The Department of Romance Studies is excited to share profiles of our newer faculty over the next few weeks. Below read an interview with the department's newest Assistant Professor, Sarah Quesada. Her main areas of interest are literatures of the Global South, specifically Latinx, Latin American and African literatures. Quesada was previously an assistant professor of English and Latinx studies at the University of Notre Dame. What excites you most about joining Romance Studies at Duke? It is hard to think of just one… read more about Meet our New Faculty: Sarah Quesada Ph.D. »
More than 50 people gathered in a Duke classroom both in-person and remotely this September to consider whether “Truth is a Linguistic Question” – a prompt provided by faculty leading the ongoing Sawyer Seminar Series on language discrimination in fragile and precarious communities. Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the series launched in spring 2020 and continued throughout the pandemic thanks to a combination of perseverance and the power of Zoom. This latest seminar kicked off a slate of events for this fall.… read more about ‘Truth is a Linguistic Question’ Talks by Five Trinity Scholars Relaunch Series on Language Discrimination »
Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy have made a critical contribution to the journey of restitution. Their much discussed “Sarr-Savoy Report,” commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron and published in 2018, stands as a testament to the fight against colonial legacies of violence. In addition to its urgent message on the need to restitute African and Asian artworks to their countries of origin, the report provides a framework to guide the emergence of new institutions and spaces that decenter the power dynamic and… read more about TIME'S THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2021: Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy »
Four individuals on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2021 have a Duke connection—two trustees, a faculty member, and a soon-to-be honorary degree recipient. A member of the Duke faculty is highlighted on the TIME list as a “Pioneer.” Felwine Sarr, the Anne-Marie Bryan Distinguished Professor of Romance Studies, joined the faculty in 2020. A native of Senegal and an internationally known public intellectual, Sarr has research interests that span from economics to literature. In… read more about Felwine Sarr of Romance Studies: Influential at Duke and Around the World »
Tuesday marks the first day in Afghanistan without United States troops after 20 years, and the country is now under Taliban rule. But the work is just beginning for the thousands of refugees who have fled the Taliban; more than 100 of them are expected to arrive in Durham soon. Among those greeting them will be Duke faculty and students, who traditionally have played an important role in assisting the two refugee resettlement agencies in Durham assist with the refugees’ transition to life in Durham. The transition is… read more about The Challenges Ahead for Afghan Refugees, and How Duke and Durham Will Help them »
If you don’t think a laboratory is the ideal place to explore complex themes and methodologies like valuing care, ethnography, urbanism or games and culture, you may need to expand your definition beyond beakers and microscopes. Labs are hives of communication, cooperation and active collaboration. They are driven by a commitment to curiosity and exploration that often produces unanticipated paths and solutions. And utilizing those features for research in the humanities – a scholarly area that has traditionally focused on… read more about Innovative, Interdisciplinary Labs Reshape Humanities Research and Teaching »
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, in white shirt, and Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, in baseball cap, visited Jérémie, promising houses for people left homeless by a hurricane on March 31, 2017. read more about Deborah Jenson: In Haiti, a President’s Assassination Brings More Uncertainty to a Nation in Turmoil »
Like most of us, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the Duke Global Education Office for Undergraduates’ (GEO) plans. GEO supports about 1,200 students on experiential global education programs across the academic year and over the summer terms in an average year. After global borders tightened in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, GEO had been unable to support experiential programs since the spring of 2020—that is until Duke in Provence Virtual this summer. As the first virtual study away program offered at Duke, the… read more about Duke in Provence Goes Online »
When he was an undergraduate political science student, Kerry Haynie was never taught about the 1921 Tulsa massacre. Nor was there much discussion about the role of race in the founding political documents of this country or much examination of how race influenced public services such as sewer lines and zoning. In one sense, a lot has changed. In 2021, Duke’s faculty includes a strong lineup of leading scholars who examine how race is embedded in issues that cross all the schools of the university. This fall, many of… read more about University Course Raises Race as a Central Element of Undergraduate Education »
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Saskia Ziolkowski! Her book Kafka's Italian Progeny has won the 2020 American Association for Italian Studies Book Prize in the category for Literary Studies. The AAIS recognizes the best books published in Italian Studies each year. View the virtual announcement below. read more about Kafka's Italian Progeny Awarded AAIS Book Prize »
