The Intersections at Duke series highlights the power of collaboration at Duke University. These conversations bring together faculty who are tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges, showing what becomes possible when different perspectives come together. In the season 2 opening episode, Dr. Gustavo Silva (Biology), a molecular and cellular biologist, is in conversation and Dr. Jennifer Cohen, a pediatric rare disease physician, exploring how discoveries in cells translate into… read more about Dr. Gustavo Silva – Bridging Discovery and Care »
Moms, especially Black Moms “are doing a lot more with their football-playing sons than they’re usually given credit for”. In the newest issue of Duke Magazine, several Duke football players were interviewed about their relationship and the importance of their mothers during their entire career. Scaffolded by the work of Dr. Tracie Canada (CulAnth), this article discusses how moms are real gatekeepers of the sport and usually the most important person in the lives of these athletes. Read it here! read more about Dr. Tracie Canada and the Mothers Who Sustain the Football Enterprise »
The Duke CTSA K12 program, led by Program Directors Drs. Rasheed Gbadegesin (Medicine), and Asheley Skinner, provides mentored research training, structured career development, and protected time to support the transition to independent research careers. Through this program, scholars gain the skills necessary to translate scientific discoveries into improved patient care and health outcomes. Congratulation to Dr. Jashalynn German (Medicine) and Dr.… read more about Drs. German and Williams named Duke CTSA K12 Scholars »
The Duke University School of Medicine has announced the 2026 Michelle P. Winn Inclusive Excellence Awards honoring individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to inclusive excellence over the past year. Dr. Gerald Bloomfield was recognized for a career devoted to addressing cardiovascular health disparities. The impact of his work is both local and global, spanning regions in Kenya, Pakistan, and other countries. Read more here. read more about Dr. Bloomfield Receives the 2026 Michelle P. Winn Award »
Dr. Candis Watts Smith is the new Robert O. Keohane Professor of Political Science. Dr. Watts Smith was named 2026 Bass Chairs this spring, joining the Bass Society of Fellows. This prestigious distinction honors faculty whose teaching and research exemplify Duke’s commitment to undergraduate education. Dr. Watts Smith is an exceptional teacher, top-ranked scholar, prolific author, and public intellectual. Her scholarship highlights the role of race and ethnicity in shaping the American political landscape… read more about Dr. Candis Watts Smith, named a 2026 Bass Professor! »
According to Abbas Benmamoun (Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement): “The review process [for full professor] looks for distinction, leadership and impact in research, teaching and engagement and for prominence in the relevant area of expertise nationally and internationally. These faculty colleagues represent all facets of academic excellence that are essential to Duke’s core mission of discovery, education and engagement”. Congratulations to Dr. Trinitia Cannon (Head & Neck) Dr. Mbaye Lo… read more about Drs. Cannon, Lo, and Rose Promoted to the Rank of Full Professor! »
In this recent talk to the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, Dr. Melanie Lamotte (History), presents her latest book, By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire (Harvard U Press, 2026). Dr. Lamotte is a historian of race, colonialism and slavery in the early modern period. The first pan-imperial history of the early French Empire in the English language, this book shows how an increasingly cohesive legal culture came to govern the lives… read more about Dr. Melanie Lamotte: Sex, Race, Labor & The French Empire »
Dr. Tyson Brown is a Professor of Sociology and the director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. In this interview, Dr. Brown discusses his roles and the main takeaways from the newest report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) on Economic and Social Mobility. This report develops a framework for ongoing research to understand and expand opportunities for economic and social mobility in the United States. In the video below for the… read more about Dr. Tyson Brown: Understanding Social Mobility »
Colon cancer doesn’t just impact older adults. Increasingly, it's striking people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s—sometimes with little to no warning. This episode of Beyond the Endpoint, explores the rising incidence of colorectal cancer. Dr. Julius Wilder (SoM) discusses the science behind these trends, updated screening guidelines, and research aimed at improving access. Listen to the episode here. read more about From Provider to Patient: A Dual Perspective on Colorectal Cancer with Dr. Wilder »
The African American Intellectual History Society announced that Dr. Jarvis McInnis (English), author of Afterlives of the Plantation received the 2026 Pauli Murray Book Prize. Named after lawyer, author, and women’s rights activist-intellectual Pauli Murray, the prize recognizes the best book concerning Black intellectual history published in 2025. Dr. McInnis will receive a monetary prize, a featured roundtable on the book in Global Black Thought, and a featured interview published in Black… read more about Dr. Jarvis McInnis Awarded the 2026 Pauli Murray Book Prize »
