Duke on Demand

The Bioinformatics Group at the National Marrow Donor Program are conducting a series of studies that combine new data collection methods with genetic ancestry to improve donor patient matches.

Director Martin Maiers and Scientist Abeer Madbouly at the Bioinformatics Group commissioned Lynn Fellman to produce a video about this research. The 3-minute video was presented November, 2012, during Dr. Madbouly's talk to medical professionals and scientists. It explains that people alive today have unique markers in their genes that reflect ancient migrations and contemporary mixing. In a land of many Multis, like the United States, people with mixed genetic ancestry who need a stem cell transplant have difficulty finding a matching donor.

Dr. Madbouly and her colleagues hope to find that more exact genetic data and measurable ethnic information may result in matching more donors with patients for more successful transplant outcomes.

Lynn Fellman is an independent multimedia artist focusing on human evolution and genomic science. She works with scientists to communicate their research through art and narrative. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, she is currently an artist and journalist in residence at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent).

Mark Anthony Neal talks with Francesca Royster about her new book, "Sounding Like a No-No: Queer Sounds and Eccentric Acts in the Post-Soul Era".

Francesca Royster will talk with Mark Anthony Neal on Monday's Left of Black.

Tune in to watch the show after 1:30pm EST on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11tMpXq55A

Research into the science of honesty shows how lots of people can cheat a little bit, and then the boundaries of what actually constitutes cheating are not as clear. Basically, they push the envelope more and more and justify what they are doing gradually. This tendency allows people to misbehave and think of themselves as being upstanding citizens even while they are misbehaving. As such, this week's readings will examine dishonesty under a (I) biological/evolutionary, (II) social, (III) literary, and (IV) economic lens.

This week Mark Anthony Neal is joined by sci-fi series director, Keith Josef Adkins to talk about his new series The Abandon. Then Mark sits down to talk with Bettina Love about her new book, "Hip Hop's Li'l Sistas Speak: Negotiating Hip Hop Identities and Politics in the New South".

The social science research on decision making doesn't show radical differences in men's and women's decision-making abilities in the US, yet it is clear that men and women occupy very different socio-economic roles and positions of leadership in U.S. society. Why? Sociological research on women's workplace performance suggests that women are more likely to measure success based on personal relationships (gaining approval from, collaborating successfully with, or competing against others, especially other women). The studies of male success tend to suggest that men succeed by aspiring to those above them, in competition with peers. Other experiments suggests that women are reluctant to put themselves into a situation of competition with other women and are also less willing than men to negotiate for better salaries or benefits in the workplace. The literature complicates these issues, asking what part of gender enculturation confuses "gender" and "competition."

Yan Lianke is the author of Lenin's Kisses and currently a finalist for the Man Booker International literary prize.

Mark Anthony Neal is joined by film director, Shola Lynch, to talk about her latest release, "Free Angela & All Political Prisoners".

Mark Anthony Neal interviews filmmaker Shola Lynch about her latest release "Free Angela & All Political Prisoners".

Tune in Monday, April 8th at 1:30pm EST to watch the stream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edyIAsPPfzs

How does the media shape political change? How have journalists both challenged and offered cover for authoritarian regimes? Questions like these have been brought to the fore in recent years by the "Arab Spring" that has rocked authoritarian and military-dominated regimes across the Middle East, in which both professional and "citizen" journalists have played key roles. These same questions arose again and again in Latin America in the 1980s, where the late twentieth century's great wave of global democratization began. This interdisciplinary, transregional research conference, featuring pre-circulated papers, will bring together scholars who study print, broadcast, and digital media in Latin America, in order to think critically about the relationships between media cultures and political change in Latin America and to develop innovative tools to for scholars to more critically interpret media sources in historical research.

Co-sponsored by:

The History Graduate Program, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Graduate School, Romance Studies, and Cultural Anthropology at Duke University; the Trent Foundation; and John D. French research funds.

If lots of people say it's good, it must be good. Social proof is the tendency to adopt the most popular behavior because its social clout seemingly suggests that it is the "correct" or "best" behavior. Social proof is evident in "liking" on Facebook, foot traffic patterns across campus, and a certain sports rivalry between Duke and a school down the road. This week's readings will explore four dimensions of social proof: (1) critical social consequences, (2) the tendency to follow others (i.e., "herd mentality"), (3) the role of social proof in value and belief creation, and (4) the failure to detect social proof.

Today's guests: Adeline Koh shares her Trading Races, Amy Unell shows her Starting At the Finish Line: The Coach Buehler Story, and Ann Pendleton-Jullian talks about design thinking.

http://sites.duke.edu/english390-5_01_s2013/schedule-of-topics/march4/