Power in the modern world is increasingly exercised not just through military force, but through technology, finance and control over information.Walter D Mignolo, professor at Duke University, argues that while what we historically see as “formal colonialism” may have largely ended, systems of Western dominance continue through economics, culture, technology and knowledge production.“Coloniality is not over. It is all over the world,” Mignolo said, arguing that modern ideas of development and progress often have the effect… read more about Duke's Walter Mignolo Comments on Big Tech's Global Dominance »
Duke's commencement ceremony was held on Sunday, May 10, welcoming the Class of 2026 into the Duke alumni family. With more than 6,900 graduates, including 1,785 undergraduates, it was a weekend worth celebrating. Over three days, Trinity marked the occasion with ceremonies spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.From large, formal ceremonies to intimate departmental gatherings, Trinity graduates had a full weekend of celebrating their accomplishments alongside the faculty, staff, family and… read more about Scenes from Commencement 2026 | A Look Back at the Trinity Commencement Ceremonies »
The Office for Faculty Advancement has awarded seed grants to seven new projects led by Duke faculty members. The theme for this grant cycle is “Building Community and Strengthening Networks to Improve the Faculty Experience.”Faculty were invited to propose innovative initiatives to build community, creative approaches to address specific mentorship needs, and novel approaches to improve the faculty experience.The seed grant program will provide financial support for these projects through April 2027. Project leaders… read more about Trinity Faculty Awarded Seed Grants by Duke Office of Faculty Advancement »
"What matters is finding your people, the ones who inspire you, ground you and remind you it’s okay to follow a different beat," said senior Lilian Fan. (Photo courtesy of Fan) Lilian Fan was drawn to Duke not by rankings or undergraduate research or even basketball. She came because of a frequency.Encouraged by her high school music teacher to explore colleges with student-run radio, Fan’s research kept circling back to WXDU. After an online deep dive into North Carolina, she liked what… read more about Lilian Fan '26: Traveling to the Beat of a Different Drum »
During Full Frame week in downtown Durham, Belem Destefani moves with quiet purpose. A volunteer has a question about their shift. A filmmaker needs to do a tech check for their film. A screening is about to let out, and the lobby is filling fast. Destefani takes it all in, then pivots to the next task. “I like to think of my role as putting everything together,” she says. “Giving people the tools they need, then trusting them to do what they do best.” Since 2024, Destefani (T’09) has served as Operations Director… read more about From Trinity to Full Frame by Means of Curiosity »
Duke’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has invited its faculty to submit proposals for the creation of new research initiatives on campus.Following the successful launches of the SPACE Initiative and the Society-Centered AI Initiative, the Trinity Research Initiative will support new directions for interdisciplinary research through seed funding for nascent research collaborations, community-building, and complementary educational and outreach activities.Open to all areas of research and… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Invites Proposals for New Research Initiatives »
Early in the afternoon of March 24, 1999, my wife, Angélica, and I were seated high up in the gallery overlooking the chamber of the House of Lords in London, where a panel of law lords (the English equivalent of a Supreme Court) was to decide whether there were grounds to extradite General Augusto Pinochet, Chile’s eighty-three-year-old former dictator, to Spain to face charges of torture, for which he was alleged to have been responsible during his seventeen years of terror from 1973 to 1990. I had been following the case… read more about Ariel Dorfman: Pinochet and the Vans of Death »
The Office for Faculty Advancement has awarded seed grants to six new projects led by Duke faculty members. The theme for this grant cycle is “Deepening Engagement and Improving the Faculty Experience.”Faculty were invited to propose creative approaches to strengthening faculty communities and relationships; innovative initiatives to improve the culture in departments, centers and schools; and new faculty groups that deepen engagement on topics relevant to the faculty experience.The seed grant program will provide financial… read more about Trinity Faculty Join New Projects to Deepen Engagement and Improve the Faculty Experience »
A pioneering philosopher, novelist, poet and transdisciplinary scholar, Duke emeritus professor of Literature Valentin-Yves Mudimbe passed away on April 21 at the age of 83. Mudimbe was among the earliest and most profound challengers of representations of Africa in global thought.His 1988 masterpiece “The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge” reoriented African studies, insisting on a more reflexive, decolonial and critically engaged practice of knowledge.Born in the Belgian Congo in… read more about Literature Professor Valentin-Yves Mudimbe Passes Away »
Billy Cao, a Trinity senior graduating in 2025 with majors in Literature and Biology, has always been interested in the interaction between the humanities and sciences. However, he realized that when people think about that interaction, the humanities usually get short shrift. Through classes in global culture and theory, Cao was inspired to examine the ways in which the humanities can play a central role in our understanding of scientific inquiry.Antonio Viego’s Literature class, Introduction to Psychoanalytic Theory… read more about What Can Literature Tell Us About Science? »
