Research

Displays celebrating Durham African American History

Advancing Social Equity Research

Within the Center’s rich interdisciplinary community, our research scholars pursue projects across various fields of inquiry as well as with researchers at Duke and scholars throughout the world.

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Research Themes

The Cook Center organizes its research, programmatic, and scholarship activities into the following domains:

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01

Class, Wealth, & Social Mobility

Documenting the magnitude of racial and ethnic disparities in wealth in the United States.
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02

Health Equity

Investigating the sociocultural, economic, and structural indicators of health to eliminate health-related racial/ethnic and gender disparities.
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03

Education Equity & Policy

Exploring the complex educational challenges facing various subgroups ranging from Pre-Kindergarteners to postsecondary students.
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04

Policing Enforcement & Justice

Advancing research on the mechanisms that produce and maintain inequities within the criminal legal system and its broader consequences on society.
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05

Environmental Justice

Focusing on the behavioral, social, cultural, and technological aspects of the global climate crisis for meaningful incorporation into environmental policy and decision making.
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06

Visual Narratives of Inequality

Amplifying marginalized voices, highlighting inequitable systemic practices, and advancing social justice in North Carolina and beyond. 
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07

Artificial Intelligence & Inequality

Understanding the ethical and sociopolitical stakes of technological developments, automated systems, and artificial intelligence.

Research & Publications

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Racial Discrimination, Religious Coping, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among African American Women and Men

This study examined whether religious coping buffered the associations between racial discrimination and several modifiable…

DOJ Intervention and the Checkpoint Shift: Profiling Hispanic Motorists under the 287(g) Program†

Key Findings The paper analyzes traffic stop statistics across participating and non-participating 287(g) agencies in…

Gender and Racial Behavior in Consumer Payment Methods under Economic Uncertainty

The question “Cash or credit?” is misleadingly simple, and the answer depends on many factors….
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Adding stress in banking: Stress tests and risk-taking sentiments

The risk culture of the financial sector is a crucial, and determinant, component of the…

The Federal Job Guarantee – A Policy to Achieve Permanent Full Employment

While in January 2018 the unemployment rate was at a relatively low 4.1 percent, that…

23 and We: Stories of Race in Genetic Ancestry Testing Advertisements

Summary As genetic ancestry testing (GAT) companies market themselves, they face many decisions in terms…

Can Baby Bonds Eliminate the Racial Wealth Gap in Putative Post-Racial America?

Abstract Despite an enormous and persistent black-white wealth gap, the ascendant American narrative is one…

Black racial stereotypes and victim blaming

Media portrayals of racial and ethnic minority victims of police violence have generated conversations about…
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