Though the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, he isn’t in the chain of command.
“I don't make decisions,” Gen. Mark Milley, the 20th and current holder of that office, said at Duke Friday. “And you have to be very careful about that.”
Instead, the chairman’s role is to provide “considered, rigorous, well thought-out” advice to the president, the secretary of defense and the National Security Council about the use of the U.S. military, Milley said.
“We are not allowed… read more about Duke hosts Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff »
A new program for Duke sophomores – which launches in Spring 2022 – will include a Political Science course that examines the role of great ambition for good and for ill in politics.
“Ambition and Politics” (POLSCI 270) is part of the new “Transformative Ideas” program that is designed to promote open and civil cross-disciplinary dialogue on questions and big ideas that change lives, link cultures and shape societies around the world.
“Ambition and Politics” – taught by Michael Gillespie, Professor of Political Science –… read more about Political Science Course Among New "Transformative Ideas" Offerings »
November
Herbert Kitschelt offers commentary on Democratic party cohesion following the 2020 election, in the NYTimes Opinion
Candis Watts Smith and her co-hosts discuss political polarization following an interview with Christopher Bail, an expert on social media polarization, on the podcast Democracy Works
October
Paula McClain remembers the life of geographer Harold Rose and his generous mentorship through the years, for The History Makers
Candis Watts Smith is profiled in a new series… read more about In the News, 2021 »
"I’m so glad to have celebrated graduation in person this weekend!" Robert "Bo" Carlson (T '20) remarked on a lovely early-fall weather day.
Bo and many other political science alumni returned to campus to celebrate the graduation day experience they missed in the spring of 2020, when pandemic protocols necessitated a shutdown of all events.
“Commencement doesn't just signify degree completion; the ceremony binds us to the institution and the legions of alumni who… read more about A Special Return to Campus for Commencement 2020 »
Scholars, practitioners and advocates will examine the legal and political landscape of redistricting, preview the ongoing process in North Carolina and around the country, and discuss reforms during a conference Sept. 28-29 at Duke.
“Redistricting and American Democracy” will also give Duke students and the general public an opportunity to learn how redistricting will impact them -- and what they can do about it.
Attendance at in-person events is limited to individuals with a Duke ID plus invited guests. All events will… read more about The Past, Present and Future of Redistricting in North Carolina and Beyond »
In March of 2020, thousands of Duke staff and faculty began working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A pre-pandemic calendar still hangs in the office of Alumni Engagement & Development. Photo courtesy Mark Wienants.
In the roughly 18 months since, many members of the Duke workforce have gradually returned to work on-site, cleaning off desks filled with old calendars and notes, and catching up with colleagues they may not have seen in more than a year.
We asked readers to… read more about Reflections on Returning to Work on Campus »
September
Curtis Bram, Elliot Mamet, Harunobu Saijo, and Jasmine Smith are awarded competitive fellowships for their research from the Duke Graduate School
Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto (Ph.D. '07) will be the next dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas
Edmund Malesky and Phan Ngoc Tuan were awarded the $250,000 Laser Pulse Grant from USAID for experimental research on the relationship between business productivity and corruption in Vietnam
Leann McLaren and Zoe Walker have been… read more about Scholarship and Milestones, 2021 »
Duke Today presents seven Duke-authored books pertinent to students’, teachers’ and parents’ back-to-school experiences. These explore factors related to the classroom, home, primary and secondary school, learning, teaching and more.
These books, along with many others, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop.
From Isolation to Conversation by Leslie Babinski
Professor Leslie Babinski, director of the Center for Child and… read more about Six Duke-Penned Books to Prep for Back-to-School »
With Duke Engineering students facilitating cryptocurrency transactions for class and DEMAN Live partnering with the Innovation Co-Lab to explore NFTs, it feels like blockchain is suddenly everywhere at Duke. But that wasn’t the case back when Manmit Singh ’22, now president of the Duke Blockchain Lab, was a first-year student.
“I thought blockchain was some kind of video game,” Singh said wryly.
While most people know of blockchain through Bitcoin and other digital currencies, it’s so much more than that. A blockchain is… read more about These Days, Blockchain is Everywhere at Duke »
On that Monday when Robert Wilson announced that Duke would form the political science department, he could not have had a clear vision for what the department would look like, a lifetime later. This announcement, in the form of a letter, was sent across campus on Monday, June 25, 1934. The letter also held a request for a "steel filing case" to store departmental papers.
Throughout the department's 87 year history, faculty goals have changed from asking for resources like filing cabinets, to being awarded research … read more about Department Welcomes Kerry Haynie as Chair »
Best Dissertation
Emily Rains, “Negotiating Informality: Essays on Policy Needs and Political Problem-Solving in Indian Slums”
Abstract: The world’s urban population is projected to increase by more than two billion people over the next three decades, with nearly all of this growth expected in resource-poor cities in the Global South. These demographic trends will substantially challenge governments’ ability to provide basic services in cities where the majority of residents already… read more about 2021 Graduate Student Awards »
Political Science
