Cecilia Gyamfi, T’25 (Photo courtesy of Cecilia Gyamfi) Cecilia Gyamfi (she/her) is a senior from Columbus, Ohio double-majoring in African & African-American Studies and Political Science, while also attaining a certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. During her time at Duke, Gyamfi served in the Duke Student Government, Duke Project Justice and the Duke NAACP for four years, including as the president of the organization. She conducted… read more about Introducing Trinity’s Class of 2025: Cecilia Gyamfi »
“I was promised cherry blossoms if I came to Tokyo,” said Professor Peter Feaver to a laughing mix of Duke students and alumni at the Tokyo American Club. It was a chilly Friday in March 2025, about a week before cherries bloomed, and a week after two dozen undergrads and graduate students gathered on Duke’s campus at 3:30 in the morning, ready to fly to Japan for a week of on-site studying. They were part of the Program in American Grand Strategy.The Duke Program in American Grand Strategy is an initiative aimed at… read more about Empathy Across Oceans: Duke Students Channel WWII History in Japan »
Each year, Duke University awards Benenson Awards in the Arts, which provide funding for arts-centered projects proposed by undergraduates, including graduating seniors. This year, the Student Arts Award Committee awarded prizes to fifteen students for creative projects spanning film, theater, creative writing, music, dance, and visual art. read more about Announcing the 2025 Benenson Award Winners »
Less common doesn’t mean less impactful. Learning Turkish wasn’t just an academic pursuit for Erin Dickerson — it was a personal journey to connect more deeply with her identity. Now, she’s preparing for a career in U.S. diplomacy AND embracing the language she always longed to study. Didem Havlioglu knows that language study offers students more than just classroom learning — it fosters a deep, personal connection with different cultures. Reflecting on her experiences of learning… read more about Languages Less Traveled »
The Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) announced the renaming of the MPSA Best Paper Award to the Paula D. McClain Award for the MPSA Best Paper, in honor of the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Professor of Public Policy at Duke University, and Director of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute. The award recognizes the best paper overall presented at the MPSA conference each year.McClain's primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority… read more about Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Renames Award to Honor Paula D. McClain »
The climate finance negotiations at the COP 29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, showed the emerging cracks of multilateralism. Dubbed the finance COP, the Baku summit focused on new financial targets of climate finance contributions from developed countries to developing countries to help them mitigate and adapt to climate change. While negotiators burned the midnight oil and finally arrived at a decision of at least $300 billion a year a year by 2035, the ever-increasing public finance problems in developed countries raise the… read more about How to Save Climate Finance Multilateralism »
DecemberAanchal Bagga, Marcus Holmlund, Nausheen Khan, Subha Mani, Eric Mvukiyehe, and Patrick Premand. 2024. "Do Public Works Programs Have Sustained Impacts? A Review of Experimental Studies from LMICs." The World Bank Research Observer.Pablo Beramendi, Asli Cansunar, and Ray Duch. 2024. “The Distributive Basis of Tax Compliance.” Journal of Politics, forthcoming.NovemberBahar Leventoğlu, Edmund Malesky, and Ündes Wen. 2024. "Synthesizing Theories of Authoritarian Elections: A Game-Free Analysis." … read more about Recent Scholarship & Milestones »
Two Duke alumni, Carlee Goldberg, T’22, and Faraan Rahim, T’23, have received the Samvid Scholarship. They were among 20 scholars selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants. The program awards up to $100,000 towards tuition and fees for two years of graduate study.Carlee Goldberg, originally from Parkland, Fla., graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in political science and history with high distinction. She was an A.B. Duke Scholar and a Nakayama Public Service Scholar. Following her undergraduate studies, Goldberg… read more about Two Duke Alumni Named to 2024 Samvid Scholars Cohort »
Days before the election, faculty members of the Duke Department of Political Science gathered in the Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room to share their insights into the election. The event included former congressman David Price’s recounting of how Democratic leaders rallied to persuade President Joe Biden to step down only months earlier. The discussion circled around the theme of political trust: how it is secured — or lost — through public opinion and election integrity. … read more about Perspectives on the 2024 Election: a Duke Political Science Panel »
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences has launched an initiative to spur innovative research on the co-evolution of artificial intelligence and human behavior: the Society-Centered AI Initiative at Duke.Directed by Chris Bail, professor of Sociology, Political Science and Public Policy, the Society-Centered AI Initiative at Duke is a collaborative effort aimed at fostering interdisciplinary research exploring the myriad ways in which AI will influence human behavior — and how social factors will… read more about Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches Society-Centered AI Initiative »
Bold researchers are drawn to big questions, and few questions are larger than that of societal transformation. Shikhar Singh is embracing the challenge.Singh’s research focuses on democratic accountability in rapidly developing countries of the Global South. Specifically, how transformational changes in India’s welfare state affect voting behavior; why municipal governments are not as responsive to voters; and why voters fail to hold elected officials accountable during public health crises.As countries adopt technological… read more about A Kind of Majesty: Shikhar Singh Studies the Story of Democratic Accountability »
Hundreds of students gathered to watch the 2024 presidential debate. Photos courtesy of Associate Professor Alexander Kirshner and undergraduate Neel Mehra. On Tuesday, September 10, as millions of Americans tuned in to watch the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, students from across Duke gathered at the Devil’s Krafthouse for a viewing party of their own. “This election is crucial for our country. And it is… read more about The 2024 President Debate Watch Party »
Duke class of 2026 students Luna Abadia, Dylan Cawley and Henry Stephens IV have received the Voyager Scholarship. Also referred to as the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, the program offers funding and leadership training to students committed to serving their communities.From Portland, Ore., Luna Abadia is a public policy major interested in emerging tech policy, political economics and climate mobility. She has served as an intern for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East… read more about Three Duke Students Awarded the Voyager Scholarship »