Six Duke professors who have demonstrated excellence both in research and undergraduate education have been selected as the 2021 Bass Fellows. "These Bass Scholars blend scholarly excellence with a commitment to the transformative power of faculty-student engagement, said Gary Bennett, vice provost for undergraduate education. “Their ingenuity, creativity and commitment are exemplary, and we Duke faculty are fortunate to have them as colleagues and exemplars. " The chairs were created in 1996 when Anne T. and Robert Bass… read more about Six New Bass Fellows Honored for Excellence in Research and Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching »
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds us of the integral role poets play in our culture. For the 25th anniversary of this annual celebration of poets and poetry, we highlight six poets among the university's faculty who have published collections of poetry. The works of these poets, along with many others, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. In addition, Duke University Press is offering a… read more about Celebrate National Poetry Month with Six Duke Faculty Poets »
As part of its event series tgiFHI, the Franklin Humanities Institute is conducting interviews with its faculty speakers in order to familiarize broader audiences with the diversity of research approaches in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at Duke University. Roberto Dainotto is Professor of Literature, Italian, and International Comparative Studies. In this edited and condensed interview, he describes how the popularization of the novel occurred at the same moment as the politicization of the… read more about Meet Your Humanities Faculty: Roberto Dainotto »
When Elizabeth Schrader signed up for a free short-course in the summer of 2019, the doctoral candidate in religion had no idea it would have an immediate impact on her scholarship. Two years earlier, Schrader published an article arguing that early Christian copyists may have altered the Gospel of John to minimize the role of Mary Magdalene. This was an important finding, but it wasn’t getting the attention in scholarly circles that she’d hoped for. “Although my work had appeared in a prestigious journal (the Harvard… read more about What I Got Out of the Duke Graduate Academy »
More than 1,000 Duke students from across the globe logged on to Zoom over the first two weeks of January to participate in an academic gateway for students of any major to explore new topics in a short form and without the pressure of grades Open to all Duke students- undergraduates, graduates, and professionals, Winter Breakaway offered 13 different programs focusing on topics including computational thinking, mindfulness, policies in the technology sector, intercultural competencies and navigating difficult… read more about Students Find Interdisciplinary Exploration and Connection in Winter Breakaway Courses »
The Graduate School has announced eight recipients for the 2021 Dean’s Awards, recognizing outstanding efforts in mentoring and teaching. The recipients will be honored at a virtual ceremony on March 31. More details about each recipient will be posted closer to the event. Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Each faculty award winner receives a $3,000 prize, while each student recipient gets $2,000. Faculty Makeba Wilbourn, Associate Professor of the Practice of Psychology and Neuroscience Marcos A. Rangel,… read more about 8 Graduate Students, Faculty Receive 2021 Dean’s Awards »
Anna Tybinko has been selected to receive the 2021 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The review committee of deans, graduate faculty, staff, and graduate students chose Anna from a highly competitive pool of nominees to receive this award, which recognizes graduate students who best exemplify the characteristics of effective college teaching described in the purpose statement and award criteria. In addition, the review committee strives to recognize students who have engaged in… read more about Anna Tybinko Receives 2021 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching »
Celebrating Latinx Culture with a Spanish-language Reading Program (CLC) / Celebrando la Cultura Latinoamericana con un Programa de Lectura en Español Consider applying for this 2021-2022 Bass Connections project that celebrates Latinx cultural heritage and maintaining the Spanish language. It promotes the forging of relationships through shared language journeys. CLC engages and connects Spanish-language users, namely Latinx children (~10 years old) and Duke undergraduate students, as “peer… read more about Apply for 2021-2022 Bass Connections: Celebrando la Cultura Latinoamericana con un Programa de Lectura en Español »
As educational institutions seek ways to enhance opportunities for students during the pandemic, the College Board has tapped five Duke University professors to provide recorded lectures to millions of advanced high school students around the world. The new lecture series, called “AP Daily,” offers free, online videos across a variety of college-level topics to students who are learning in person, remotely or in blended learning environments. Students can view the videos independently or Advanced Placement (AP)… read more about In Pandemic, Advanced Placement Turns to Duke Faculty for Help in High School Lecture Series »
ArtReview named Felwine Sarr, a research professor in the Department of Romance Studies, as the third most influential person in the contemporary art world in 2020, alongside his collaborator Bénédicte Savoy. The magazine said: No single government-commissioned report in recent decades has had such a dramatic impact on cultural debates as that written by economist Sarr and art historian Savoy for French president Emmanuel Macron in 2018. By proposing the unconditional restitution of any object in national… read more about Felwine Sarr Third Most Influential in Art World »
