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.
By Rachel Ruff “Caste, Class, and Race: Inequality and Reparations in the US and India,” a brand-new program from Duke Immerse designed by the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, offers Duke undergraduates an opportunity to spend the spring 2025 semester exploring group-based, systemic inequality with a focus on India and the United States,…
Cook Center Core Faculty Keisha L. Bentley-Edwards was quoted in SELF article discussing medical gaslighting and how to respond to it. Dr. Bentley-Edwards provided important advice for patients navigating their healthcare experiences. In the article, Bentley-Edwards emphasizes the importance of being prepared for medical appointments, suggesting that patients identify their top three concerns to discuss…
A new episode of Sanford’s Policy 360 podcast takes a deep dive into one of the key issues shaping the 2024 election: racial wealth inequality and its influence on social policy. William A. Darity Jr., the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor and Cook Center Founding Director, joins the discussion with interim Dean Manoj Mohanan from…
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…
