125-684: Henry Louis Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic , professor, historian, and filmmaker who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University . He is a trustee of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History . He rediscovered the earliest known African-American novels and has published extensively on
250-447: A 1989 American Book Award winner , Gates expressed what might constitute an African-American cultural aesthetic . The work extended application of the concept of " signifyin ' " to analysis of African-American works. "Signifyin(g)" refers to the significance of words that is based on context, and is accessible only to those who share the cultural values of a given speech community. His work has rooted African-American literary criticism in
375-604: A George Polk Award for his social commentary in The New York Times . Gates's prominence led to his being called as a witness on behalf of the controversial Florida rap group 2 Live Crew in an obscenity case. He argued that the material, which the government charged was profane, had important roots in African-American Vernacular English , games, and literary traditions, and should be protected. When asked by National Endowment for
500-705: A New York Times op-ed last year, that the folks who captured and sold Blacks into slavery in the first place were also Africans, working for profit. "People wanted to kill me, man," Gates says of the reaction to that op-ed. "Black people were so angry at me. But we need to get some distance from the binary opposition we were raised in: evil white people and good Black people. The world just isn't like that." The Letters page of The New York Times of April 25, 2010, featured criticism and examination of Gates's views in response to his op-ed. Eric Foner , professor of history at Columbia University , considered Gates's emphasis on there being "little discussion" of African involvement in
625-615: A Yoruba man who was trafficked to America from Ouidah in present-day Republic of Benin . The two series demonstrated the many strands of ancestry, cultural heritage, and history among African Americans. Gates hosted Faces of America , a four-part series presented by PBS in 2010. This program examined the genealogy of 12 North Americans of diverse ancestry: Elizabeth Alexander , Mario Batali , Stephen Colbert , Louise Erdrich , Malcolm Gladwell , Eva Longoria , Yo-Yo Ma , Mike Nichols , Queen Noor of Jordan , Mehmet Oz , Meryl Streep , and Kristi Yamaguchi . Since 1995, Gates has been
750-645: A separate school in 1939. The university president's official residence, the J. Deryl Hart House , was completed in 1934. In athletics, Duke hosted and competed in the first Rose Bowl ever played outside California in Wallace Wade Stadium in 1942; the second such game was played in Arlington, Texas , in 2021, moved as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic . During World War II, Duke was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in
875-538: A "white top and a black bottom" power structure, according to the former director of employee relations; the university's gradualist and arguably complacent approach to civil rights; high attrition rates for Black students; lack of unionization rights for nonacademic employees; lack of institutional power and self-determination for a Black studies department; "police harassment for Black students"; "racist living conditions"; and "tokenism of Black representation in university power structures" among others. Their underlying demand
1000-550: A Black intellectual and public figure, Gates has been an outspoken critic of the Eurocentric literary canon. He has insisted that Black literature must be evaluated by the aesthetic criteria of its culture of origin, not criteria imported from Western or European cultural traditions that express a "tone deafness to the Black cultural voice" and result in "intellectual racism". In his major scholarly work, The Signifying Monkey ,
1125-493: A cane when he walks. After graduating from Piedmont High School in 1968, Gates attended Potomac State College of West Virginia University for one year before transferring to Yale University , from which he graduated in 1973 with a B.A. , summa cum laude , in history with membership in Phi Beta Kappa . Gates then became the first African American to be awarded a Mellon Foundation Fellowship. He sailed to England on
1250-438: A complex ancestry, one high and low (that is, literary and vernacular) but also one white and black ... there can be no doubt that white texts inform and influence black texts (and vice versa ), so that a thoroughly integrated canon of American literature is not only politically sound, it is intellectually sound as well. Gates has argued that a separatist, Afrocentric education perpetuates racist stereotypes. He maintains that it
1375-467: A dozen notable African Americans was traced using genealogical and historical resources, as well as genealogical DNA testing . In the first series, Gates learned that he has 50% European ancestry and 50% African ancestry. He had known of some European ancestry, but was surprised to learn the high proportion; he also learned that he was descended from John Redman, a mulatto veteran in New England of
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#17327809813201500-662: A football training facility, two residential buildings, an engineering complex, a public policy building, an eye institute, two genetic research buildings, a student plaza, the French Family Science Center, and two new medical-research buildings. In April 2005, Duke and the National University of Singapore signed a formal agreement under which the two institutions would partner to establish Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore . Duke-NUS
1625-537: A form of hermeneutics : knowledge via interpretation to understand the meaning of human texts and symbolic expressions – including the interpretation of texts which themselves interpret other texts. In the British and American literary establishment, the New Criticism was more or less dominant until the late 1960s. Around that time Anglo-American university literature departments began to witness
1750-566: A general gathering building called "Devil's Den", a restaurant known as "Devil's Bistro", a convenience store called Uncle Harry's, and the Mill Village. The Mill Village consists of a gym and group study rooms. In December 2016, Duke University purchased an apartment complex, now known as 300 Swift. Swift houses upperclassmen, in addition to the West Campus area, and is located between East and West Campus. Duke University Hospital
1875-578: A global university in 1910 with the promotion of William Preston Few as the new president of Trinity College, who sought to establish the university as a southern counterpart to Yale and Harvard . In 1924, Washington Duke's son, James B. Duke , established The Duke Endowment with a $ 40 million trust fund. Income from the fund was to be distributed to hospitals, orphanages, the Methodist Church, and four colleges (including Trinity College). Few, who remained president of Trinity, insisted that
