Publications

Author: Jasmyn J. Tang , MPH November 19, 2025 The separation of church and state is a common phrase utilized in governmental policy and discussion. Not directly appearing in the United States Constitution, the concept is embodied by the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” 1,2   Within the First Amendment, two clauses guarantee religious freedom: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. The Establishment Clause

Author: Sasha Leonard November 18, 2025 Introduction In sociology, the concept of deservingness refers to people’s rationales when judging who warrants resources or support. The CARIN framework, which was first developed by sociologist Wim van Oorschot (2000), expands on this concept by offering five principles with which to analyze how people separate the deserving from the undeserving. The five principles include control , attitude , reciprocity , identity , and need , and

Author: Kate Minichiello November 12, 2025 [Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images] Introduction Recent actions by Trump and his Executive Cabinet suggest that they are not upholding the First Amendment as they promised. Focusing on the second administration, actions have threatened the free speech of news media, universities, law firms, libraries, and data-collecting bureaucracies. Most of the cases are acts of jawboning–“the attempt to persuade or pressure by the force

Author: Zeinab Abulhul, PhD November 11, 2025 [Image Credit: International Commission of Jurists] Introduction  There has been a rise in Libyan women marrying foreign men, especially from other Arab and Muslim-majority countries. This trend has increased as more migrant workers from neighboring Arab nations have settled in Libya because of ongoing conflicts in their home countries. Meanwhile, many Libyan families have been displaced and resettled in neighboring Arab countries