Speaking at a 'Wednesdays at the Center' webinar, professor Anne-Maria Makhulu showed striking parallels between the two countries' histories, both in terms of structures or racial inequality and of common movements against anti-Black racism.

“Globalism was designed precisely to … show sufficient deference for and understanding of your roots, your home culture while at the same time being engaged globally and enhancing your global awareness.” - Dr. Denis Simon, quoting Liu Jingnan, the first chancellor of Duke Kunshan University

In a narrative-redefining approach, Engaging the Evil Empire dramatically alters how we look at the beginning of the end of the Cold War, using recently declassified archival materials from both sides of the Iron Curtain to show how shifts in the perceived distribution of power catalyzed changes in the strategies which U.S. leaders used to engage the Soviet Union and vice versa.

At an Oct. 23 event, poets Caroline Randall Williams and Cathy Park Hong discussed the role of the engaged artist in building Black and Asian alliances and communities. The event was co-sponsored (among others) by the Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) and the Duke Center for International and Global Studies (DUCIGS.) Read the article by the Duke Chronicle.