2000-997: A governing board, including a Duke representative who has veto power over any academic decision made by the board. In 2013, Duke Kunshan University (abbreviated "DKU"), a partnership between Duke University, Wuhan University , and the city of Kunshan, was established in Kunshan , China. The university runs Duke degree graduate programs and an undergraduate liberal arts college. Undergraduates are awarded degrees from both Duke Kunshan University and Duke University upon graduation and become members of Duke and DKU's alumni organizations. DKU conducted research projects on climate change , health-care policy and tuberculosis prevention and control. Duke University has 12 schools and institutes, three of which host undergraduate programs: Trinity College of Arts and Sciences , Pratt School of Engineering , and Duke Kunshan University . The university has "historical, formal, ongoing, and symbolic ties" with
2125-461: A hospital in Kilimatinde , near Dodoma , Tanzania , when he was a 19-year-old pre-medical student at Yale University . In September 1995, Gates narrated a five-part abridgement (by Margaret Busby ) of his memoir Colored People on BBC Radio 4 . Gates was the host and co-producer of African American Lives (2006) and African American Lives 2 (2008) in which the lineage of more than
2250-573: A new home, Environmental Hall, a five-story, glass-and-concrete building that incorporates the highest sustainable features and technologies, and meets or exceeds the criteria for LEED platinum certification. The School of Nursing in April 2014 opened a new 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m ) addition to the Christine Siegler Pearson Building. In summer 2014, a number of construction projects were completed. The project
2375-535: A novel from the same period that scholars believe may have been written as early as 1853. If that date is correct, it would have precedence as the first-known novel written in the United States by an African American. (Note: Clotel (1853) by William Wells Brown is recognized as the first novel published by an African-American author, but it was both written and published in London.) The Bondwoman's Narrative
2500-680: A nuclear lab, and a marine lab . Duke is a leading participant in the National Lambda Rail Network and runs a program for gifted children known as the Talent Identification Program . Admission to Duke is defined by U.S. News & World Report as "most selective." Duke received nearly 50,000 applications for the Class of 2025, with an overall acceptance rate of 6.2%. The yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend) for
2625-617: A rise of a more explicitly philosophical literary theory , influenced by structuralism , then post-structuralism , and other kinds of Continental philosophy . It continued until the mid-1980s, when interest in "theory" peaked. Many later critics, though undoubtedly still influenced by theoretical work, have been comfortable simply interpreting literature rather than writing explicitly about methodology and philosophical presumptions. Today, approaches based in literary theory and continental philosophy largely coexist in university literature departments, while conventional methods, some informed by
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#17327809813202750-656: A seven-year fundraising campaign, raised $ 3.85 billion by August 2017. In 2014, Duke removed the name of Charles B. Aycock , a white-supremacist governor of North Carolina , from an undergraduate dormitory. It is now known as the East Residence Hall. On August 19, 2017, following the violent clashes at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia , the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee
2875-402: A theater, Brodie Gym, tennis courts, several disc golf baskets, and a walking track as well as several academic buildings. The East Campus dorms are Alspaugh, Basset, Bell Tower, Blackwell, Brown, East House (formerly known as Aycock), Epworth, Gilbert-Addoms, Giles, West House (formerly known as Jarvis), Pegram, Randolph, Southgate, Trinity, and Wilson. Separated from downtown by a short walk,
3000-596: A trip to China, Gates returned home to his residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts , near Harvard Square on July 16, 2009. The front door was jammed. His taxi driver attempted to help him gain entrance. A passerby called police, reporting a possible break-in after describing to 911 "an individual" forcing the front door open. Cambridge police officers were dispatched. The confrontation resulted in Gates being arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Prosecutors later dropped
3125-501: A white mouth." As a mediator between those advocating separatism and those believing in a Western canon , Gates has been criticized by both. Some critics suggest that adding Black literature will diminish the value of the Western canon, while separatists say that Gates is too accommodating to the dominant white culture in his advocacy of integration of the canon. Gates has been criticized by John Henrik Clarke , Molefi Kete Asante , and
3250-404: Is "ridiculous" to think that only Blacks should be scholars of African and African-American literature. He argues, "It can't be real as a subject if you have to look like the subject to be an expert in the subject," adding, "It's as ridiculous as if someone said I couldn't appreciate Shakespeare because I'm not Anglo-Saxon . I think it's vulgar and racist whether it comes out of a Black mouth or
3375-560: Is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from West Campus . Studies, Art History, History, Cultural Anthropology, Literature, Music, Philosophy, and Women's Studies are housed on East. Programs such as dance, drama, education, film, and the University Writing Program reside on East. The self-sufficient East Campus contains the freshmen residence halls, a dining hall, coffee shop, post office, Lilly Library, Baldwin Auditorium,
3500-814: Is a 957-acute care bed academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina . Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for Duke University Health System , a network of physicians and hospitals serving Durham County and Wake County, North Carolina , and surrounding areas, as well as one of three Level I referral centers for the Research Triangle of North Carolina (the other two are UNC Hospitals in nearby Chapel Hill and WakeMed Raleigh in Raleigh ). Duke University Health System combines Duke University School of Medicine , Duke University School of Nursing , Duke Clinic, and
3625-471: Is a matter of some controversy. For example, The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism draws no distinction between literary theory and literary criticism, and almost always uses the terms together to describe the same concept. Some critics consider literary criticism a practical application of literary theory, because criticism always deals directly with particular literary works, while theory may be more general or abstract. Literary criticism
