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Black and white headshot of author Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon

Livia Gershon is a freelance writer in Nashua, New Hampshire. Her writing has appeared in publications including Salon, Aeon Magazine and the Good Men Project. Contact her on Twitter @liviagershon.

A teacher helping a student in a classroom
Education

Teaching Facts and Values in Public Schools

For most of the country's history, teaching "moral facts" was the main duty of the public schools.
Newspaper from 1851, titled Exhibition Supplement to the Illustrated London News
Politics & History

Anonymity and Public Debate—in the 1800s

But 150 years ago in Great Britain, the question of what role anonymity should play in public discourse looked completely different than today.
Two students look on while holding drinks
Education

Fraternities, Sororities, and Racism

Complex racial dynamics affect members of non-white fraternities even when they didn't involve explicit racism.
A stethoscope monitoring the pulse of a stack of twenty dollar bills
Politics & Government

How Subtle Subsidies Shaped U.S. Health Care

Melissa A. Thomasson looked into how federal money created the U.S. health care landscape as we know it.
Changing the channel with a television remote
Business

Why Bias Helps News Channels—and Maybe Viewers Too

According to a 2005 paper about bias in newspapers, reporting that tries to play things straight down the middle isn't necessarily a winning move.
American flag in front of a chalkboard
Education

Patriotism and History Class

The question of what, exactly, history class is for and what that has to do with patriotism goes back more than a century.
Rows of marijuana plants
Politics & Government

Legalizing Marijuana: Lessons from the Post-prohibition Era

The country's experience regulating alcohol after Prohibition may provide lessons regarding marijuana.
Close-up of "Just Married" sign attached on convertible car's trunk. Horizontal shot.
Politics & History

A Threat to “Traditional Marriage” in the 1920s

The view of "traditional marriage" has been under attack since long before anyone imagined state-sanctioned gay and lesbian unions
A field of wheat
Business & Economics

GMOs, Inequality and World Hunger

In a 2008 paper for the British Journal of Criminology, Reese Walters looked at GMO crops from an entirely different perspective.
Sold sign on a mailbox post
Business & Economics

How Real Estate Became a Global Commodity

A New York Times investigation is looking at the purchase of New York real estate by wealthy buyers from other countries.
Chalkboard drawing of man's evolution
Education

Democracy vs. Scientists: The Case of Evolution in Schools

Scientific expertise sometimes clashes with policy-making when it comes to teaching evolution in schools
A daycare teacher plays with a group of children
Business

Day Care: When School’s Snowed Out, Who Watches the Kids?

For a lot of dual-earner and single-parent families, there's no good solution for day care on a busy workday
Photo of an A test grade.
Education

What’s a Test Score Worth?

Are any standardized tests really useful?
Line of prefabricated homes
Business

The Stigma of Prefab Homes

The Wall Street Journal reports that million-dollar prefab homes are a growing trend in Europe
Rows of elementary students working diligently on their assignment
Education

Challenges Beyond the Classroom: Poverty, Race and Educational Achievement

Levels of educational achievement in the U.S. are deeply connected with race & income levels.
A student puts her head in her hands as she looks down at the assignment in front of h
Education

Is Common Core Doomed?

Is there still hope for Common Core Standards? And what will make them effective?
Portrait of back - Children are raised hands in classroom. [url=http://www.istockphoto.com/search/lightbox/9786682][img]http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2697/children5.jpg[/img][/url]
Education

Does Common Core Math Work?

(This is the first post in a four-part series about Common Core) Why is my kid’s math homework ...
Application for New Car Loan
Business

Usury in Historical Perspective

The Journal of Business Ethics present debates around lending and usury that go back to the beginnings of human history.
Chalkboard checklist listing Welfare and Work
Politics & Government

Debating Welfare Way Before George Will

The debate over welfare goes back surprisingly far.
A scale with coins on one side and stacks of hundred dollar bills in the other; the scales are balanced.
Business & Economics

Does Global Inequality Matter?

Is income inequality still a pressing global issue?
A woman with her hair in curlers spraying and holding the curlers in place
Business

Pinterest and Hairspray: Marketing “girly” stuff to men

Marketing any product that's been branded as "feminine" to men has long been a tough task.
Couple holding house keys and looking very happy
Politics & Government

What If Home Ownership Were Not Part of the American Dream?

Is home ownership a requirement for adulthood in America? As far back in 1938, some have argued to change that mindset.
A waitress serves patrons at an upscale restaurant
Business & Economics

What is Emotional Labor Worth?

Emotional labor is a concept that sociologist Arlie Hochschild developed in the 1983 book The Managed Heart.
Scattered hundred dollar bills
Politics & Government

A Fight About Taxing the Wealthy, a Century-Old Debate

The debate about how much of the government's money should come from the rich is a conversation that goes back more than 100 years.
A student learns at home with a caretaker close at hand
Education

‘Traditional Values’ Meet New Technology in the Home Schooling Movement

Michael W. Apple traces both the growth of home schooling and its related political activism to virtual communities made possible by the Internet.

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