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.
When Kelly Padalino was applying to college, her plan was simple: focus on her academics but continue dancing. Her decision to attend Duke set her on a path that combined her love of the arts and public policy, and later, a new understanding of inequality.
Cook Center Research Affiliates Eric Griffith, Paul Robbins, and Keisha Bentley-Edwards recently published a paper in the Aging & Mental Health journal investigating relationship between quality of life (QoL), Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) with religion/spirituality (R/S) participation. Black people in the United States (US) experience an increased risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s…
We are proud to celebrate Hank & Billye Suber Aaron Young Scholar Alina Azhar in her recognition by Durham Public Schools as Student of the Month for November. In the feature written by Durham Public Schools (DPS), she outlined her future goals to pursue higher education and mission to overcome disadvantages to live freely. As…
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…
