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"Science and society have influenced and have been influenced by the creation, reproduction and maintenance of racial hierarchies." That is the catalyst behind the creative programming for the Race, Genomics and Society course at Duke. Charmaine Royal, the Robert O. Keohane Professor of African & African American Studies and Biology and director of the Duke Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, has taught the course since 2009. The creative portions of have grown to… read more about Transdisciplinary Course Creativity »

The Southern Economic Association® (SEA) presented and honored its inaugural cohort of Distinguished Fellows on November 19, 2023 during its 93rd Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The inaugural cohort consists of all living past Presidents of the Association, who are at least two years removed from office. The SEA Board unanimously approved a resolution creating a Distinguished Fellows Program at its 92nd Annual Meeting. Distinguished Fellows have a substantial record of exceptional scholarly achievement and long-term… read more about Four Duke Scholars Among Those Honored by the Southern Economic Association As the Inaugural Cohort of Distinguished Fellows »

Assistant Professor of African & African American Studies Khwezi Mkhize joins the Duke faculty this year. (John West/Trinity Communications) Khwezi Mkhize’s career as a scholar has followed a global flow of youth movements and Black intellectuals — both in his research and his life. After earning an undergraduate degree in African literature from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, the Johannesburg native began a Ph.D. in Africana studies at the University of… read more about How British Empire Unwittingly Connected Black Intellectuals  »

How does the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Chinese-American father develop a love for African American literature? By visiting Russia. “There is no canon of me,” says Stephanie Li, Duke’s new research professor of African & African American Studies. “There is no Chinese-Mexican-American canon of literature to read.” Instead, she started with Dostoevsky. Li studied abroad in Moscow as an undergraduate Stanford comparative literature student. “I took the ‘comparative’ in ‘comparative literature’ a little more… read more about Professor Stephanie Li on Race, Love and Resistance In African American Literature »

Summer is a great time to catch up on reading. Books from more than a dozen Duke authors offer insight on a range of topics – from gratitude for everyday life to the antislavery writings of Henry David Thoreau. Below is a roundup of some of the most recently published and soon-to-be-out titles. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be… read more about Hot Off the Press: Summer Reading From Duke Authors »

For decades genetics and genomics researchers have used race, ethnicity, ancestry and other population descriptors in research that has opened powerful areas of study of human history and evolution, biology, diseases and heritable traits. But these descriptors are slippery words with hard to pin down meanings. They are also contested words, and the use of “race” as a surrogate for biology or genetics has in particular led to confusion, discrimination and increased race-based health inequities. Last week, a national… read more about Rethinking the Use of Race and Other Labels in Genetics Research »