The Week at Duke {in 60 Seconds‪}‬ Duke University News and Communications

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Alumnus and Trustee David Rubenstein has helped endow Duke’s first-generation scholarship program with a $20 million gift. Students in the David M. Rubenstein Scholars Program will receive not only a loan-free four-year scholarship, but also faculty and peer mentoring.

Public Radio International featured Duke molecular biologist Raphael Valdivia in last week’s 100 Days, 100 Questions series. He spoke about drawing immigrant scientists to the U.S. Hear the whole piece in Duke’s “Glad You Asked” podcast.

A cartilage-mimicking material created by Duke researchers may one day allow surgeons to 3-D print replacement knee menisci. To test the material, scientists used a $300 printer and a model knee.

Finally, the Duke Farmers Market is now open through the summer outside of the Trent Semans Center for Health Education.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Duke researchers are making 3-D X-ray scans of dozens of lemurs and other endangered primates. This will allow researchers to look at the animals’ anatomy in great detail without disturbing the original specimens.

Last weekend, Duke celebrated the opening of a newly restored trail in Duke Forest. The Shepherd Nature Trail now has new informational signs about the history of the Forest’s culture and ecology.

The Sanford School’s Counterterrorism and Public Policy Fellowship Program brings active-duty military officers to Duke, where they take classes with undergrad and graduate students. The program gives officers the perspective of current students, and gives students a chance to learn from the officers’ real-world experience.

Finally, check out these beautiful spring shots of Duke’s campus. You can watch the whole thing on Duke’s YouTube channel.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Last week, members of the Duke community got free tickets to watch the Duke baseball team play an exhibition game against the Durham Bulls. The Bulls won by a run, but when both teams are the home team, it’s hard to be disappointed.

Abby Pyne is a Duke soccer player who went through nine knee surgeries and can no longer play. But she’s leaving her mark by leading a volunteer program where she brings student athletes with her each week to visit kids in Duke Children’s Hospital.

The Coalition for Preserving Memory is a student group dedicated to remembering victims of United Nations recognized genocides. Last weekend, during the group’s annual 24-hour ceremony on Abele Quad, students, faculty and staff read the names of those who lost their lives.

Finally, this week is National Library Week and Duke University Libraries celebrated with bookface photos in front of Perkins and Lilly. Check out Duke Libraries’ Facebook page for all the fun.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Last weekend marked the 35th anniversary of the Grateful Dead playing at Cameron Indoor. Alumni shared their memories on Duke’s Facebook page, which featured the original concert poster and a ticket stub that listed the price of admission as $9.50.

In other musical news, two Duke faculty have released a comic book exploring more than 2,000 years of musical history, and how musicians have borrowed each other’s music across genres and cultures.

A Duke study of more than 500 children who grew up in the era of leaded gasoline has shown that their exposure to the powerful neurotoxin may have led to a loss of intelligence and occupational standing by the time they reached age 38.

Finally, Duke announced its seven honorary degree recipients for this year’s commencement. Honorees include Loretta Lynch, the former U.S. attorney general who will also speak at the Law School’s hooding ceremony on the same weekend.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Over spring break, around 100 first-and second-year students stayed on campus to participate in a new program called Spring Breakthrough. Over five days, students took part in small group classes with some of Duke’s most popular professors. The program was designed to give participants a chance to explore a new subject, just for the fun of learning. There was no pressure and best of all, no grades!

In one of the classes, the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” provided a backdrop for students to combine learning about history and politics with composing lyrics and performing spoken word.

And one class featured a subject popular with students everywhere: Puppies! While exploring cognitive neuroscience, veterinary science, evolution, and behavioral economics, the class played with puppies and older dogs, visited a shelter, a goat farm, and the North Carolina Zoo.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.

Welcome to the week at Duke in 60 seconds.

Visiting artist Mythili Prakash has spent part of the semester sharing a South Indian dance form with Duke students. The Duke Dance Program will perform her choreography at its concerts on April 14th and 15th.

Being aware that you might actually be wrong is a quality researchers call ‘intellectual humility.’ Duke scientists suggest that a person could be taught this trait, which could influence politics and business in particular.

Each year, Duke professor Mark Anthony Neal teams up with Grammy Award-winning producer 9th Wonder to teach a class on the history of hip-hop. The teaching duo invites other artists and thinkers as guest speakers for the class and the public is welcome to sit in on the class as well.

Finally, this month Durham middle schoolers got a series of visits from Duke Neurology residents and physician assistants. The lessons focused on teaching kids about seizures and epilepsy.

For more Duke news every day, visit Duke Today.