“I love origin stories,” Johann Montozzi-Wood said. Montozzi-Wood (he/they), assistant professor of the practice in the department of Theater Studies, had just moved into a new studio and was settling in. Gentle music played, the fragrant scent of tea filled the air and large windows along one wall provided soft light. In his latest project, Montozzi-Woods explores both personal and universal questions of place and belonging. (Photo courtesy of Johann Montozzi-Wood) In the corner, a large ring to… read more » about Embodying Our Ancestors: Johann Montozzi-Wood’s "Grandfathered In"
Meltem Yucel is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience working with Professor Tamar Kushnir in the Early Childhood Cognition Laboratory and James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor Mike Tomasello in the Tomasello Lab. Yucel’s primary research interests include the development of social cognition and morality, with a focus on how and when children become moral beings. She’s also deeply invested in diversifying psychology and making it more accessible. With that goal,… read more » about Postdoc Meltem Yucel Studies How Gossip Influences Relationships
Curated by students in Hunt Family Associate Professor Cecilia Márquez’s Latinx Social Movements class, "Our History, Our Voice: Latiné at Duke" is a collaboration of current and former cohorts of Márquez’s students from the past four years, each class building on the work of their predecessors’ research and insights. The exhibit will remain on display through December 2024 in the Classroom Building on Duke's East Campus. A virtual version of the exhibit is available at… read more » about Creating "Our History, Our Voice: Latiné at Duke"
Duke professor Hans Van Miegroet’s office in Smith Warehouse was seldom empty and rarely quiet. Van Miegroet considered it a gathering place. “He shared his space with his lab and encouraged students to collaborate there,” said Paul Jaskot, chair of Duke’s department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies (AAHVS). “They might be just doing email or engaged in their own research, but passing the door, you also saw the frequent conversations and dynamic interaction happening across the room.” Van Miegroet, a pioneering… read more » about Art History Professor Hans Van Miegroet Dies
DURHAM, N.C. -- It might look like a comet or a shooting star, but this time-lapse video is actually a tiny plant root, not much thicker than a human hair, magnified hundreds of times as it grows under the microscope. Researchers at Duke University have been making such movies by peering at stem cells near the root’s tip and taking snapshots as they divide and multiply over time, using a technique called light sheet microscopy. The work offers more than a front row seat to the… read more » about From Growing Roots, Clues to How Stem Cells Decide Their Fate
Tom Zhang thinks you have issues. In fact, Zhang believes all of us do. It’s just a matter of discovering them, digging deep and uncovering our unconscious (and not so unconscious) biases. Their new devised work, DEI: Discovering Everyone’s Issues (the title a play on the abbreviation for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives), encourages the audience to explore these biases through a combination of workshop and scripted performance. With five student actors, Zhang, artist-in-residence this year in the… read more » about Tom Zhang’s New Show Challenges You to Discover Your DEI Issues
Terrie Moffitt, Nannerl O. Keohane University Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience has received the title Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, commonly known as the MBE. The honor, also bestowed upon many celebrities over the years, was presented to Moffitt by King Charles III at a ceremony in Windsor Castle in recognition of her outstanding scientific achievement and service to the United Kingdom. Established in 1917 by King George V, the MBE is the third highest… read more » about Terrie Moffitt Receives Royal Honor From the British Monarchy
Henschel leads an editing workshop. (John West/Trinity Communications) Lauren Henschel is flipping the script on traditional evaluation methods. As co-leader of an interdisciplinary Trinity initiative that gives students in certain courses the option to create a video project for their final as opposed to a written paper, she’s introducing students to new skills as directors, interviewers and producers. An Associate in Research in the Gender Sexuality and Feminist Studies… read more » about A Movie Script Ending: Bringing Film Into the Classroom
Erdağ Göknar is well-versed when it comes to Turkish novelist and academic Orhan Pamuk. He’s worked with him for decades, written a book that serves as the first critical study of his novels and translated the Nobel laureate’s work. “As a Fulbright fellow in the mid 1990s, I first heard Orhan Pamuk give a talk on Turkish modernism at a bookstore in Istanbul,” Göknar recalls. “I was studying literature but hadn’t fully realized the ways in which it intersects with and informs Turkish identity-formation, history… read more » about Conversations with a Nobel Laureate
Rejection letters will never provide happiness, but sometimes, if written with kindness, they can be helpful. At least one applicant to Duke’s graduate program in cognitive neuroscience felt that way after receiving a rejection letter written by GR Samanez-Larkin, director of graduate studies for the program. The student posted the letter on Reddit, saying it was “a great rejection email.” “Please know that this decision is not diagnostic,” Samanez-Larkin wrote, in a letter approved by the Graduate School that was… read more » about A Kind Rejection Letter Gets High Grades
A new bilingual history exhibit documenting Latinx student life at Duke opens this week as part of the Duke Centennial celebrations. Curated by students in Cecilia Márquez’s Latinx Social Movements class, "Our History, Our Voice: Latiné at Duke" is a collaboration of current and former cohorts of Márquez’s students from the past four years, each class building on the work of their predecessors’ research and insights. “I think the intergenerational aspect of this exhibit makes the project interesting — it’s creating Latino… read more » about A New History Exhibit Documents Latinx Student Life at Duke
