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.
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….
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…
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…
Founding Director William A. Darity Jr. was interviewed for a Forbes Talk by Ali Jackson-Jolley to discuss what economic freedom looks like in 2026. Dr. Darity is one of the leading voices in academia advancing the case for Black reparations in the U.S. He co-authored From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the…
A recent feature highlighted how Kisha N. Daniels, associate professor of the practice in education, continues to expand the reach of her service‑learning course, The Critical Pedagogy of Hip Hop, through community‑centered partnerships with Durham Public Schools. The story follows a semester‑long collaboration between Daniels’ Duke students and 11th graders at Jordan High School, culminating…
A study coauthored by faculty affiliates Joaquin Alfredo‑Angel Rubalcaba and Alberto Ortega explore the effectiveness of worker‑driven social responsibility programs on infant health outcomes in migrant farmworker communities. Published in Demography, the research examines whether the Fair Food Program, a worker‑rights initiative supported by corporate premiums, has had measurable health impacts on the communities it…