3750-579: Is a predominant type of rock found through the Carolina Slate Belt. Duke stone and the Carolina Slate Belt, like the greater Carolina Terrane , are thought to have formed in the Iapetus Ocean off the coast of Gondwana by a chain of volcanic islands known as 'Carolinia', starting around 650 million years ago. The Carolina Slate Belt contains stone of both meta-volcanic and meta-sedimentary origin. The geological literature finds
3875-608: Is adjacent to the Medical Center . East Campus , 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) away, home to all first-years, contains Georgian -style architecture. The university administers two concurrent schools in Asia, Duke–NUS Medical School in Singapore (established in 2005) and Duke Kunshan University in Kunshan, China (established in 2013). Duke spends more than $ 1 billion per year on research. As of 2024 , 16 Nobel laureates and 3 Turing Award winners have been affiliated with
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4000-465: Is descended in part from the Yoruba people of West Africa. He also learned that he has 50% European ancestry, including Irish forebears; he was surprised his European ancestry turned out to be so substantial. Having grown up in an African-American community, however, he identifies as Black. He has learned that he is also connected to the multiracial West Virginia community of Chestnut Ridge people . At
4125-686: Is exotic to the main North American ( Laurentia ) landmass. The Duke stone quarry now occupies a five-acre (2.0 ha) section of the Hillsboro Division of the Duke Forest. In new construction and repairs on Duke campus, the use of Duke stone is strictly regulated: "All stones shall be laid on their natural beds, with 20 percent of stone being split face and 80 percent seam face, mixed proportionately to show variations of stone coloring". In recent years, high cost of quarrying
4250-692: Is home to the Nasher Museum of Art , the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, the Center for Muslim Life, the Campus Police Department, Office of Disability Management, a Ronald McDonald House , and administrative departments such as Duke Residence Life and Housing Services. Central Campus has several recreation and social facilities such as basketball courts, a sand volleyball court, a turf field, barbecue grills and picnic shelters,
4375-481: Is intended to complement the National University of Singapore's existing undergraduate medical school, and had its first entering class in 2007. The curriculum is based on that of Duke University School of Medicine . Sixty percent of matriculates are from Singapore and 40% are from over 20 countries. The school is part of the National University of Singapore system, but distinct in that it is overseen by
4500-594: Is often published in essay or book form. Academic literary critics teach in literature departments and publish in academic journals , and more popular critics publish their reviews in broadly circulating periodicals such as The Times Literary Supplement , The New York Times Book Review , The New York Review of Books , the London Review of Books , the Dublin Review of Books , The Nation , Bookforum , and The New Yorker . Literary criticism
4625-695: Is part of the final phase of renovations to Duke's West Campus libraries that have transformed one of the university's oldest and most recognizable buildings into a state-of-the-art research facility. The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library reopened in August 2015 after about $ 60 million in renovations to the sections of the building built in 1928 and 1948. The renovations include more space, technology upgrades and new exhibits. In 2013, construction projects included transforming buildings like Gross Hall and Baldwin Auditorium, plus new construction such as
4750-564: Is situated between West Campus and Central Campus. The gardens occupy 55 acres (22 ha), divided into four major sections: the original Terraces and their surroundings; the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, devoted to flora of the Southeastern United States; the W.L. Culberson Asiatic Arboretum, housing plants of Eastern Asia, as well as disjunct species found in Eastern Asia and Eastern North America; and
4875-428: Is the study, evaluation , and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory , which is the philosophical analysis of literature's goals and methods. Although the two activities are closely related, literary critics are not always, and have not always been, theorists. Whether or not literary criticism should be considered a separate field of inquiry from literary theory
5000-686: Is thought to have existed as far back as the classical period. In the 4th century BC Aristotle wrote the Poetics , a typology and description of literary forms with many specific criticisms of contemporary works of art. Poetics developed for the first time the concepts of mimesis and catharsis , which are still crucial in literary studies. Plato 's attacks on poetry as imitative, secondary, and false were formative as well. The Sanskrit Natya Shastra includes literary criticism on ancient Indian literature and Sanskrit drama. Later classical and medieval criticism often focused on religious texts, and
5125-667: Is to be expected." After its initial formation, Duke stone underwent several metamorphic events, including the collision of Carolinia with Laurentia . The Carolinia-Laurentia collision started around 375 Mya, which coincides with timing of the Acadian orogeny that formed the Appalachian Mountains . Though Duke stone contains no fossils, other areas of the Carolina Terrane contain fossilized corals and trilobites that were used to establish that this formation
Henry Louis Gates Jr. - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-640: The Queen Elizabeth 2 and used the fellowship to pursue graduate study in English literature at Clare College, Cambridge , receiving an M.A. in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1979. After a month at Yale Law School , Gates withdrew from the program. In October 1975, he was hired by Charles Davis as a secretary in the Afro-American Studies department at Yale. In July 1976, Gates was promoted to the post of lecturer in Afro-American Studies, with
5375-744: The New Critics , also remain active. Disagreements over the goals and methods of literary criticism, which characterized both sides taken by critics during the "rise" of theory, have declined. Some critics work largely with theoretical texts, while others read traditional literature; interest in the literary canon is still great, but many critics are also interested in nontraditional texts and women's literature , as elaborated on by certain academic journals such as Contemporary Women's Writing , while some critics influenced by cultural studies read popular texts like comic books or pulp / genre fiction . Ecocritics have drawn connections between literature and