Fredric Jameson, a cultural theorist and literary critic who influenced generations of scholars and helped raise the international profile of Duke's Literature program, died on September 22. Two months later, the department hosted a memorial for friends and colleagues from around the world to share memories of the esteemed professor.“Since his arrival at the university, Fred Jameson has been the centerpiece in the project that catapulted the humanities at Duke to national leadership," said Michael Hardt, professor… read more about Literature Hosts Memorial Service to Honor Fredric Jameson (1934-2024) »
Last year, Maya Kronfeld had the satisfaction of seeing Nicole Zuraitis’ How Love Begins, on which she played keyboards, win a GRAMMY Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album.Fast forward to Sunday night and the 2025 GRAMMY Awards. Once again, an album featuring Kronfeld as keyboardist – Taylor Eigsti’s Plot Armor – won for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The recording also features jazz icons Terence Blanchard, Lisa Fischer and many others. Participating in two GRAMMY-winning albums in as many years is… read more about Literature Professor Has the Grammy Magic for Second Year in a Row »
LIT 301S Theory Now Image credit: Rene Magritte's "La Trahison des Images" ("The Treachery of Images") (1928-1929) Taught by Professor Christina LeonMW 10:05 – 11:20am, Friedl 102This seminar functions as an introduction to key theoretical concepts and debates that animate theory historically and in our current moment. Concentrating on the legacies and relevance of critical and literary theory for the now, this course will look at canonical texts and, also, current… read more about Featured Courses for Spring 2025 »
Interdisciplinarity isn’t merely a tool for research; it is at the very root of Associate Professor of Literature Zakiyyah Jackson’s scholarship and teaching. By blending research and knowledge coming from literature, gender and sexuality, African and African American studies, and art, Jackson seeks to redefine our understanding of what it means to “be,” and in particular what defines a human in a world permeated with Antiblack sentiment. “We have a responsibility to develop new approaches and knowledges… read more about Literature’s Newest Professor Challenges Notions of Race, Gender and What It Means to Be Human »
Fredric Jameson, a cultural theorist and literary critic who influenced generations of scholars and helped raise the international profile of Duke University's literature program, died Sunday. He was 90.Jameson came to Duke in 1985 and for 18 years directed Duke’s Program in Literature, which in addition to teaching traditional comparative literature also focused on critical theory -- an examination of philosophical issues connected to culture and literature."There are very few other programs that do that," Jameson said in… read more about Duke Flags Lowered: Fredric Jameson, Influential Cultural Theorist and Literary Critic, Dies »
Last month, scholars from across the United States, Haiti and Romania gathered on Duke’s campus to celebrate the career of Walter Mignolo, the William Hane Wannamaker Distinguished Professor of Romance Studies, Literature and Cultural Anthropology. During more than 30 years at Duke, Mignolo became a leading theorist of the connections between modernity and the colonial system. In over a dozen acclaimed books, including “The Darker Side of the Renaissance,” “Local Histories/Global Designs” and 2021’s “The Politics of… read more about Walter Mignolo Retires After 30 Years as Leading Theorist of Decoloniality »
“There’s a particular tradition in the history of philosophy of science that doesn’t just ask what people said and thought in the past, but why they were incited to speak and think one way rather than another,” said Nima Bassiri. This is the question that Bassiri, assistant professor of Literature and codirector of Duke’s Institute for Critical Theory, examines in his book Madness and Enterprise: Psychiatry, Economic Reason, and the Emergence of Pathological Value, released earlier this year by the… read more about Does Madness Pay? Nima Bassiri Explores Madness and Enterprise »
Spring’s crop of books from Duke authors includes a history of grievance in the United States, an up-close look at the camaraderie at Durham Bulls games, and a guide on understanding sex and gender. 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. Some are available as e-books for quick download. Most can also be purchased through the… read more about Spring Books in Duke Authors: Meditations, Baseball, Rebels and Stomach Pains »
Fredric Jameson, who has been a professor at Duke since 1985, was the founder of the Literature Program and served as its director for decades. He has published dozens of widely influential books and been awarded several prestigious international prizes. I want to focus here on his 1991 book, “Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,” because it offers an introductory view on the extraordinary breadth of his vision, the originality of his analyses and the impact of his work. In the 1980s and 90s,… read more about From LA Hotels to Economic Theory, Fredric Jameson’s Multifaceted Analysis of the Present »
Assistant Professor in the Program of Literature Christina León joins the Duke faculty this year. (John West/Trinity Communications) “It’s okay not to have all the answers,” Christina A. León confides. The assistant professor in the Program of Literature came to this realization as a first-year student at the University of Florida. “After graduating from a rather dogmatic Catholic high school, it was somewhat liberating as an undergrad when I didn’t need to provide… read more about In Caribbean Literature, Christina León Stays with Questions »