In the Lowest Freedom: Racial Capitalism and Black Thought in the Nineteenth Century (Columbia University Press) is an intellectual history of how economic dispossession shaped the meaning of freedom in Black thought from antebellum abolitionism to the rise of Jim Crow. Dr. Justin Leroy (History) argues that figures such as Frederick Douglass, T. Thomas Fortune, Maria Stewart, David Walker, and Ida B. Wells developed a critique of racial capitalism that remains… read more about New Book by Dr. Justin Leroy: The Lowest Freedom »
Duke University has awarded distinguished professorships to 38 faculty and will recognize them in a ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn on May 18. Distinguished professorships honor faculty who are well-established members of the Duke academic community and have also achieved distinction as creative scholars in their field or in their ability to transcend disciplines. We want to congratulate and celebrate Dr. Tonia Poteat, now the Ruby L. Wilson Distinguished Professor in Nursing! read more about Dr. Tonia Poteat Receives Distinguished Professorship »
From Reconstruction to Redemption, from the enactment of landmark civil rights legislation to the execution of the Southern strategy, from 2020’s multiracial protests to the swift elimination of policies etching out a more inclusive society, Americans regularly experience periods of racial reckoning followed by walloping retrenchment. In her new book Black Evidence: A History and a Warning (W. W. Norton & Co), Dr. Candis Watts Smith (PoliSci) shows that this pattern is the result… read more about New Book by Dr. Candis Watts Smith: Black Evidence »
Prof. Beverly McIver, an emerita professor of the practice in the Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies, has received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine award. It is the highest award for state service given “to persons for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and their communities that is above and beyond the call of duty and which has made a significant impact and strengthened North Carolina.” Read more here! read more about Prof. Beverly McIver Receives Top State Honor »
Duke’s Office of Undergraduate Education recently enlisted student writers to interview the three faculty members who received the 2025–2026 Judith Deckers Prize, an award that recognizes excellence in undergraduate teaching. Dr. Deondra Rose (Sanford) shares what makes the classroom meaningful to her. Read more here! read more about Dr. Rose, Teaching Award Winner Shares Her Teaching Philosophies »
Duke University has paired with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office to use dispatchers to send a defibrillator by drone to the site of the incident so a trained professional can direct a civilian through the process of using the defibrillator until EMS arrives. Dr. Monique Starks (Medicine) was quoted on KREX-TV about how receiving treatment in the first five minutes is critical to improve survival. Read more here. read more about Dr. Starks on Drone Deployment to Save Heart Attack Victims »
Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (AAAS) set out to show another side of Black Studies scholars when he created the Duke web series “Left of Black.” He wanted viewers to understand the personal motivations behind the researchers’ work, as well as to help make sense of the complex forces of racism that shape the experiences of people of African descent. Over the years, the series has grown into a vibrant platform spotlighting African American Studies scholarship, along with celebrating the… read more about 'Left of Black’ Starts 16th Season »
When most people hear the word “research,” they picture Bunsen burners and artifacts, datasets and libraries. But in dance reconstruction, research rarely resembles its conventional counterparts — it does not begin in a laboratory or remain confined to the page. Rather, the primary evidence unfolds through revisiting, remembering and reinhabiting work shaped by time and shared experiences. For Prof. Iyun Ashani Harrison (Dance), this embodied mode of inquiry framed his restaging of John Taras’ ballet “Firebird” for the… read more about Prof. Iyun Harrison: The Body as Archive »
Color does more than capture a viewer’s attention. It assaults one’s equilibrium physically and psychologically. In this stunning book, Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect (Princeton University Press), Dr. Richard Powell (John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History) draws on the concept of “colorstruck,” a twentieth-century slang term describing prejudice toward people with darker skin complexions, to provide a new history of Black American art. Secure your copy… read more about New book by Dr. Richard Powell: Colorstuck! »
Save a Seat for Me: Notes on American Fatherhood (Simon & Schuster) embraces the nuances of how contemporary frameworks of masculinity informed by unprecedented advances in women and LGBTQ communities have necessitated a reimagining of the societal expectations a father plays in the public and private sectors of their homes. The soul of this book centers on Dr. Mark A. Neal’s (AAAS) confrontation of the various political, cultural, historical narratives and messages that inform the role of Black fatherhood… read more about New book by Dr. Mark A. Neal: Save a Seat For Me »