5500-633: The Oxford Dictionary of African American English , a new glossary of language that will contain popular phrases used by historical Black figures and modern-day Black Americans. In 1995, Gates presented a program in the BBC series Great Railway Journeys (produced in association with PBS ). The program documents a 3,000-mile journey Gates took through Zimbabwe , Zambia , and Tanzania , with his then-wife, Sharon Adams, and daughters, Liza and Meggie Gates. This trip came 25 years after Gates worked at
5625-484: The United Methodist Church , but is a nonsectarian and independent institution. Duke's endowment had a market value of $ 12.1 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. The university's special academic facilities include an art museum , several language labs, Duke Forest, Duke Herbarium, a lemur center , a phytotron , a free-electron laser, a nuclear magnetic resonance machine,
5750-656: The V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a navy commission. In 1963 the Board of Trustees officially desegregated the undergraduate college. Duke enrolled its first black graduate students in 1961. The school did not admit Black undergraduates until September 1963. The teaching staff remained all-White until 1966. Increased activism on campus during the 1960s prompted Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at
5875-462: The history of the book is a field of interdisciplinary inquiry drawing on the methods of bibliography , cultural history , history of literature , and media theory . Principally concerned with the production, circulation, and reception of texts and their material forms, book history seeks to connect forms of textuality with their material aspects. Among the issues within the history of literature with which book history can be seen to intersect are:
6000-661: The 1930s. Duke students often refer to the West Campus as "the Gothic Wonderland", a nickname referring to the Collegiate Gothic architecture of West Campus , a style chosen by the Campus's founders after campus visits to the University of Chicago , Yale, and Princeton . Much of the campus was designed by Julian Abele , one of the first prominent African-American architects and the chief designer in
6125-600: The 7,044 acres (28.51 km ) Duke Forest. The campus is divided into four main areas: West, East, and Central campuses and the Medical Center, which are all connected via a free bus service. On the Atlantic coast in Beaufort , Duke owns 15 acres (61,000 m ) as part of its marine lab . One of the major public attractions on the main campus is the 54-acre (220,000 m ) Sarah P. Duke Gardens , established in
6250-500: The 9th century, notably by Al-Jahiz in his al-Bayan wa-'l-tabyin and al-Hayawan , and by Abdullah ibn al-Mu'tazz in his Kitab al-Badi . The literary criticism of the Renaissance developed classical ideas of unity of form and content into literary neoclassicism , proclaiming literature as central to culture, entrusting the poet and the author with preservation of a long literary tradition. The birth of Renaissance criticism
6375-564: The African-American vernacular tradition. While Gates has stressed the need for greater recognition of Black literature and Black culture, he does not advocate a "separatist" Black canon. Rather, he works for greater recognition of Black works and their integration into a larger, pluralistic canon. He has affirmed the value of the Western tradition, but has envisioned a more inclusive canon of diverse works sharing common cultural connections: Every Black American text must confess to
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#17327809813206500-684: The American Revolutionary War. Gates has joined the Sons of the American Revolution . In the series, he discussed findings with guests about their complex ancestries. In the second season of the program, Gates learned that he is part of a genetic subgroup that may be descended from or related to the fourth-century Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages . He also learned that one of his African ancestors includes
6625-598: The Cambridge officer who was involved to share a beer with them at the White House, which they accepted. Gates married Sharon Lynn Adams in 1979. They had two daughters together before they divorced in 1999. As of 2021, Gates is married to historian Dr. Marial Iglesias Utset. In 1974, Gates learned the Transcendental Meditation technique. He reported: "I had this spiritual event where it
6750-631: The Class of 2023 was 54%. The Class of 2024 had a median ACT range of 34–35 and an SAT range of 1500–1570. (Test score ranges account for the 25th–75th percentile of accepted students.) From 2001 to 2011, Duke has had the sixth highest number of Fulbright , Rhodes , Truman , and Goldwater scholarships in the nation among private universities. The university practices need-blind admissions and meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated needs. About 50 percent of all Duke students receive some form of financial aid, which includes need-based aid, athletic aid, and merit aid. The average need-based grant for
6875-551: The Doris Duke Center Gardens. There are five miles (8.0 km) of allées and paths throughout the gardens. Duke University Allen Building was the site of student protest in the late 1960s. In 1969, six years after the university began to allow African-American students to enroll, dozens of Black students overtook the Allen Building and barricaded themselves inside of it. Their justification included
7000-550: The Duke Endowment and the institution changed its name to honor his deceased father, Washington Duke . The campus spans over 8,600 acres (3,500 hectares) on three contiguous sub-campuses in Durham, and a marine lab in Beaufort . The West Campus —designed largely by architect Julian Abele —incorporates Gothic architecture with the 210-foot (64-meter) Duke Chapel at the campus' center and highest point of elevation,
7125-466: The Enlightenment theoreticians so that the business of Enlightenment became a business with the Enlightenment. This development – particularly of emergence of entertainment literature – was addressed through an intensification of criticism. Many works of Jonathan Swift , for instance, were criticized including his book Gulliver's Travels , which one critic described as "the detestable story of
7250-543: The Events Pavilion. About 125,000 sq ft (11,600 m ) was updated at Gross Hall, including new lighting and windows and a skylight. Baldwin's upgrades include a larger stage, more efficient air conditioning for performers and audience and enhanced acoustics that will allow for the space to be "tuned" to each individual performance. The 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m ) Events Pavilion opened to students in 2013 and serves as temporary dining space while
7375-543: The Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole to describe his work, Gates responded: "I would say I'm a literary critic. That's the first descriptor that comes to mind. After that I would say I was a teacher. Both would be just as important." After his 2003 NEH lecture, Gates published in the same year a book entitled The Trials of Phillis Wheatley , about the early African-American poet. In July 2022, Gates announced that he would serve as editor-in-chief of
