Tag Archives: Family / Education

Scholars’ Circle – Abortion/reproductive rights & access post presidential election – November 17, 2024

In the 2024 election, voters reaffirmed the right to abortion in many states while the nation still elected an anti-abortion president, and anti-abortion majority in both the senate and the house of representatives. What does this mean for abortion rights in the US.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Election issues of Tariff on imports and Childcare affecting Economy and Workforce – October 20, 2024

“the most beautiful word in the English language is tariff.” That is a direct quote from former President and current Republican candidate for President Donald Trump. On most issues that involve funding, when the former President is asked how he intends to pay for a proposal, his response is to increase tariffs. In 2018 the US initiated a round a tariffs and a trade war with China. And after his election in 2020, President Biden has left most of the tariffs in place and increased tariffs in other areas. So what are tariffs and what are their impact on the US economy? Who pays them? What is their effect on the one issue that most Americans use to define economic health—inflation. And what do the two candidates propose as the future of US tariff policy following the 2024 elections. [ dur: 38mins. ]

For many Americans, the cost of child care is a significant challenge to parents returning to the job market. And this has a particular importance to working women, who are traditionally expected to be the children’s primary care giver. According to the US Census Bureau child care prices for a single child ranged from $4,810 a year for school-age home-based care in small counties to $15,417 for infant center-based care in very large counties. When adjusted for inflation, this equals between $5,357 and $17,171 in 2022 dollars. These price ranges were equivalent to between 8% and 19.3% of median family income per child in paid care. And while the number is increasingly, only 13% of American corporations offer onsite child care. What can be done to control the cost of child care? What does this increased cost mean for women’s ability to work? And what should the US government do to increase access to child care across the nation? [ dur: 20mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Ways to Stop violence among Kids ; Addressing generational traumas experienced by children – September 15, 2024

School shootings have sadly become a part of American life over the last two decades. From the 2000–01 to 2021–22 school years, there were 1,375 school shootings at public and private elementary and secondary schools, resulting in 515 deaths and 1,161 injuries. What are the causes of all of this violence? What are the best ways to address this epidemic of violence, and stop these shootings? How effective can citing parents as liable and even bring charges against them when children shoot other children. [ dur: 34mins. ]

Mass shootings in the Unites States are unprecedented in advanced industrial democracies. We explore the psychological impact of these shootings on the survivors and witnesses, with a particular attention to the children who experience this trauma. What are effective actions to confront the traumas experienced by the children who survive school shootings? Overwhelming the response of mass shootings is to “do something.” But what should we as a society and as an electorate do in response to these mass shootings? [ dur: 24mins. ].

This is an excerpt from our June, 2022 interview, listen to the complete interview visit the post here.

More resources are available at:

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Book interview, Abundant University, remaking higher education for a Digital World; Why is liberal arts education necessary? – January 7, 2024

For many people, access to universities for study and degrees is a means to future economic success. So families sacrifice to pay for this education, or often take out substantial loans to cover the cost. But what if universities opened their access and became truly abundant as a societal resource. Economist Michael Smith, in his new book The Abundant University, makes the case for rethinking access to higher education. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Universities want to appeal to their students, who increasingly look to their schooling as a training period for future employment. But this puts traditional liberal arts departments like philosophy at risk. We examine the future of liberal arts education in light of the trend to silo student training into pre-professional programs at the undergraduate level. [ dur: 30mins. ]

This program is produced by Maria Armoudian, Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Roe v Wade is likely to be overturned by US Supreme Court – September 19, 2021

The Supreme Court signaled with their upholding of the Texas abortion law that Roe v Wade is likely to be overturned. What does this mean for the reproductive rights of women around the country, and in particular women of color and poorer women? Is it the end of women’s rights to reproductive choice established by Roe v Wade? We look at how are many women ensuring access to abortions in light of the closure of abortion clinics. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Interview with Suicide Bombers -/- Transmission of Trauma from parent to child – March 8, 2020

First, from broken heart to suicide bomber we explore the various drives that fuel deadly terror. [dur: 17mins. ]

Then, is the transmission of trauma multi-generational? Do the children of survivors of mass atrocities have higher risk of developing psychological disorders? What are the social and behavioral factors that result in the trauma of successive generations? We look at the impact of survivors’ post-trauma adaptational style in their children’s eyes. [ dur: 40mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

Scholars’ Circle – Children of incarcerated parents -/- The US Presidency – October 2, 2016

First, what are the life chances of children of incarcerated parents? [ dur: 9 mins. ]

Then, how much does the president truly matter for the direction of the United States and for the rest of the world. [ dur: 47 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Find books authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.