The COVID-19 pandemic has made technology essential to collective religious life. Livestreamed services, viewed from home, are the new normal. But a new study from Duke University shows the number of congregations employing technology during worship services was on the rise even before the pandemic struck. The 2018-19 National Congregations Study, conducted on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, found, among other things, broad use of smartphones during worship services. Congregations encourage their audiences to use… read more » about Going to Church? Bring Your Smartphone!
In July 2021, Marko Cetina will join Duke University’s Department of Physics as an Assistant Professor. An atomic, molecular and optical physicist, Cetina has used his wide-ranging research in light, lasers and atoms to both explore the basic physics of quantum phenomena and support the development of improved technology necessary for today’s leading quantum machines. Cetina will come to Duke from the University of Maryland, where he worked at the Joint Quantum Institute alongside Chris Monroe, who joined the Duke faculty… read more » about Marko Cetina: Building Quantum Machines to Understand Physical Processes
“I am fundamentally committed to Black feminism as a theoretical and political project,” said Jennifer Nash, who joined the Duke faculty as Jean Fox O'Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies this year. “That’s where my heart is.” By following that guiding star, Nash has created an acclaimed body of work that includes two award-winning books and a third book coming next year. But her research is also deeply personal. “For me, every project has come out of the experiential,” Nash said. Since her… read more » about Unsettling the Romances of Black Feminism
In the 1990s, a movement inspired by activists, educators, and the Catholic Church sparked change that would help put Brazil on the path to more diverse universities. In his directorial debut, Travis Knoll helped to share the story of that movement in the documentary The Book Revolution. Knoll, a Ph.D. candidate in history who examines racial justice policy and religious civil society organizations, thought of the idea for the documentary after his involvement with another documentary about students living… read more » about Knoll Shares Story of Brazil's ‘Book Revolution’
Years ago, Theater Studies Professor Neal Bell was asked to do a complete screenplay overhaul of a horror movie being shot in Toronto. The director, who shared a similar theater background, remembered that Bell was a horror buff, so he flew him to Canada to see the finished movie sets (mainly those of a shady hospital). Then, the producers informed him that he had a mere two weeks to write a completed screenplay. While Bell always loved movies, he’d never written a screenplay—so he pulled a 14-day version of an all-nighter… read more » about Here, There Be Monsters
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke students will soon emerge more prepared to use data to create new knowledge in a host of disciplines thanks to the newly launched Center for Computational Thinking (CCT). The new center is a response to the growing demands for more computational skills among new college graduates. It will infuse data literacy across the academic experience while simultaneously preparing students to consider the ethical, legal, and social impacts of technology. “The CCT will provide training in a co-curricular… read more » about Duke Launches Center to Bring Computational Thinking to All Students
A virtual exhibit and event bring student scholarship to new audiences When Mellon Visiting Professor Silvio Luiz de Almeida arrived at Duke this spring, he partnered with History Professor John French to offer students a timely, global look at the parallel struggles for racial justice in Brazil and the United States – two countries in the Western Hemisphere with the largest Afro-descended populations. Almeida and French planned an innovative final project for their course: student contributions to an exhibit about a… read more » about Black Lives Matter Brazil-USA
Here are recently published and forthcoming books by Duke authors, from September and October: Marc Zvi Brettler, co-author: “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently” Annotated Edition (HarperOne, Oct. 27, 2020) Avshalom Caspi and Terrie E. Moffitt, co-authors: “The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life” (Harvard University Press) Samuel Fury Childs Daly: “A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime,… read more » about New Great Reads from Duke Authors
DURHAM, N.C. -- Even when a person suffering from malaria is burning up with fever and too sick to function, the tiny blood-eating parasites lurking inside them continue to flourish, relentlessly growing and multiplying as they gobble up the host’s red blood cells. The single-celled Plasmodium parasites that cause 200 million cases of malaria each year can withstand feverish temperatures that make their human hosts miserable. And now, a Duke University-led team is beginning to understand how they do it. Assistant professor… read more » about Duke Researchers Discover How Malaria Parasites Withstand a Fever’s Heat
ACTIVE FACULTY ROBERT J. LEFKOWITZJames B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine Robert Lefkowitz, M.D., has been a member of the Duke faculty since 1973 as a professor of medicine and a professor of biochemistry and chemistry. He won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, sharing the award with Brian Kobilka, who did postdoctoral work with Lefkowitz at Duke. The two were recognized for their work on a class of cell surface receptors that have become the target of prescription drugs,… read more » about A Look at Duke's Nobel Laureates
With the 2020 presidential election less than a month away, we have collected six Duke-authored books detailing the forces — social, economic, and historical — behind the electoral process in the United States. Afterwards, check out all the new Duke-authored publications from September and October 2020. These books along with many others are available at the Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. Duke Votes — a non-partisan, student-led organization — is also a source… read more » about Six Duke Books on Elections and Voting
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Dr. Jasmine Nichole Cobb is the Bacca Foundation Associate Professor of African & African American Studies and of Art, Art History and Visual Studies. She is also a co-director of the “From Slavery to Freedom” (FS2F) Humanities Lab at the… read more » about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Jasmine Nichole Cobb
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. In this edited and condensed interview with Dr. Luciana Parisi, Professor of Literature, she describes how she become interested in cyberpunk, the role of bacteria in human evolution, and whether technology is good, bad - or both. Dr. Parisi will… read more » about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Luciana Parisi
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Dr. Jessica Namakkal is Assistant Professor of the Practice in International Comparative Studies; Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies; and History. In this edited and condensed interview, she describes the importance of geography and… read more » about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Jessica Namakkal