7500-475: The Sanford School of Public Policy). The separate Woman's College merged back with Trinity as the liberal arts college for both men and women in 1972. Beginning in the 1970s, Duke administrators began a long-term effort to strengthen Duke's reputation both nationally and internationally. Interdisciplinary work was emphasized, as was recruiting minority faculty and students. During this time it also became
7625-553: The Takeover as "one of the most pivotal moments in our university's history," claiming that the protestors "changed this place for the better and improved the lives of many who followed." Duke University Marine Laboratory , located in the town of Beaufort, North Carolina , is also technically part of Duke's campus. The marine lab is situated on Pivers Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, 150 yards (140 m) across
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#17327809813207750-454: The Union Institute Academy in 1841 when North Carolina issued a charter. The academy was renamed Normal College in 1851, and then Trinity College in 1859 because of support from the Methodist Church . In 1892, Trinity College moved to Durham , largely due to the generosity of Julian S. Carr and Washington Duke , powerful and respected Methodists who had grown wealthy through the tobacco and electrical industries. Carr donated land in 1892 for
7875-510: The United States. Duke Chapel stands at the center of West Campus on the highest ridge. Constructed from 1930 to 1935 from Duke stone , the chapel seats 1,600 people and, at 210 feet (64 m) is one of the tallest buildings in Durham County . West Campus , considered the main campus of the university, houses the sophomores and juniors, along with some seniors. Most of the academic and administrative centers are located there. Main West Campus , with Duke Chapel at its center, contains
8000-411: The West Campus Union undergoes major renovations, expected to be completed in the spring of 2016. From February 2001 to November 2005, Duke spent $ 835 million on 34 major construction projects as part of a five-year strategic plan, "Building on Excellence". Completed projects since 2002 include major additions to the business, law, nursing, and divinity schools, a new library, the Nasher Museum of Art ,
8125-495: The Yahoos". The British Romantic movement of the early nineteenth century introduced new aesthetic ideas to literary studies, including the idea that the object of literature need not always be beautiful, noble, or perfect, but that literature itself could elevate a common subject to the level of the sublime . German Romanticism , which followed closely after the late development of German classicism , emphasized an aesthetic of fragmentation that can appear startlingly modern to
8250-403: The age of 14, Gates was injured playing touch football , fracturing the ball and socket joint of his right hip, resulting in a slipped capital femoral epiphysis . The injury was misdiagnosed by a physician, who told Gates' mother that his problem was "psychosomatic". When the physical damage finally healed, his right leg was two inches shorter than his left. Because of the injury, Gates now uses
8375-450: The area was the site of the Women's College from 1930 to 1972. Central Campus, consisting of 122 acres (0.49 km ) between East and West campuses, housed around 1,000 sophomores, juniors, and seniors, as well as around 200 professional students in double or quadruple apartments. However, the housing of undergraduates on Central Campus ended after the 2018–2019 school year and the respective buildings were demolished. Central Campus
8500-514: The author's psychology or biography, which became almost taboo subjects) or reader response : together known as Wimsatt and Beardsley's intentional fallacy and affective fallacy . This emphasis on form and precise attention to "the words themselves" has persisted, after the decline of these critical doctrines themselves. In 1957 Northrop Frye published the influential Anatomy of Criticism . In his works Frye noted that some critics tend to embrace an ideology, and to judge literary pieces on
8625-464: The basis of their adherence to such ideology. This has been a highly influential viewpoint among modern conservative thinkers. E. Michael Jones, for example, argues in his Degenerate Moderns that Stanley Fish was influenced by his own adulterous affairs to reject classic literature that condemned adultery. Jürgen Habermas , in Erkenntnis und Interesse [1968] ( Knowledge and Human Interests ), described literary critical theory in literary studies as
8750-478: The birthplace of the first Physician Assistant degree program in the United States. Duke University Hospital was finished in 1980 and the student union building was fully constructed two years later. In 1986 the men's soccer team captured Duke's first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, and the men's basketball team followed shortly thereafter with championships in 1991 and 1992 , then again in 2001 , 2010 , and 2015 . Duke Forward,
8875-454: The building (it was widely understood by students and administration that the police would have likely brutally beat and possibly killed the unarmed Black students), the students exited with their trenchcoats over their faces. Meanwhile, white students and faculty had formed a human shield around the building and a brawl between the police and students ensued, sending a handful of students to the hospital. University president Vincent Price labelled
9000-580: The campus eateries and sports facilities – including the historic basketball stadium, Cameron Indoor Stadium – are on West Campus . East Campus , the original location of Duke after it moved to Durham, functions as a first-year campus, housing the university's freshmen dormitories as well as the home of several academic departments. Since the 1995–96 academic year, all freshmen—and only freshmen, except for upperclassmen serving as Resident Assistants—have lived on East Campus , an effort to build class unity. The campus encompasses 172 acres (700,000 m ) and
9125-521: The channel from Beaufort. Duke's interest in the area began in the early 1930s and the first buildings were erected in 1938. The resident faculty represent the disciplines of oceanography, marine biology, marine biomedicine, marine biotechnology, and coastal marine policy and management. The Marine Laboratory is a member of the National Association of Marine Laboratories. In May 2014, the newly built Orrin H. Pilkey Marine Research Laboratory
9250-419: The charges. The incident spurred a politically charged exchange of views about race relations and law enforcement throughout the United States. The arrest attracted national attention after U.S. President Barack Obama controversially declared that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" in arresting the 59-year-old Gates. Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden eventually extended an invitation to Gates and
