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.
Dr. William A. Darity, Cook Center Founding Director and Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and African and African American Studies, has been recognized as a Duke Centennial Trailblazer, an initiative by Duke University to honor 100 years of accomplishments and recognize “the faculty and staff leading us into the next century”. Darity’s…
Faculty Affiliate Dr. Sarah Gaither was recently interviewed on the Opinion Science Podcast about her research into how a random roommate assignment policy affects roommate relationships, attitudes, and behavioral changes based on roommate race. In the paper, published last month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Gaither, the Nicholas J. and Theresa M. Leonardy…
Faculty Affiliate Dr. Fenaba R. Addo, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was quoted in two stories—for Duke News and for The Charlotte Post—for her recent research on the persistent and growing racial wealth gap in the United States. Addo’s paper—“Setting the Record Straight on Racial Wealth Inequality” was…
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…
