Over the past 10 weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of working with Working@Duke’s editorial team as part of the Charmaine McKissick-Melton Communications Fellowship. Mac Fellows are North Carolina Central University Mass Communications majors who are embedded in communications offices across Duke. During my time, I’ve learned about photography, graphic design, interviewing and writing.

In this conversation, Sanford School of Public Policy professor Deondra Rose reflects on the power of education and why learning to engage across differences is essential for the next generation of leaders. Drawing from her own journey, Rose shares how educators and families can help students develop the skills needed to make a meaningful impact.

Noah Pickus is head of global strategy and partnerships and senior adviser to the provost at Duke University and the co-author of The New Global Universities: Reinventing Education in the 21st Century (Princeton University Press, 2023). Recently, Noah shared with me information about a new project he is leading called the Future Universities Alliance. I asked if Noah would answer my questions about this new network, and he graciously agreed.

On Saturday, Friends of Duke hosted a panel of professors, administrators and athletes to discuss the funding of college athletics vs. academics in the wake of financial vulnerability and seismic shifts across athletic department budgets. The panel, called “The New Arms Race: Are We Funding College Athletics at the Expense of Academics?,” was hosted by Sue Wasiolek, the longtime former Dean of Students and current adjunct associate professor in Duke’s Civil Discourse Project.

This past week has not been America's best. Political violence. Hateful rhetoric. Social media comments leading to job terminations. Testing the limits of free speech. And it all started from a tragic public debate on a college campus in Utah. Many are going about it the wrong way. How about example of those that are (and have been) doing it the right way? Two Duke seniors join the pod to discuss the The Lemur, a publication that allows students to speak freely on a wide variety of...

Imagine a “typical” Carolina classroom, and you might picture students, mostly 18-22 years old, wearing hoodies or t-shirts with a UNC logo, listening to a professor who is several years their senior. The UNC School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) is changing that typical scene this summer, turning college and university faculty from around the country into students as 40 professors visit campus to learn how to teach civil discourse in their own classrooms. The faculty seminars, with...

Eleven of the 12 members of the board that oversees the Fulbright Scholars Program resigned June 11 in response to what they described as unprecedented political interference by the Trump administration. Among those who stepped down was David Price, former congressman and Polis Distinguished Fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy.

On June 9, Duke administrators unveiled the preliminary results of the Inclusive Excellence Working Group, announcing new “principles and recommended guidance” to align the University with both federal law and Duke’s institutional values. These values — “respect, trust, inclusion, discovery and excellence” — were reaffirmed as foundational to campus life. In their message, administrators reiterated Duke’s “longstanding goal” of “creating an inclusive community.”

New summer reading from Duke authors includes timely books on race, history and political polarization, useful books on finance, health and mentorship and good reads of poetry and fiction. Plus: for the kids, there’s a primer on subatomic particles. Below is a roundup of some of the most recent and upcoming published titles. Many of the books, including new editions of previous titles, can be found on the “Duke Authors” display shelves near the circulation desk in Perkins Library.

ACTA President Michael Poliakoff welcomes The Honorable John Hillen, distinguished resident fellow at the Center for Politics in Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and an executive-in-residence of the Political Science Department. Dr. Hillen is a combat veteran and Bronze Star recipient, a former assistant U.S. secretary of state, a successful business leader, and the author of The Strategy Dialogues: A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management.

Here’s a novel idea in 2025: You disagree with your friend’s political views. You could: a) Cancel the friend on social media b) End the friendship in real life c) Start a magazine where classmates with opposing views share their essays to better understand each other

Washington, D.C., April 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The author of an authoritative history of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) pledged a portion of the royalties from her book to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). Inspired by the work and the gesture, Dr. Harry L. Williams, president & CEO of TMCF, presented copies of the book to presidents and chancellors of two- and four-year HBCUs and historically Black community colleges (HBCCs).

Duke University professor Deondra Rose understands the importance of protecting, investing and celebrating the legacy of historically black colleges and universities. It’s something that she wants readers of her latest book to understand as well. In the book titled “The Power of Black Excellence: HBCUs and the Fight for American Democracy,” the history and political science scholar, who serves as an associate professor at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, writes about...