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 the recent publication titled “How systemic racism and economic inequality contributed to COVID-19 disparities in America” in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), a distinguished team of researchers collaborates to address critical health disparities. These researchers include: Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Associate Director of Research at the Cook Center and Director of the Health Equity Working Group….
A new article from The Chronicle details the growth of the Inequality Studies Minor, a joint collaboration between the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and the Department of History at Duke University. Notably, the article highlights that since its inception, the minor has seen significant growth, with over 150 Duke students currently enrolled…
Cook Center Founding Director Dr. William “Sandy” Darity, Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen were recently referenced in an article by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation titled How Reparations Could Improve Black Health and Wellbeing. In the article, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, M.D., the director of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and former…
Faculty Affiliate Carliss Chatman, Professor at SMU Dedman School of Law, was quoted in a story by Marketplace examining how companies are quietly rebranding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The article explores how some corporations are scaling back or reframing public-facing DEI language amid political scrutiny. And, that the broader landscape is more nuanced…
February 20, 2026 — A new first-of-its-kind study of nearly 3,000 adults in New York City finds significant inequities in wealth and health outcomes across the 11 most common racial and ethnic groups, showing that Black and Latino New Yorkers have less wealth and unfairly worse health outcomes compared to others. Conducted in June 2024 by…
Faculty Affiliate Omer Ali is an Assistant Professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh, and previous postdoctoral fellow a the Cook Center. Ali is the lead researcher on a new article published in Regional Science and Urban Economics this month examining the relationship between race and home values in Durham, North Carolina. The study…
