-19 to block abortion, calling it "nonessential" healthcare. Professor Carrie Baker explores whether telemedicine abortion could provide a solution, what barriers exist...

In cities and towns across the country, protests have erupted following the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and others. While many of the protests remained peaceful, others turned violent, with buildings being destroyed or looted and clashes breaking out between the police and protestors. In this archive episode, Professor Ashley Howard explains the history behind the...

Being a college student can be stressful enough, but when you're an undocumented immigrant, there are many additional hurdles in your way. Dr. Sayil Camacho unpacks what it's like to be an undocumented student at our nation's colleges and universities, what more university administrators and faculty can do to support them, and how DACA and the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the program factor...

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it's widely accepted that without a vaccine, life cannot go back to normal. But as it turns out, not everyone is on board. Over the last several years, an anti-vaccine movement has gained steam in the United States, with more and more people deciding to skip vaccines for themselves and their children. In this archive episode, Dr. Matthew Woodruff dives...

The scene is so common it's almost cliche: two beautiful young people meet at a rowdy college party and drunkenly fall into bed together. American pop culture is fascinated by college hookups, but is casual sex really as widespread as it seems? Professor Lisa Wade breaks down who participates in hookup culture, what they get out of it, and as more students speak up about the problem of on-campus s...

In any sense of the word, the COVID-19 crisis can be considered a disaster. Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives, millions have lost their jobs, and nearly everyone is experiencing a sense of shock at how quickly our world was turned upside down. But of course, the current crisis is also dramatically different from previous disasters, like hurricanes or wildfires. Professor Susan Ster...

Every Thursday since America started locking down to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, a tragic new number is released: the latest unemployment claims. Tens of millions of Americans have already filed for unemployment, and that number is likely to keep going up. Professor Anna Gassman-Pines lays out who is most affected by the dramatic economic downturn we're seeing, what job losses me...

With the COVID-19 crisis spreading rapidly across the US, much attention has been paid to the hospitals on the front lines of this pandemic. But there is another set of healthcare providers that also has a crucial role to play in managing this outbreak: community health centers. Professor Peter Shin unpacks what exactly community health centers are, why they were established and who they serve, wh...

We're in April, as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic. Today, the U.S. has more reported cases than any other nation on earth - a fact that may in part be due to testing levels, but could also be due to a series of massive public policy mistakes. In the U.S., the federal response has been chaotic, to say the least. And here's one reason: President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy...

As policymakers on Capitol Hill work to expand America's safety net in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, it's becoming increasingly clear that it might not be enough. So where can we look for guidance on what more needs to be done? Perhaps another deadly virus, HIV, where a separate and robust safety net has been established to support those who have been diagnosed. Professo...

With governments rushing to put in place policies and guidelines to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, it's important to look to the past to inform the present. And we don't have to look far. Just 5 years ago, the world was concerned with a completely different outbreak: ebola. Professor Lily Tsai and Dr. Ben Morse examine how governments at the epicenter of the ebola outbreak responded to...

Around the United States, schools are shutting down due to coronavirus. For some Americans, this means setting up a home office and learning to work with children underfoot. But others are facing a far more serious crisis: with school cafeterias closed indefinitely and employment increasingly precarious, how will they manage to put food on the table? Professor Daphne Hernandez lays out the problem...

Money. Power. Knowledge. Health. Education. When you look around the world, when it comes to resources and opportunities, there are massive imbalances between countries and even inside countries. In the name of making the world a better place, people and institutions with great wealth often donate some of their money around the world through philanthropy. Rakesh Rajani shares stories and lessons l...

With the 2020 primary in full swing, college campuses are full of conversations about politics, policy, and the future of American democracy. But many of these college students don't turn out when it actually matters, on Election Day. In fact, in the last presidential election, only around half of all young voters came out to the polls. In this archive episode, Dr. Nancy Thomas explores what gets...

Social media has permeated countless aspects of our daily lives. But perhaps no platform has influenced the media like Twitter, shaping not only what many journalists cover, but also how they cover it. Professor Shannon McGregor dives into the role of Twitter in today's media environment, why the platform is an imperfect measure of public opinion, and how social media can become a better tool for...

Over the last couple of years, states have passed increasingly restrictive laws in an effort to reduce access to abortion. And this year, the Supreme Court is deciding on new cases that could validate some of the harshest laws, potentially opening the door for an end to Roe v. Wade . But at the forefront of this fight over abortion access are providers few people know about: independent abortion c...

In 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the first African American president in this country's history after a momentous election. But for many in this country, that election was anything but joyous. Soon after, a movement that became known as the Tea Party took shape on the right in opposition to this president and his policies. Fast forward 8 years and a very familiar story seemed to play out, but...

Over the last few decades, minority enrollment at America's colleges and universities has increased exponentially. These institutions, many predominantly white, like to tout enrollment rates as evidence of their commitment to racial diversity. But do these numbers tell the whole story? Professor Bedelia Richards details how black students still frequently experience discrimination on campus, what...

America is getting more diverse, and that means more children of color are students in our schools. But teachers are still overwhelmingly white, so many of these students rarely see teachers who look like them. Professor Michèle Foster tells the little-known story of why America lost many of its black teachers, what that means for students, and what can be done to change things. For More on this T...

We are living in the midst of an epidemic. Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans dying from opioid-related overdoses has skyrocketed by more than 200%. Facing a mounting death toll, policymakers have proposed solutions from needle exchanges to reducing the availability of prescription opioids. But the crisis seems to rage on. Professor Keith Humphreys digs into how we got here, what we k...

What should the next 10 or 20 years look like in the United States? Many Americans say we need to go back to the future. They want to restore something, or protect something they're worried the United States is losing. And that's not just the Make America Great Again crowd. But others argue that it's not time to restore democracy -- it's time to realize democracy. Dr. K. Sabeel Rahman explains wha...