When she visits Duke classrooms virtually, Trinity Dean Valerie Ashby comes prepared (with props!) to engage with students. Her drop-ins let her check on student progress and wellness during an accelerated and challenging semester. Read more on her work to stay connected even virtually! read more about Dean Ashby Drop-ins Classrooms to Build Connections with Students, Tackle Challenging Topics »
The moment has finally arrived for the United States biomedical research enterprise to directly confront structural racism in scientific funding, according to Duke neuroscientist Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, K. Ranga Rama Krishnan Association Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dzirasa’s opinion piece that appears in the journal Cell this week is the fourth in a series on systemic racism, with the other pieces appearing in Cell, The Hill, and Neuron. Read more… read more about Duke neuroscientist Dr. Kafui Dzirasa publishes anti-racism op-ed series »
The question of whether and how to compensate descendants of people formerly enslaved in the United States has hung over the country since the end of the Civil War. It’s getting new traction in the 2020 election. Duke Professor Deondra Rose interviews Professor William "Sandy" Darity about his Reparations Planning Committee that flesh out the details of how a reparations program would work and details it in the season finale of the Ways & Means podcast. Listen here. This season of Ways & Means is… read more about Professor Darity speaks about the racial wealth gap and reparations on the Ways & Means podcast »
Duke Health team members recently gathered in a virtual town hall to hear a progress report on Moments to Movement (M2M), Duke Health's collective stand against systemic racism and social injustice. “After the killing of George Floyd, we heard the call for action, both around the world and among our own people,” said A. Eugene Washington, MD, chancellor for health affairs at Duke University and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System (DUHS). Read more here. read more about Duke Health Leaders Share Plans for Advancing Racial, Social, and Health Equity »
Law professor and co-director of the Center on Law, Race, and Politics, Guy-uriel Charles writing for NBC News about the need to pass laws that protect voting rather than relying on judicial decisions. read more about Texas legal battles highlight how the 2020 election is being fought in the courts »
Does being a Black artist necessitate being 'woke' and thus influencing the work that they produce? Cartoonist Keith Knight, who has attained newfound success with the new Hulu original series, "Woke," joined Dr. Mark Anthony Neal to discuss the show and how life has changed for him as an artist. Left of Black is a web series featuring interviews with Black Studies scholars created and hosted by James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies Mark Anthony Neal and produced by the Duke… read more about Prof. Mark Anthony Neal discusses WOKE with cartoonist Keith Knight on Left of Black's Season 11 Premiere »
Duke Dance Program Professor Ava LaVonne Vinesett is one of only 20 choreographers selected to participate in the North Carolina Dance Festival (NCDF). Traditionally a touring festival that brings modern and contemporary choreographies to audiences across the state, this year NCDF will be a virtual celebration of its 30th season. Read more at Duke Dance. read more about Duke Dance's Ava Vinesett Captures Single Moments for the NC Festival of Dance »
Dr. Nicki Washington received an 2020 Award for Inclusion Research for her upcoming project "Measuring the Cultural Competence of Computing Students and Faculty Nationwide to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion." The Award for Inclusion Research program is a global program that supports academic research in computing and technology addressing the needs of underrepresented populations organized by Google. Learn more here. read more about Nicki Washington receives 2020 Award for Inclusion Research from Google »
The Rubenstein Arts Center has transformed to meet the challenges of the pandemic. The Ruby was a PPE production site this summer and now is home to safe (in-person and hybrid) art practice teaching. The Ruby remains closed to the public to protect the health of our community. Read more here. read more about The Ruby, Reconfigured »
Brie Starks, Quinton Smith and Chandra Guinn work to preserve and share Black culture and history at Duke at the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture. Read more here at Duke Today. Left to right: Brie Starks, Quinton Smith and Chandra Guinn. Photo courtesy of the Mary Lou Williams Center. read more about Department Spotlight: Preserving and Celebrating Black Culture »
Learn more about Jennifer Nash who joined Duke faculty as a Jean Fox O'Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies this year. Read more here at Duke Today as a part of the Welcome the New Faculty 2020 series. Photo taken from Duke Today. read more about Jennifer Nash: Unsettling the Romances of Black Feminism »
One important thing that hasn’t changed in a semester of the pandemic is the arrival of new faculty members. They come with new ideas, research problems and classes. Their importance in sustaining existing strengths and guiding Duke toward new areas of excellence can’t be underestimated. Read more here at Duke Stories. Photos by Bill Snead, Jared Lazarus, and Megan Mendenhall. read more about Meet Duke's new faculty of 2020 »
Dr. Mark Anthony Neal spoke to The Criterion Collective about 1970s Black Cinema. Danielle Jackson writes "these films, with their lighthearted moments of slapstick and warm depiction of Black male camaraderie, were, as the scholar Mark Anthony Neal has put it, “a calculated attempt to distinguish some forms of Black film from the blaxploitation fare that had come to dominate the genre.” Read more here. read more about Claudine: A Happy Home »
French scholar of the Atlantic Maboula Soumahoro joins philosopher, economist, and musician Professor Felwine Sarr in a public discussion moderated by Laurent Dubois about Sarr's book, AFROTOPIA. Afrotopia is a vibrant meditation and poetic call for an African utopian philosophy of self-reinvention for the twenty-first century. Watch here. read more about Afrotopia: A Conversation with Felwine Sarr and Maboula Soumahoro »
The Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences has established two new leadership positions to provide vision and leadership to promote an equitable, anti-racist and inclusive culture within the department and in partnership with other entities across the Duke School of Medicine and Duke Health. Ernestine Briggs-King, PhD, an associate professor, will serve as director of diversity, equity and inclusion, and Annise Weaver, MSEd, CRC, director of clinical operations, will serve as associate director. read more about Duke Psychiatry Introduces New Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leaders »
