Jennifer West’s lab takes up an entire corner of Gross Hall’s third floor. Among the things West and her team are investigating in the lab is the use of nanoparticles that, when introduced into the body and exposed to infrared light, can heat up and destroy tumors. Duke has been West’s home since 2012. With its enthusiastic support of her research, it will likely remain so for a long time. But, at other points in her career, West hasn’t felt as comfortable. At her first-year student orientation at the Massachusetts… read more » about Women in STEM at Duke
Has the nature and extent of inequality changed in South Africa’s post-apartheid period? Not so much. Inequality in South Africa remained extremely high but certain aspects of it changed during the post-apartheid period, enough to contribute to the erosion of social cohesion over the last decade. A group of scholars who recently spoke at Duke said they found an increase in income inequality between 1993 and 2008, with a slight decline thereafter at the national level, and similar trends in income inequalities… read more » about Scholars: Inequality Remains in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Mathematics Tori Akin has been named one of the most innovative professors of 2019 by the education and training services company Arist for her approach to math education. Akin was one of six faculty selected from among nearly 100 nominees from universities including Harvard, Stanford and Brown. “Math isn’t an innate ability, becoming good takes struggling through complications and working hard,” Akin said. Rather than teaching math in a traditional ‘lecture’ format, she has students… read more » about Duke Math’s Tori Akin Named One of 2019’s Most Innovative Professors
Few American scholars know the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris as well as Duke art historian Caroline Bruzelius. She knows every statue, every gargoyle, is familiar “with every nook and cranny” of the 800-year-old structure. She once strapped her three-week-old son to her and climbed up the scaffolding to reach the top of the cathedral. So, it’s not surprising that Monday’s devastating fire at the cathedral left her “heartbroken,” as she told NBC News. But because she knows the history of the place, she also spoke about… read more » about Why The Cathedral of Notre Dame Matters
*/ /*-->*/ Orin Starn was a young anthropologist in the mid-1980s doing research in Peru when, one day, the small town where he was staying was suddenly plunged into darkness. Orin Starn as a young anthropologist in a Peruvian village in 1992. The blackout was the result of an explosion at a power plant just up the hill. Starn went outside and saw a series of torches lit in the shape of a hammer and sickle – the ominous symbol of communism. “It was performance art,” Starn recalled. “I remember being kind of scared and… read more » about On the Trail of the Shining Path
Ten faculty members and advisers receiving Undergraduate Teaching, Leadership & Diversity Awards from the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences were honored at a reception April 11 in Perkins Library. The awards are given annually by the dean’s office in recognition of exceptionally strong teachers working across the college. This year, Trinity’s Arts & Sciences Council led the nomination and selection process for several categories. One notable exception, the alumni teaching award, was decided by a committee of… read more » about Trinity Awards Honor 10 for Innovative Teaching, Advising & Leadership
DURHAM, N.C. -- An imaging technique developed at Duke University could make it possible to peer inside cells and watch dozens of different molecules in action at once -- by labeling them with short strands of light-up DNA that blink on and off with their own unique rhythm. “The idea is everything has its own heartbeat,” said first author Shalin Shah, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering and computer science at Duke. “We call these time signals ‘temporal barcodes.’” When attached to cells or other objects… read more » about Tiny Light-Up Barcodes Identify Molecules by Their Twinkling
Within just a few months, the Duke students in professor Louise Roth’s Biology of Mammals class have certainly learned their way around a skull. They can sketch and label the parts of any cranium, from a rat to a rhino. But one mysterious set of bones has them scratching their heads. It’s not the hippo, its bulging eye sockets set high on its head to help it see above water. Or the Ice Age mammoth, with its massive 20-pound molars. It’s the cetaceans -- the group that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises -- that have… read more » about These Animal Skulls Will Blow Your Mind
In his new book, “Becoming Human,” (Harvard University Press, 2019) Michael Tomasello brings together more than two decades of his research on what makes humans unique. The book builds on Tomasello’s work studying young children’s development, and on the psychological processes that set young children apart from human’s closest living relatives, the great apes. Duke Today asked Tomasello to describe some of the book’s key ideas. He is James Bonk Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. Q: How… read more » about Michael Tomasello: What Makes Humans Human?
Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, will speak at Duke University’s Page Auditorium on Tuesday, April 9. The 5:30 p.m. event will focus on topics from McCabe’s newly released book, “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump." The Duke Program in American Grand Strategy’s lecture is free and open to the public. However, tickets are required and are available either in person at the Duke Box Office or online at https://tickets.duke.edu/Online/seatSelect.asp. Parking is available… read more » about Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe To Speak At Duke April 9
Last week, on the 51st anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Duke Professor Omid Safi joined several of King’s associates to remember King’s life and to chart a way forward toward fulfilling his vision. Safi was invited to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum, and to stand where King last spoke. He delivered the keynote lecture of the commemoration, speaking on “Dr. King’s Message for Today's American and Today's World: What Does Love Have to Say to… read more » about Omid Safi Speaks at Tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Attracting women to and retaining them in STEM fields require institutional investment in female role-models and in mentorship programs, said Robin Rasor, executive director of Duke’s Office of Licensing and Ventures, at a congressional hearing April 3. Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Rasor discussed how Duke’s mentorship programs and high levels of women in the top levels of administration shapes Duke’s approach to this problem. Titled “Trailblazers and Lost Einsteins: Women… read more » about Patent Pending: Robin Rasor Testifies on the Importance of Women Inventors
Gennifer Weisenfeld, professor of art history and visual studies, has been appointed to a second, three-year term as dean of the humanities for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. “Gennifer has been an excellent leader and a powerful advocate for the arts and humanities at Duke,” said Valerie Ashby, dean of Trinity College, following the April 1 announcement. “She has built meaningful partnerships across the university, thoughtfully engaging her chairs and other academic leaders, and she secured funding for an… read more » about Weisenfeld Reappointed as Dean of the Humanities for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Duke University junior Valerie Muensterman has been named one of 18 Beinecke Scholars for 2019. The Beinecke Scholarship supports students of exceptional promise as they attend the graduate school of their choice. Beinecke recipients receive $4,000 in their senior year of undergraduate studies and $30,000 during graduate school. A student must apply as a junior, demonstrate financial need, and plan to study arts, humanities or social sciences. Muensterman is from Evansville, Indiana, and studies English with minors in… read more » about A Mainstay of Duke Players, Valerie Muensterman Wins Beinecke Arts Scholarship
Name: Thomas DeFrantz Title: Director of SLIPPAGE, Professor in the Department of African and African American Studies, Professor in the Program in Dance and Professor of Theater Studies; Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies; Computational Media, Arts @ Cultures Years at Duke: 8 What he does at Duke: DeFrantz rarely sits still when he’s on Duke’s campus. He teaches courses such as “Black Dance,” “Black Performance Theory” and “Repertory: Dance Theater.” He’s also director of Duke’s “SLIPPAGE” lab, where he… read more » about Blue Devil of the Week: Dancing Through Past and Future
A group of Duke faculty members received a new tool last week in the fight against writer’s block: dance. A Feb. 15 writing retreat taught scholars how to get their writing moving. The retreat, a collaboration between Duke Arts and the Duke Faculty Write program mixed traditional writing tricks with embodied movement tools. It was co-taught by Jennifer Ahern-Dodson from the Thompson Writing Program and Sarah Wilbur from the Duke Dance program. The retreat approached the act of… read more » about Need to Get Past That Writer's Block? Get Up and Dance
Here’s summer reading to educate and entertain: A new look at the continuing influence of ancient Roman political thought; a deep look at the clergy health crisis; and the story of how an African-American architect came to design the new campuses for Duke University. These and other books (plus one film) are new this summer from Duke authors. A half-dozen of these books are written by new Duke Kunshan University faculty members. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the "Duke… read more » about Books by Duke Authors to Fill Your Summer Tote Bag
William Johnson has one of those very scholarly looking offices where important, weighty tomes make the bookshelf sag. But Johnson, who studies the culture and history of ancient Greece and Rome, is examining a very basic question about many of those aged books: How did the authors get anyone to read them? “We have all this stuff from antiquity,” he says. “How did it come to the public notice? How did people get published? What exactly does “publishing” mean in an ancient context?” Johnson, the current chair of classical… read more » about What I'm Working On: Social Media in Ancient Greece
While others are preparing for the 2016 Summer Olympics, a Duke research team is working in Rio de Janeiro to study the effects of the Brazilian government’s expansion of the university system. As part of Duke’s Global Brazil Lab, students and faculty are working alongside Brazilian scholars and students at the Multidisciplinary Institute of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. The team—which formed from a Bass Connections program—is residing and working in Baixada, a lower-income region in the… read more » about Bass Connections Project Builds Partnerships with Universities in Brazil
Central to Duke’s new MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis is the integration of intensive dance and movement research with study across disciplines. Applications are currently being accepted through February 10, 2020, for the Fall 2020 class. Learn more about the program and application process. The students are just as unique—and inspiring—as the areas of intersectional research they are undertaking. “As the director of the MFA in Dance: Embodied Interdisciplinary Praxis, I am… read more » about Meet the Inaugural Cohort of Duke’s MFA in Dance