No matter what you’re studying, there’s no escaping the role of language. It’s just how humans communicate. Yet, there is a generation of students whose experience with language classes consists almost entirely of conversations about a single subject: travel. “Language used to be taught in a contextual vacuum,” explained Deb Reisinger, an associate professor of the practice of Romance Studies. “When adults think back on learning a language, they often recall memorized dialogues, role plays or skits where they dressed up as… read more » about A Practical Way to Learn a Language, and a New Perspective
A faculty member in the Program in Education has been named the new Dean of Academic Affairs for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Martin Smith will join Dean Valerie Ashby’s leadership team and fill the vacancy created by John Blackshear, who is leaving Trinity on Aug. 1 for his new role as Dean of Students for Duke. “This is a critical moment for higher education and for Duke,” Ashby said. “We need a leader in Academic Affairs who can clearly envision the future we’re moving toward – someone who understands the… read more » about Smith named Dean of Academic Affairs for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Felipe De Brigard, the Fuchsberg-Levine Family Associate Professor of philosophy and psychology and neuroscience, explains that nostalgia doesn’t need real memories because an imagined will suffice. Read the article at Aeon. read more » about Nostalgia Reimagined
Like everything else these days, Ph.D. math camp is going to look a little different. Typically, the intensive camp for incoming Ph.D. students that takes place before fall semester starts is held on campus, in person. However, this year’s instructors, current Ph.D. students Aram Grigoryam and Zichang Wang, are having to adapt to the world of remote instruction. It’s Grigoryam’s second year teaching math camp, and Wang’s first. The pair have been putting in the work to make sure that students get as much out of… read more » about Ph.D. Math Camp Adapts to Current Challenges
This fall, rising third year law student Danielle French takes up the mantle of battalion commander for Duke University’s Army Reserve Officer Training Corp. French will work with active military officers to help guide the military education and training of approximately 70 cadets from Duke and North Carolina Central University in the joint ROTC program. “I’m very honored to have gotten this role,” French said. “It wasn’t something that I could necessarily seek out. I just tried to be the best that I could be in the… read more » about French ’21, T’18 Named Battalion Commander for Duke’s Army ROTC Program
Assistant professor Matthew Masten has been awarded a CAREER Award by the National Science Foundation. NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program “supports the early career-development activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization.” This prestigious award is specifically given to junior faculty, and provides recipients with a federal grant for research and education activities for five years. … read more » about Professor Matthew Masten Wins National Science Foundation CAREER Award
Strategic networking is key to career success, and not just for humans. A new study of wild bottlenose dolphins reveals that in early life, dolphins devote more time to building connections that could give them an edge later on. Researchers at Georgetown University and Duke University report that dolphins under age 10 seek out peers and activities that could help them forge bonds and build skills they’ll need in adulthood. The results were published July 14 in the journal Behavioral Ecology. The team analyzed nearly 30… read more » about Young Dolphins Pick Their Friends Wisely
The Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has a long history of producing scholarship about race, racism and policing. Since protests erupted over the killing of George Floyd, several Trinity faculty members have been called on numerous times to share their expertise and insight with the public. Here are some of their books, articles and other media. Continue Reading read more » about Trinity Scholars Interviewed on Race and Policing
What do toxicology, a Tanzanian imam, women’s tennis, virgin births and your cat have in common? Admittedly, not much, except that biostatistician Amy Herring has worked on projects involving all of them. Herring, the Sara and Charles Ayres Professor of Statistical Science & Global Health, has a hard time saying no to statistical analysis projects that seem like fun. She enjoys her work so much, if she hears that you are working on an interesting project, she might ask to take a look at your data when you’re done with… read more » about Amy Herring Wants to See Your Data
What cancelled summer plans—and new ones—say about the Duke student body. One was supposed to be saying goodbye to her childhood home on the other side of the Atlantic. Another was meant to be working with refugees in Ireland. Two more had plans for research projects in Africa. None of it happened. With international travel grounded thanks to COVID-19, all of the plans that Duke students carefully laid for the summer came apart at the seams. But Duke’s inherently global nature remains—evident in its diverse student body… read more » about Purpose from Disruption