Congratulations to Professor Gustavo Silva! Gustavo's lab has been awarded a 5-year NIH R35 MIRA grant to study the ways that cells respond to stress. This grant was awarded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) and his lab will study how an important protein named ubiquitin controls the production of other proteins, which is key in supporting cellular resistance to oxidative stress. See details at the NIH website here. read more about Congratulations to Biology Professor Silva! »
Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke came to Duke in 1963 as one of the “First Five” Black undergraduates, breaking barriers and entering classroom buildings that had previously been closed to Black students. Now, her legacy as a pioneer at Duke and as a leading lawyer, law professor, university administrator and trustee for both Duke University and The Duke Endowment, will be celebrated by the renaming of one of those classroom buildings after her. (read more) read more about ICONIC WEST CAMPUS BUILDING NAMED AFTER A DUKE PIONEER »
Nicki Washington is a woman on a mission: As a professor of the practice of computer science at Duke, she teaches a course called Race, Gender, Class & Computing, which explores the diversity challenges in computer science and the effects that this lack of inclusion has on technology. (read more) read more about NEW COURSE ADDRESSES LACK OF INCLUSION IN COMPUTER SCIENCE »
An occupational therapist, an organist, and a food economist walk into a divinity school—it might sound like the beginning of a funny story, but they are actually three of the eight exciting new hires who have joined the Duke Divinity faculty in 2020. Read more here at Stories@DukeDivinity. Photo by Duke Divinity read more about Meet the New Duke Divinity School Faculty »
Beverly McIver was asked to participate in political public art project led by People for the American Way, and it sparked a series of directly political paintings. McIver is Professor of the Practice in Duke's Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies. Read more. read more about Duke's Beverly McIver is responding to Black Lives Matter and the election through her paintings »
Racial injustice has claimed the spotlight of national debate following the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. Reparations, the centuries-old discussion, has now become mainstream. Dr. Darity discusses this further in this video with CNBC. read more about Dr. Darity discusses reparations on CNBC »
New research suggests Black women with natural hairstyles, such as curly afros, braids or twists, are often perceived as less professional than Black women with straightened hair, particularly in industries where norms dictate a more conservative appearance. Read more and watcha video detailing these findings by Dr. Ashleigh Rosette here. read more about Research Suggests Bias Against Natural Hair Limits Job Opportunities for Black Women »
Featured in DukeToday, Dr. Kafui Dzirasa, a K. Ranga Rama Krishnan Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, wrote about his experiences striving for success as a black scientist in a racially unjust world. This article was originally published in Cell magazine. Read more here. read more about Dr. Kafui Dzirasa: For Black Scientists, the Sorrow is also Personal »
In celebration of Black History Month, The Black Think Tank (BTT) would like to congratulate the five Duke University faculty and “rising star” named earlier this month in CellPress’s “100 inspiring black scientists in America.” The inaugural list hoped “to provide some revelation and encouragement to existing and forthcoming generations of scientists,” CellPress’s website said. Duke University is represented by Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD (School of Medicine); Sherilynn J. Black, PhD (Medical Education, and Associate Vice… read more about Five Duke scholars named to list of 100 Inspiring Black Scientists in America »
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined in the studio by Dr. Deondra Rose (@DeondraRose), an assistant professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy with a secondary appointment in the Department of Political Science. Her research focuses on the feedback effects of landmark social policies on the American political landscape. She is the author of Citizens by Degree: Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship (Oxford University Press, 2018),… read more about Mark Anthony Neal joined by Dr. Deondra Rose: Left of Black S10:E4: Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship »
With a Wednesday reception and the launch of a new website, Black Think Tank kicked off at Duke this week. It’s an effort supported by seed money from the Provost’s Office of Faculty Advancement that seeks to connect and promote black faculty of all ranks from all parts of the university. Read the full story on Duke Today read more about Junior Faculty, Students, Launch "Black Think Tank" »
Duke English Professor Jarvis C. McInnis offers insight to what students should look for in a PhD program: "“If you are a woman, person of color, queer person, or another underrepresented minority, consider the university’s and department’s track record with people whose identities are similar to yours. Do they tend to thrive there, or do they tend to leave the program prematurely? You should also inquire into the department’s job-placement rate and the average time to degree. This information can speak volumes… read more about PhD Programs: Finding the Right Fit »
In the Research Spotlight of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Today, Duke Professor Gustavo Silva discusses how he navigated his scientific career and the challenges of building a supportive professional network. Read the full article read more about A Network Helps Launch A Career »
Duke Dance Program Professor Ava LaVonne Vinesett is one of only 20 choreographers selected to participate in the North Carolina Dance Festival (NCDF). Traditionally a touring festival that brings modern and contemporary choreographies to audiences across the state, this year NCDF will be a virtual celebration of its 30th season. Read more here at Duke Dance. Photo from Duke Dance read more about Vinesett Considers the Physical Investment of Dancers in N.C. Dance Festival Work »
Dr. Johnna Frierson participated in the inaugural #BlackinMicrobiology week in September, sitting on a panel discussing Stem Education Disparities in the Black Community. She was later interviewed about the importance of this initiative and others in the scientific community for an article in The New York Times, particularly for inspiring the next generation of Black individuals to pursue a career STEM. She shares that “There’s something in the system that is not optimized in order for us… read more about Johnna Frierson featured in inaugural #BlackInMicrobology week »