9375-730: The controversial FBI informant Maulana Karenga , each of whom has been questioned by others in academia. As a literary historian committed to the preservation and study of historical texts, Gates has been integral to the Black Periodical Literature Project, a digital archive of Black newspapers and magazines created with financial assistance from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). To build Harvard's visual, documentary, and literary archives of African-American texts, Gates arranged for
9500-498: The development of authorship as a profession, the formation of reading audiences, the constraints of censorship and copyright, and the economics of literary form. Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina , United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James Buchanan Duke established
9625-406: The first full-fledged crisis in modernity of the core critical-aesthetic principles inherited from classical antiquity , such as proportion, harmony, unity, decorum , that had long governed, guaranteed, and stabilized Western thinking about artworks. Although Classicism was very far from spent as a cultural force, it was to be gradually challenged by a rival movement, namely Baroque, that favoured
9750-429: The institution be renamed Duke University to honor the family's generosity and to distinguish it from the myriad other colleges and universities carrying the "Trinity" name. At first, James B. Duke thought the name change would come off as self-serving, but eventually, he accepted Few's proposal as a memorial to his father. Money from the endowment allowed the university to grow quickly. Duke's original campus, East Campus,
9875-484: The jury chair for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award , which honors written works that contribute to society's understanding of racism and the diversity of human culture. Gates was an Anisfield-Wolf prize winner in 1989 for The Schomburg Library of Women Writers . Since 2012, he has hosted a PBS television series, entitled Finding Your Roots – with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. . The second season of
10000-532: The largest in the nation, Duke Forest demonstrates a variety of forest stand types and silvicultural treatments. Duke Forest is used extensively for research and includes the Aquatic Research Facility, Forest Carbon Transfer and Storage (FACTS-I) research facility, two permanent towers suitable for micrometeorological studies, and other areas designated for animal behavior and ecosystem study. More than 30 miles (48 km) of trails are open to
10125-467: The lives and histories of their ancestors. Gates was born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia , to Pauline Augusta (Coleman) Gates (1916–1987) and Henry Louis Gates Sr. ( c. 1913 –2010). He grew up in neighboring Piedmont . His father worked in a paper mill and moonlighted as a janitor, while his mother cleaned houses. Later in life, Gates learned through DNA analysis that his family
10250-612: The main compensator". Lolita Buckner Inniss, a professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law , argued that notwithstanding African involvement as "abductors", it was Western slave-owners, as "captors", who perpetuated the practice even after the import trade was banned. "Up until that recent piece, people would have thought of him as someone who took a cautious and nuanced approach to questions like reparations. Gates has such an eminent reputation", she said, "and so much gravitas. Many of us were troubled." Following
10375-404: The majority of residential quads to the south, while the main academic quad, library, and Medical Center are to the north. The campus, spanning 720 acres (2.9 km ), includes Science Drive, which is the location of science and engineering buildings. The residential quads on West Campus are Craven Quad, Crowell Quad, Edens Quad, Few Quad, Keohane Quad, Kilgo Quad, and Wannamaker Quad. Most of
10500-506: The member hospitals into a system of research, clinical care, and education. In early 2012, Duke Cancer Center opened next to Duke Hospital in Durham. The patient care facility consolidates nearly all of Duke's outpatient clinical care services. Duke Forest, established in 1931, consists of 7,044 acres (28.51 km ) in six divisions, just west of West Campus . The largest private research forest in North Carolina and one of
10625-406: The more controversial criteria of the author's religious beliefs. These critical reviews were published in many magazines, newspapers, and journals. The commercialization of literature and its mass production had its downside. The emergent literary market, which was expected to educate the public and keep them away from superstition and prejudice, increasingly diverged from the idealistic control of
10750-399: The natural sciences. Darwinian literary studies studies literature in the context of evolutionary influences on human nature. And postcritique has sought to develop new ways of reading and responding to literary texts that go beyond the interpretive methods of critique . Many literary critics also work in film criticism or media studies . Related to other forms of literary criticism,
10875-587: The new direction taken in the early twentieth century. Early in the century the school of criticism known as Russian Formalism , and slightly later the New Criticism in Britain and in the United States, came to dominate the study and discussion of literature in the English-speaking world. Both schools emphasized the close reading of texts, elevating it far above generalizing discussion and speculation about either authorial intention (to say nothing of
11000-484: The offices of architect Horace Trumbauer . The residential quadrangles are of an early and somewhat unadorned design, while the buildings in the academic quadrangles show influences of the more elaborate late French and Italian styles. The freshmen campus, known as East Campus , is composed of buildings in the Georgian architecture style. In 2011, Travel+Leisure listed Duke among the most beautiful college campuses in
11125-458: The original Durham campus, which is now known as East Campus . At the same time, Washington Duke gave the school $ 85,000 ($ 2,880,000 adjusted for inflation) for an initial endowment and construction costs—later augmenting his generosity with three separate $ 100,000 contributions in 1896, 1899, and 1900—with the stipulation that the college "open its doors to women, placing them on an equal footing with men." Duke would accelerate its mission to become
11250-406: The pre-metamorphosis origin of Duke stone to be variously volcanic and sedimentary: it was likely originally formed by sedimentation of volcanic material. A USGS geologist concludes: "The Duke quarry phyllite was derived from argillite, tuff or tuffaceous sandstone, and volcanic breccia . Occurrence of laminated argillites suggests marine deposition. … There is insufficient evidence to determine if
11375-603: The provision, noting that it had been the only limitation he had ever put on a donation to the college. A woman's residential dormitory was built in 1897 and named the Mary Duke Building, after Washington Duke's daughter. By 1904, 54 women were enrolled in the college. In 1930, the Woman's College was established as a coordinate to the men's undergraduate college, which had been established and named Trinity College in 1924. According to Duke University Human Rights Center,