Though lead has been widely eliminated from use in products due to proven health risks, the lifelong consequences of childhood lead exposure for children born in the era of lead use in gasoline are still unknown. Aaron Reuben, fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at Duke, spoke about the long-term implications of childhood lead exposure Friday, September 18th through the Nicholas School’s Environmental Health and Toxicology Seminar series. He conducts research as a member of the Moffitt and Caspi Lab, studying… read more » about Dealing With Lead for Life
The annual American Statistical Association DataFest held at Duke each spring gives hundreds of students a glimpse of statistics and data science in practice, bringing real challenges to life in a collegial, competitive setting. Due to COVID, this year’s virtual version took place over several weeks – rather than a couple days – and focused on emerging data sets related to the pandemic and its effects. Two of those projects caught the attention of another organization whose members were impressed by what Statistical… read more » about COVID-Inspired Statistics Projects Earn Accolades in Global Competition
Getting Ideas out of the Lab Duke’s Office of Licensing & Ventures (OLV) oversees the management of innovations resulting from Duke research – from creation, to feasibility and marketing, to protection, and on into licensing to commercial partners, for both startups and existing companies. Our research faculty and staff worked tirelessly in FY20, helping the office break multiple records. OLV received an all-time high of 405 invention disclosures, 26 of them COVID-19 related innovations. Revenue from… read more » about OLV Breaks Idea-Generating Records: FY20
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. The Duke Board of Trustees voted Saturday to rename the Sociology-Psychology Building… read more » about Iconic West Campus Building Named After a Duke Pioneer
A new Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Committee on Anti-Racism has begun meeting regularly, following its formation in late August. The committee is led by Patrick Bayer, Gilhuly Family Distinguished Professor in Economics, whose research focuses on the wide-ranging impacts of racial discrimination, inequality and segregation, including in schools, housing and labor markets, and the criminal justice system. “We will take a comprehensive and unflinching look at the structures that perpetuate racism and drive racial… read more » about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches Committee on Anti-Racism
Researchers have found no evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court’s modification of the 1965 Voting Rights Act led to voter discrimination in North Carolina through partisan relocation of polling places. Despite concerns the 2013 decision would lead to such unfairness, a cross-county study of North Carolina elections concludes that the state’s politically appointed county elections officials did not appear to change polling place locations to suppress voters of the opposite party following the ruling. The study looked at… read more » about Study Finds No Partisan Relocating of Polling Places in NC
Earlier this fall, a student in a neuroscience course co-taught by Minna Ng had a COVID-19 scare. Potentially exposed to someone who had tested positive for the virus, the student – who did not contract it – took part in the class from their dorm room. Ng said the student didn’t miss a beat. They were able to participate in discussions and work in small groups with help from the “Zoom Cart” that now accompanies Ng to classes she teaches. “All the students could see each other, and that student could see everyone from… read more » about Zoom Carts Help Keep Semester Rolling
The recent protests over police killings of Black men, and the reaction to those protests by some white Americans, underscores a massively polarized electorate heading into the November election. But to what extent is the nation truly divided, and which voting blocks might play key roles? Three Duke scholars discussed these topics and more Wednesday during a virtual media briefing. Watch the briefing on YouTube. Here are excerpts: ON DISTINCTION BETWEEN WHITE IDENTITY AND WHITE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION… read more » about How Racial Identity and Polarization Could Influence the Election
From Oxford University, then-Rhodes Scholar Rachel Myrick gained an entirely new perspective on U.S. foreign policy. “It was there where I spent a lot of time reading about these big classical debates about international security and thought a lot about America’s role in the world from an international perspective,” says Myrick, who this fall became an assistant research professor in Duke’s political science department. Those long-standing theories and concepts were upended in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump as… read more » about Rachel Myrick: How Political Polarization Is Changing American Foreign Policy
DURHAM, N.C. -- A study published this week in the journal Nature Communications offers some good news in the search for antiviral drugs for hard-to-treat diseases. Researchers have identified a potential new drug candidate against enterovirus 71, a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children. The compound of interest is a small molecule that binds to RNA, the virus’s genetic material, and changes its 3-D shape in a way that stops the virus from multiplying without harming its human host.… read more » about New Drug Candidate Found for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
DURHAM, N.C. -- Close bonds with the opposite sex can have non-romantic benefits. And not just for people, but for our primate cousins, too. Drawing on 35 years of data, a new study of more than 540 baboons in Amboseli National Park in Kenya finds that male baboons that have close female friends have higher rates of survival than those who don’t. Researchers have often assumed that when a male is friendlier to certain females, it’s for the reproductive perks: to better protect his offspring, or to boost his chances of… read more » about Male Baboons With Female Friends Live Longer
DURHAM , N.C. -- Many humans live to see their 70s and 80s, some even reach 100 years old. But life is much shorter for our closest animal relatives. Chimpanzees, for example, rarely make it past age 50, despite sharing almost 99% of our genetic code. While advances in medicine and nutrition in the last 200 years have added years to human lifespans, a new study suggests there could be a more ancient explanation why humans are the long-lived primate. Part of the secret to human longevity, researchers say, may lie… read more » about Your Cells Look Young for Their Age, Compared to a Chimp’s
After teaching a doctoral course for the past five years that mixes in-person learning and online class sessions, Duke Divinity School’s Curtis Freeman is an online teaching veteran. Curtis Freeman has embraced the challenge of teaching online. Photo courtesy of Duke Divinity School. But with COVID-19 limiting in-person classes this fall, and making Freeman’s class an entirely online affair, even he knew he’d need to keep evolving. “The delivery and interaction with students is different this fall,” said Freeman,… read more » about Lessons From Teaching in a Pandemic