Sometimes the challenge isn’t finding your passion, but figuring out how to follow it. For first-year student Noelle Garrick, that challenge just got a little easier. In fall 2021, the Departments of Art, Art History & Visual Studies and Computer Science introduced a new interdepartmental major in Computational Media. The major includes 14 courses — seven from Computer Science and seven from Visual and Media Studies. “We found that a lot of undergraduate students were already creating their own interdepartmental… read more » about Art Meets Tech in New Major
A new $5 million gift from the Charles Lafitte Foundation will bolster Duke Science and Technology, the university’s signature effort to elevate excellence in the sciences, and support students’ aspirations in pursuing the study of artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, neuroscience and more. This is the second major gift to Duke from the family foundation of Duke parents and philanthropists Jeffrey and Suzanne Citron of Hobe Sound, Fla., who donated another $5 million to Duke in 2018. The largest portion of the… read more » about Charles Lafitte Foundation’s $5 Million Gift Furthers a Shared Goal of Solving Challenges through Innovation
An unconventional National Hispanic Heritage Month panel held Oct. 12 at Duke unpacked and thoroughly discussed many complexities found within the Latinx identity, particularly for those living in the U.S. South. Its organizers aimed to shine a light on growing academic expertise on Latinx issues in the Triangle, while also urging Duke and surrounding institutions to reinvest in regional histories that provide an architecture for understanding the challenges and opportunities we face today. “To me this feels like the best… read more » about Latinx in the U.S. South: Scholars from Duke, UNC Discuss the Complexity of Identity, History and Language
Media innovation executive Opeyemi Olukemi is the new director of the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke University. Olukemi, the fourth director in the center’s 32-year history, began work in September. She came to Duke after stints at the Tribeca Film Institute and, most recently, American Documentary | POV, where she initiated partnerships, initiatives, and projects at the intersections of technology and storytelling. Olukemi said she was drawn both to CDS’s legacy and its potential as a… read more » about Opeyemi Olukemi Is New Director at the Center for Documentary Studies
Duke University Chapel will collect and publish stories of Black alumni at four universities in North and South Carolina. The “Counting It All Joy!” initiative aims to better understand and to make more visible the narratives of Black people who have attended one of these schools—Davidson College, Duke University, Furman University and Johnson C. Smith University—between 1990 and 2020. “As we approach Duke’s centennial, we have an opportunity to learn from people who have shaped this university and others in North and… read more » about Collecting the Stories of Black Alumni at Duke and Other Universities
As early as next week, North Carolina lawmakers will begin to craft maps, grouping voters into districts that will elect the next officials to serve in the state legislature and the United States House of Representatives. These maps “will not only shape our political landscape, but also the contours of our democracy for the next decade,” said Deondra Rose, associate professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of Polis: Center for Politics. North Carolina is rapidly growing and changing. The 2020 census… read more » about Five Things to Know About Redistricting in North Carolina
“It was definitely not what you sign up for when you decide to go to graduate school.” In August 2020, when many were adapting to new work patterns enforced by COVID-19, Danielle Vander Horst and more than 400 other new graduate students were beginning their journeys toward a Duke Ph.D. Their first year was unlike that of any other cohort. No welcome social. No bumping into lab mates in the hallway. No finding new restaurants in a new town. “You sign up for the department, you… read more » about In 2021, the 2020 Ph.D. Cohort Finally Experienced Duke in Person
More than 50 people gathered in a Duke classroom both in-person and remotely this September to consider whether “Truth is a Linguistic Question” – a prompt provided by faculty leading the ongoing Sawyer Seminar Series on language discrimination in fragile and precarious communities. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the series launched in spring 2020 and continued throughout the pandemic thanks to a combination of perseverance and the power of Zoom. This latest seminar kicked off a slate of events for this fall.… read more » about ‘Truth is a Linguistic Question’ Talks by Five Trinity Scholars Relaunch Series on Language Discrimination
Midway through the fall semester, Duke has seen zero COVID transmissions traced back to the classroom. This is a result of a COVID response plan that in several ways distinguished itself from those at other universities: Masks in the classroom, full vaccination of faculty, staff and students, and heavy surveillance testing and quick turnaround of results. A month of declining and low numbers of infections shows that the response is working; Last week at the Academic Council a team of faculty experts and senior… read more » about The Modeling Data Behind Duke's COVID Response Plan
DURHAM, N.C. -- We put “save the chimps” on t-shirts and posters. But you’ll never see anyone walking around in a shirt that says “save the chimpanzee lice.” People seem to be more aware of the plight of endangered gorillas than of the gorillas’ gut worms, or are understandably more enamored with mouse lemurs than their mites. Our closest animal relatives face a precarious future: Half of the world’s roughly 500 primate species are at risk of extinction due to human activities such as hunting, trapping and deforestation.… read more » about If Endangered Primates Disappear, So Will Their Parasites. That’s Actually a Problem
Scholars, practitioners and advocates will examine the legal and political landscape of redistricting, preview the ongoing process in North Carolina and around the country, and discuss reforms during a conference Sept. 28-29 at Duke. “Redistricting and American Democracy” will also give Duke students and the general public an opportunity to learn how redistricting will impact them -- and what they can do about it. Attendance at in-person events is limited to individuals with a Duke ID plus invited guests. All… read more » about The Past, Present and Future of Redistricting in North Carolina and Beyond
Four individuals on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2021 have a Duke connection—two trustees, a faculty member, and a soon-to-be honorary degree recipient. A member of the Duke faculty is highlighted on the TIME list as a “Pioneer.” Felwine Sarr, the Anne-Marie Bryan Distinguished Professor of Romance Studies, joined the faculty in 2020. A native of Senegal and an internationally known public intellectual, Sarr has research interests that span from economics to literature. In… read more » about Felwine Sarr of Romance Studies: Influential at Duke and Around the World