Professor Brian Hare and research scientist Vanessa Woods, both from the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, joined WUNC to explain how "survival of the fittest" may not just favor size and strength. Listen at WUNC. read more » about Natural Selection Favors The Friendly, According To Duke Scientists
If there were a stagehand of the sea, wearing black to disappear into the darkness backstage, it might be the dragonfish. Or the common fangtooth. These fish live in the ocean’s inky depths where there is nowhere to take cover. Even beyond the reach of sunlight, they can still be caught in the glow of bioluminescent organisms that illuminate the water to hunt. So they evade detection with a trick of their own: stealth wear. Scientists report that at least 16 species of deep-sea fish have evolved ultra-black skin that… read more » about Ultra-Black Skin Allows Some Fish to Lurk Unseen
Karla Holloway, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, explains the role of feminism in contemporary US society, including some of its faultlines. Read the article at USA Today. read more » about This Is How America Feels About Feminism in 2020
Jun Yang has been named chair of Duke Computer Science, effective July 1, 2020. Yang, Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor at Duke, has been with the department since 2001 and served as associate chair from 2017-2020. Yang assumes the position from outgoing chair Pankaj Agarwal. In an email to faculty and staff, Yang thanked Agarwal for his service. “We will have more opportunities later to thank Pankaj for his visionary leadership and tireless service as chair in the past three years, but for now let me give… read more » about Jun Yang Named Chair of Duke Computer Science
DURHAM, N.C. -- Frogs and toads are green for a very good reason – it makes them harder to see in their leafy environments. Good camouflage allows them to eat and not be eaten. But not all frogs have arrived at this life-saving greenness in the same way. Most of these animals rely on color-controlling structures in their skin called chromatophores that use crystals to bend light to specific colors and make them appear green. But there are hundreds of species of frogs and toads that have nearly translucent skin… read more » about Green is More Than Skin-Deep for Hundreds of Frog Species
Dr. Wang begins her appointment at Duke as Assistant Professor of Music in July 2020, following the completion of a Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship at Columbia University. Dr. Wang holds the Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Toronto, having previously earned the M.M. degree in Viola Performance (UNC Greensboro) and the M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought (New York University). The recipient of numerous grants and prizes, including the Charles Seeger Prize, Martin Hatch… read more » about Ethnomusicologist Dr. Yun Emily Wang Joins the Duke Music Faculty
Three new members joined the Duke University Board of Trustees on July 1, the school announced Wednesday. The new trustees are Mary T. Barra, chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors Company; Kelly C. Tang, a seventh-year Ph.D. candidate in Duke’s Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies; and Ibrahim Butt, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in political science. As the university's governing body, the Board of Trustees is responsible for the school's educational mission and… read more » about Three Join Board of Trustees
Duke University researchers have made the first time-lapse movies of the sheet-like latticework that surrounds and supports most animal tissues. A thin layer of extracellular matrix known as the basement membrane lines many surfaces of the body such as the skin, blood vessels and urinary tract; and it surrounds muscles, fat, and peripheral nerves. While basement membranes play key roles in development, tissue function, and human disease, visualizing them in living organisms has been difficult to do, until now. By… read more » about Green Glowing Worms Provide Live-Action Movies of the Body’s Internal Scaffolding
Stoney Portis, a Ph.D. student in English and an Army veteran, discusses the experience of watching the making of The Outpost, a recent film about his unit's camp in Afghanistan being overrun by 300 Taliban fighters. Read the article at the New York Times. read more » about I Watched My War Story Become a Movie
Travis Knoll expected to be in Brazil this summer. A Ph.D. student in History, he planned to visit film and Catholic Church archives to further his work on the relationship between Catholic thought, modern Black movements and education policy. But COVID-19 intervened. Recognizing that many students’ plans for teaching, research trips and in-person internships were overturned, Provost Sally Kornbluth and Executive Vice Provost Jennifer Francis pledged that Duke would provide employment opportunities for Ph.D. students who… read more » about Changing Their Summer Plans, Duke Ph.D. Students Find New Options for Virtual Employment
Karla Holloway, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, joined WNYC's The Takeaway to discuss the history of public displays of Black mourning in light of new murals of George Floyd. Listen at WNYC. read more » about Following the Killing of George Floyd, Public Murals On Display in Communities Across the U.S.
