The Samuel DuBois Cook Center is a scholarly collaborative that studies the causes and consequences of inequality and develops remedies for these disparities and their adverse effects.
Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, was recently featured on the podcast Questions You Didn’t Ask, hosted by Niasha Fray. In the episode, “What if your zip code determined your health, wealth, and life expectancy?”, Dr. Bentley-Edwards and entrepreneur/community leader Farad Ali explore the deep ties between economic justice and health. They…
Faculty Affiliate Carliss Chatman, Professor at SMU Dedman School of Law, co-authored a commentary in Bloomberg Law with Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci examining the governance challenges behind Disney’s reversal on suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! The authors argue that such “whiplash” decisions highlight the risks of treating corporate values as flexible rather than foundational. They emphasize…
We are excited to announce that Quran Karriem, former Postdoctoral Associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center, has been appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. Dr. Karriem is a media theorist, electronic musician, and installation artist whose work explores the intertwined…
Founding Director William Darity Jr. co-authored a new literature review in The BMJ that directly addresses one of the most persistent critiques of reparations: the claim that no feasible plan exists. The proposal outlines direct monetary payments as the clearest economic measure of the cumulative and intergenerational effects of white supremacy. The article argues that…
Cook Center Director William A. Darity Jr. will be among the featured speakers at an upcoming public hearing hosted by the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies (NYSCCRR) on Saturday, March 21st, 2026, in Staten Island, New York. The hearing, titled “Economic Development: Quantifying Harms,” is part of the Commission’s statewide effort to…
New research co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Sarah Gaither, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, explores how something as routine as demographic forms can influence feelings of inclusion and identity among marginalized communities. Published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the study—“Enumeration or Exclusion? Demographic Forms and Latine Identity”—investigates how demographic questions may…
