News

News

Professional headshot of William Darity

Founding Director William A. Darity on New York’s Reparations Commission

Dr. William A. Darity Jr., the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Cook Center at Duke University, recently shared his insights on the New York Reparations Commission’s first meeting in an article by City Limits. Dr. Darity emphasized that while efforts like this are important, the racial wealth gap in New…

Cook Center Hosts Capstone for 2024 Aaron Young Scholars

On Monday, August 5, the Cook Center celebrated its latest group of Hank and Billye Suber Aaron Young Scholars with a joyous evening of student research, achievement, and praise at the Washington Duke Inn. 49 students from Durham Public Schools—across two cohorts—convened to present the research on issues of inequities in health, technology, education, labor,…

Professional headshot of William Darity

Founding Director William A. Darity comments on Black Reparations in EBONY Magazine

Dr. William A. Darity Jr., the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the Cook Center at Duke University, shared his insights in a recent EBONY Magazine article by Delaina Dixon. The article addresses the critical importance of reparations for Black Americans in the current presidential election, alongside issues like gun control and…

16th DITE cohort

“Part of the family”: Latest DITE Conference Concludes in Durham

On Saturday, August 10, the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity concluded its latest gathering of the Diversity Initiative for Tenure in Economics (DITE) program in Durham, N.C. The program, which provides mentorship and workshops to aid the transition from junior faculty status to associate professor for economists from underrepresented groups (most notably, Black,…

“The job that needs to be done”: Latest DITE Conference Kicks Off in Durham

In her keynote address Thursday evening, Dr. Kaye Husbands Fealing relayed an astonishing fact to a room of economists: From 2011-2020, the annual number of economics PhDs awarded to black women never rose above the single digits.  “It’s amazing how small these numbers are relative to the job that needs to be done,” said Dr….

Sarah Gaither headshot

Faculty Affiliate Sarah Gaither Publishes Op-Ed in MSNBC

Faculty Affiliate Sarah Elizabeth Gaither, PhD, the Nicholas J. and Theresa M. Leonardy Associate Professor Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University, recently published an op-ed on multiracial identity for MSNBC. Dr. Gaither, in debunking Donald Trump’s recent comments about the racial identity of Kamala Harris, emphasized the “counterproductive and dangerous” nature of Trump’s comments and highlighted…

Postdoctoral Associate Pak Hung Lam’s recent study featured by World Economic Forum & WRAL

Cook Center Postdoctoral Associate Pak Hung Lam recent study, “Long-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Academic Performance Among Children in North Carolina“, has been featured by the World Economic Forum & WRAL. The study aimed to address previous limitations of relatively small or less representative samples to explore elevated exposure to ambient fine particulate…

Imari Smith publishes paper on Racial and Gender Differences in Discrimination and Psychological Distress among Young Adults

Cook Center Affiliate Imari Smith published a paper in Social Science & Medicine on Racial and Gender Differences in Discrimination and Psychological Distress among Young Adults. Smith, doctoral candidate in the Duke University’s Joint Program in Sociology and Public Policy, was the lead author on the paper, which sheds light on the understudied negative effects…

Mayor Leo Williams

Empowering Black Entrepreneurs after the COVID-19 Pandemic

Episode Summary: How exactly can we support Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurship in Durham, North Carolina, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode of Voices in Equity, the official podcast of the Samuel Dubois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, Dr. William “Sandy” Darity hosts a critical discussion on the…

Lisa Gennetian headshot

Faculty Affiliate Lisa Gennetian publishes paper in Nature on cash transfers to low-income households

Faculty Affiliate Dr. Lisa Gennetian published a paper in Nature that studies the effects of monthly cash transfers to low-income households. Gennetian, the Pritzker Professor of Early Learning Policy Studies at the Sanford School for Public Policy, was the lead author on the paper, which found that families who received substantial cash transfers during the…