duke university

August 27, 2025 - At a critical moment for higher education, a leading urban scholar argues universities need to be doing more — not less — to support and invest in the communities where they are based.

November 30, 2022 - A new book co-edited by economist William "Sandy" Darity Jr. and his colleagues at Duke University explores how the coronavirus pandemic worsened racial inequality. Facing South recently spoke with Darity, a leading scholar of reparations for slavery, about policies to address the racial wealth gap.

September 28, 2022 - The famed civil rights leader who coined the phrase "environmental racism" in a North Carolina jail recently delivered the Robert R. Wilson Distinguished Lecture at Duke University Chapel in Durham. Titled "Environmental Justice: Past, Present, and Future" and shared here, his talk commemorated the 40th anniversary of protests over toxic waste dumping in a rural Black community that sparked the environmental justice movement.

July 26, 2018 - Vernon Haltom of West Virginia's Coal River Mountain Watch was among those who testified about coal's future before a congressional subcommittee this week. The testimony of Haltom — whose group is working to end mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia — details what boosting coal means for the communities where it's extracted.

November 11, 2016 - Because of district lines drawn by Republicans, Democrats continue to be underrepresented in relation to their votes in Southern states' congressional delegations.

September 9, 2016 - With Nate Parker's film about Nat Turner's 1831 slave revolt set to be released soon, retired Duke University history professor Peter H. Wood wonders if another much-needed teaching moment is on the way.

December 18, 2015 - Non-tenure-track instructors at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, are organizing a union. Organizing committee member MJ Sharp explains why.