Associate Professor of English, Dr. Jarvis McInnis is an interdisciplinary scholar of African American and African Diaspora literature and culture, and his work thoughtfully engages the histories, cultures, and afterlives of the global South, with a focus on the U.S. South and the Caribbean. Afterlives of the Plantation exemplifies the intellectual rigor, originality, and critical insight that the ASALH Book Prize honors. We celebrate Dr. McInnis for this outstanding achievement and for his significant… read more about Congratulations to Dr. Jarvis McInnis on winning the 2026 ASALH Book Prize Award »
Informal mentoring relationships we establish ourselves can often be more helpful and satisfying than formal assigned mentors. It takes time, intention and strategy to build these networks, and the “rules” for doing so aren’t always clear. At a workshop lead by the Office for Faculty Advancement. Dr. CJ Appleton (Sanford) and Dr. Suzanne Barbour (Dean of The Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education) shared what has worked for them. Read here the excerpts from the discussion… read more about Drs. Appleton & Barbour: Guidance on Building a Faculty Mentoring Network »
Professor Veronica Root Martinez (Law) among others will serve as fellow in the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Leaders Network program. This leadership development opportunity is part of Duke Faculty Advancement’s portfolio of programs to support faculty and academic leaders. At Duke, she chairs the Law School’s Academic Careers Committee and serves on key university bodies, including the Board of Trustees’ Finance Committee, the University Priorities Committee and the Institutional Compliance Advisory… read more about Spending a Year as ACC Leadership Fellows »
From Duke Blue to bold florals, a new series highlights how intentional color choices shape how people feel and think at work. Dr. Richard Powell, the John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke is the author of the forthcoming book “Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect”. In this book, Dr. Powell explores the use of colors in art, along with the history and evolution of their meaning. Read more in Duke Today. read more about Dr. Richard Powell: The Power of Color in a Duke Workday »
In a recent episode of the podcast “unMASKing with Male Educators”, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (AAAS) joins Ashanti for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about masks we wear in education, what students have lost (and gained) in the post-pandemic classroom, and why freedom with language can be a pathway to belonging. This podcast focuses on male educators who want to embody a necessary change in schools. Listen to the whole episode here. read more about unMASKing with Male Educators, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal »
In a Q&A to the Office for Faculty Advancement, Dr. Vicki Bogan (Sanford) discusses her research interests, current projects, what has kept her at Duke, and what she does for fun. Dr. Bogan studies household finance, inequality and applied microeconomics centering on issues involving investment decision-making behavior and financial markets. Read the full interview here. read more about Office for Faculty Advancement Spotlight: Dr. Vicki Bogan »
Black men face higher risk for dementia. Amid Super Bowl hype, former NFL pro and Duke sociologist, Dr. Robert W. Turner, II (Population Health Sciences) is leading voice urging Black men to join brain health research. Participation is critical as the communities most affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are the least represented in the research designed to understand it. Dr. Turner is the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health-funded study examining how repetitive head… read more about Dr. Robert Turner: Tackling football's impact on Black men's brain health »
In his first book-length monograph, Duke professor Dr. Jarvis McInnis establishes Booker T. Washington's school, Tuskegee Institute, as a site of agrarian worldmaking, modern black subjectivity, and diasporic formation in the early 20th century. "Afterlives of the Plantation: Plotting Agrarian Futures in the Global Black South," illuminates how a host of Black artists, intellectuals, and political leaders-including George Washington Carver, Jean Price-Mars, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, and Marcus… read more about "Afterlives of the Plantation," with Dr. Jarvis C. McInnis | Duke Faculty Bookwatch »
This month, a number of events, news stories, and talks across Duke University celebrated and explored Blackness in meaningful ways. BTT has compiled a selection of them here, and we hope you had the opportunity to attend or see these articles on your favorites news channels. Highlights ranged from a talk by Ilyasah Shabazz, a new partnership reinvigorating the Duke Colored Library, to an article honoring fashion icon André Leon Talley’s grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis, who worked as a Duke housekeeper for 50 years… read more about Black History Month: Events, Talks, and Exhibits Celebrating Blackness at Duke and Durham »
This month, Dr. Annette Joseph-Gabriel was interviewed by The Black Studies Podcast, a Mellon grant sponsored series of conversations examining the history of the field. Dr. Joseph-Gabriel is the John Spencer Bassett Associate Professor of Romance Studies and her research has been supported by awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the American Philosophical Society. Here, she discusses her introduction to the field of Black Studies,… read more about The Black Studies Podcast: Dr. Annette Joseph-Gabriel »