11500-408: The public for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. Duke Lemur Center , located inside Duke Forest, is the world's largest sanctuary for rare and endangered strepsirrhine primates. Founded in 1966, Duke Lemur Center spans 85 acres (34 ha) and contains nearly 300 animals of 25 different species of lemurs , galagos and lorises . The Sarah P. Duke Gardens , established in the early 1930s,
11625-556: The purchase of The Image of the Black in Western Art , a collection assembled by Dominique de Ménil in Houston . As a result of research he conducted as a MacArthur Fellow , Gates discovered Our Nig , written by Harriet E. Wilson in 1859 and thought to be the first novel written in the United States by an African American. Later, he acquired and authenticated the manuscript of The Bondwoman's Narrative by Hannah Crafts ,
11750-447: The reader of English literature, and valued Witz – that is, "wit" or "humor" of a certain sort – more highly than the serious Anglophone Romanticism. The late nineteenth century brought renown to authors known more for their literary criticism than for their own literary work, such as Matthew Arnold . However important all of these aesthetic movements were as antecedents, current ideas about literary criticism derive almost entirely from
11875-470: The recognition of African-American literature as part of the Western canon . In addition to producing and hosting previous series on the history and genealogy of prominent American figures, since 2012, Gates has been host of the television series Finding Your Roots on PBS . The series combines the work of expert researchers in genealogy, history, and historical research in genetics to tell guests about
12000-431: The relocation of the college in 1892, the board of trustees voted to again allow women to be formally admitted to classes as day students. At the time of Washington Duke's donation in 1896, which carried the requirement that women be placed "on an equal footing with men" at the college, four women were enrolled; three of the four were faculty members' children. In 1903 Washington Duke wrote to the board of trustees withdrawing
12125-445: The role played by Africans in the Atlantic slave trade. His op-ed begins and ends with the observation that it is very difficult to decide whether or not to give reparations to the descendants of American slaves, whether they should receive compensation for the unpaid labor of their ancestors, and their lack of rights. Gates also notes that it is equally difficult to decide who should get such reparations and who should pay them, as slavery
12250-430: The school's "policy in the 1920s excluded blacks from admissions and also restricted blacks from using certain campus facilities such as the dining halls and dorm housing ... In 1948, a group of divinity school students petitioned the divinity school to desegregate – the first concerted effort to push for the desegregation of Duke's admission policy." Engineering , which had been taught at Duke since 1903, became
12375-553: The second inauguration of President Barack Obama . Gates wrote, executive-produced, and hosted the series, which earned the 2013 Peabody Award and an NAACP Image Award . In 2022 and 2023, Gates was involved with the creation of AP African American Studies , the new college-level course created by the College Board for high-school students. In 2010, Gates wrote an op-ed in The New York Times that discussed
12500-583: The series, featuring 30 prominent guests across 10 episodes, with Gates as the narrator, interviewer, and genealogical investigator, aired on PBS in fall 2014. The show's third season was postponed after it was discovered that actor Ben Affleck had persuaded Gates to omit information about his slave-owning ancestors. Finding Your Roots resumed in January 2016. Gates's critically acclaimed six-part PBS documentary series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross , traced 500 years of African-American history to
12625-416: The several long religious traditions of hermeneutics and textual exegesis have had a profound influence on the study of secular texts. This was particularly the case for the literary traditions of the three Abrahamic religions : Jewish literature , Christian literature and Islamic literature . Literary criticism was also employed in other forms of medieval Arabic literature and Arabic poetry from
12750-487: The slave trade to be unfounded, stating that "today, virtually every history of slavery and every American history textbook includes this information". Author Herb Boyd , who teaches African and African-American history at the College of New Rochelle and City College , CUNY , argued that despite the complicity of African monarchs in the Atlantic slave trade, the United States "was the greatest beneficiary, and thus should be
12875-589: The stone, and the irregular knapped ashlar shapes with its associated high stonemasonry costs has led to the university establishing a mix of bricks to imitate the Duke stone colors. A number of construction projects in recent years include renovations to Duke Chapel, Wallace Wade Stadium (football) and Cameron Indoor Stadium (basketball). In early 2014, the Nicholas School of the Environment opened
13000-425: The three players innocent. Cooper stated that the charged players were victims of a "tragic rush to accuse." The District Attorney, Mike Nifong , was subsequently disbarred. In 2019, Duke paid $ 112.5 million to settle False Claims Act allegations related to scientific research misconduct. A researcher at the school was falsifying or fabricating research data in order to win grants for financial gain. The researcher
13125-613: The transgressive and the extreme, without laying claim to the unity, harmony, or decorum that supposedly distinguished both nature and its greatest imitator, namely ancient art. The key concepts of the Baroque aesthetic, such as " conceit ' ( concetto ), " wit " ( acutezza , ingegno ), and " wonder " ( meraviglia ), were not fully developed in literary theory until the publication of Emanuele Tesauro 's Il Cannocchiale aristotelico (The Aristotelian Telescope) in 1654. This seminal treatise – inspired by Giambattista Marino 's epic Adone and
13250-554: The understanding that he would be promoted to assistant professor upon completion of his doctoral dissertation . Jointly appointed to assistant professorships in English and Afro-American Studies in 1979, Gates was promoted to associate professor in 1984. While at Yale, Gates mentored Jodie Foster , who majored in African-American Literature there and wrote her thesis on author Toni Morrison . In 1984, Gates
13375-549: The university in 1925. Comptroller Brown, who oversaw the planning and construction of the Gothic buildings, wrote that Duke stone "is much warmer and softer in coloring than the Princeton, and it will look very much older and have a much more attractive antique effect." Duke stone is a type of Carolina 'slate' or 'bluestone', a metamorphic phyllite rock, with both andesite and dacite mineral composition. Dacitic phyllite