Writing with May Ling Halim, Sarah Gaither, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, explains psychological research that shows discussions about race are essential in reducing bias in both children and parents. Read the article at NBC News. read more » about How to Raise Anti-racist Babies, According to Psychology
A panel of three Duke alumni recently joined the 2020 Data+ cohort to discuss their experiences in the program, the role of data science in their jobs today and the importance of building lasting professional relationships. Data+ is a 10-week summer program that provides research experiences allowing Duke undergraduates to explore data-driven approaches to interdisciplinary challenges. “We’ve had quite a few students move all the way through Duke and on to some very interesting careers,” said Paul Bendich, who helped create… read more » about Data+ Alums Talk Career Paths and Mentoring with Duke Students
The thin, slippery layer of cartilage between the bones in the knee is magical stuff: strong enough to withstand a person’s weight, but soft and supple enough to cushion the joint against impact, over decades of repeat use. That combination of soft-yet-strong has been hard to reproduce in the lab. But now, Duke University researchers say they’ve created an experimental gel that’s the first to match the strength and durability of the real thing. The material may look like a distant cousin of Jell-O -- which it is -- but it’s… read more » about From the Lab, the First Cartilage-Mimicking Gel That’s Strong Enough for Knees
Using research from Patrick Bayer, Gilhuly Family Distinguished Professor in Economics, David Leonhardt argues that there has been little progress in closing the Black-white wage gap. Read the article at the New York Times. read more » about The Black-White Wage Gap Is as Big as It Was in 1950
Why do I think dance is so immensely important, not only to those whose lives are dedicated to it or to audiences who enjoy attending dance concerts, but as necessary for all humankind? Why is dance really important in the larger scheme of things (this crisis time of the world), when we are closing ourselves inside an overstimulating wall of electronic noise and images; when we are exposed so repeatedly to scenes of violence that the simple human ability to feel compassion is dulled; when we treat this planet as our own… read more » about Barbara Dickinson: “Why Dance?”
Michael Troxel has always liked puzzles, especially challenging ones. Which is fortunate, since his job is solving some of the most perplexing, fundamental mysteries of the universe. “At some point in middle school I asked myself, What’s the hardest thing that I could try to do?” he said. “And at that point the hardest thing I knew about was astrophysics, so I think that was probably the first motivation for choosing this career, if I’m honest. But that was before I understood what it actually meant.” A cosmologist and… read more » about Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe by Seeing the Invisible
Kim Cato is hanging up her medical scrubs to play detective this summer. In her imagination, that is. Cato has read “State of Onion,” a suspense novel about a White House chef hunted by an assassin, and she plans to read “The Scent of Rain and Lightning,” which is about a woman who investigates her father’s murder 23 years later. “Mysteries take me out of this world we’re in right now,” said Cato, a clinical nurse for Duke Gastroenterology. “I’m not usually right, but I love trying to figure out the question of whodunnit… read more » about Books to Capture Your Attention This Summer
DURHAM, N.C. – The neighborhood a child grows up in may influence their health for years to come in previously invisible ways. A long-term study of 2,000 children born in England and Wales and followed to age 18 found that young adults raised in communities marked by more economic deprivation, physical dilapidation, social disconnection and danger display differences in the epigenome -- the proteins and chemical compounds that regulate the activity of their genes. The researchers say the study lends support to the… read more » about Adolescents From Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Show Gene Regulation Differences