13500-679: The university in November 1964 on the progress of the Civil Rights Movement . Following Douglas Knight 's resignation from the office of university president, Terry Sanford , the former governor of North Carolina, was elected president of the university in 1969, propelling The Fuqua School of Business ' opening, the William R. Perkins library completion, and the founding of the Institute of Policy Sciences and Public Affairs (now
13625-593: The university. Duke alumni also include 50 Rhodes Scholars . Duke is the alma mater of one president of the United States ( Richard Nixon ) and 14 living billionaires. Duke first opened in 1838 as Brown's Schoolhouse, a private subscription school founded in Randolph County, North Carolina , in the present-day town of Trinity . Organized by the Union Institute Society, a group of Methodists and Quakers , Brown's Schoolhouse became
13750-575: The use of stone from the Princeton quarry, but the plans were later amended to purchase a local quarry in Hillsborough to reduce costs. After a search for a locally sourced stone suitable for construction in a style "that made it look like the university was growing out of the ground, like it had been here forever," Duke stone and its source quarry in Hillsborough were identified by Duke University Comptroller Frank Clyde Brown and purchased by
13875-541: The volcanic material was deposited directly by igneous action or if it was re-worked by sedimentary processes. Presence of lava flows and very coarse breccias in Orange County suggest that the volcanic centers were relatively near." A UNC geologist concurred that "original features of the phyllite have been obscured by deformation and recrystallization, but the rock apparently was derived from argillites and tuffs," and that "sedimentary reworking of volcanic materials
14000-535: The work of the Spanish Jesuit philosopher Baltasar Gracián – developed a theory of metaphor as a universal language of images and as a supreme intellectual act, at once an artifice and an epistemologically privileged mode of access to truth. In the Enlightenment period (1700s–1800s), literary criticism became more popular. During this time literacy rates started to rise in the public; no longer
14125-481: Was "to be taken seriously as human beings and to be treated as any respected human being would be treated." Provost Marcus E. Hobbes complained that the African-American students "wanted to run the University." At around 8 a.m., these students entered the Allen Building, asked everyone inside to leave and promptly barricaded themselves inside. The university called the police and, almost before law enforcement entered
14250-426: Was appointed to in 2006, and as a professor of English. Additionally, he is the director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research . As a literary theorist and critic , Gates has combined literary techniques of deconstruction with native African literary traditions. He draws on structuralism , post-structuralism , and semiotics to analyze texts and assess matters of identity politics . As
14375-468: Was arrested in 2013 on charges of embezzling funds from the university. The scheme was exposed by the allegations made through a lawsuit, filed by a whistleblower, who had worked as a Duke employee, and discovered the false data. In response to the misconduct settlement, Duke established an advisory panel of academics from Caltech , Stanford and Rockefeller University . Based on the recommendations of this panel, Duke Office of Scientific Integrity (DOSI)
14500-430: Was dedicated. The distinctive stone used for West Campus and other Duke buildings is said to have seven primary colors and seventeen shades of color. The use of Duke stone has been given partial credit for the university's success: "Duke in fact became a great university in part because it looked like one from the start". During the planning of the Collegiate Gothic buildings, James B. Duke initially suggested
14625-414: Was established under the leadership of Lawrence Carin, an engineering professor who is one of the world's leading experts on machine learning and artificial intelligence The establishment of this office brings Duke's research practices in line with those at peer institutions like Johns Hopkins University . Duke University currently owns 256 buildings on 8,693 acres (35.18 km ) of land, which includes
14750-568: Was first published in 2002 and became a bestseller. As a prominent Black intellectual, Gates has concentrated on building academic institutions to study Black culture . Additionally, he has worked to bring about social, educational, and intellectual equality for Black Americans. His writing includes pieces in The New York Times that defend rap music and an article in Sports Illustrated that criticizes Black youth culture for glorifying basketball over education. In 1992, he received
14875-434: Was in 1498, with the recovery of classic texts, most notably, Giorgio Valla 's Latin translation of Aristotle 's Poetics . The work of Aristotle, especially Poetics , was the most important influence upon literary criticism until the late eighteenth century. Lodovico Castelvetro was one of the most influential Renaissance critics who wrote commentaries on Aristotle's Poetics in 1570. The seventeenth-century witnessed
15000-530: Was legal under the laws of the colonies and the United States. In an article for Newsweek , journalist Lisa Miller reported on the reaction to Gates' article: The enemy of individuality is groupthink , Gates says, and here he holds everyone accountable. Recently, he has enraged many of his colleagues in the African-American studies field—especially those campaigning for government reparations for slavery —by insistently reminding them, as he did in
15125-558: Was like the top of my head opened up. And I was just overwhelmed with emotion. And tears just streamed down my face. And I was exhilarated. It was astonishing. So I know that moment of transcendence is real." Gates is a distant relative of the actor John Lithgow . Bérubé, Michael (Spring 1994). "Beneath the return to the valley of the culture wars". Contemporary Literature . 35 (1): 212–227. doi : 10.2307/1208745 . JSTOR 1208745 . Literary critic A genre of arts criticism , literary criticism or literary studies
15250-407: Was reading exclusive for the wealthy or scholarly. With the rise of the literate public, the swiftness of printing and commercialization of literature, criticism arose too. Reading was no longer viewed solely as educational or as a sacred source of religion; it was a form of entertainment. Literary criticism was influenced by the values and stylistic writing, including clear, bold, precise writing and
15375-523: Was rebuilt from 1925 to 1927 with Georgian -style buildings. By 1930, the majority of the Collegiate Gothic -style buildings on the campus one mile (1.6 km) west were completed, and construction on West Campus culminated with the completion of Duke Chapel in 1935. In 1878, Trinity (in Randolph County) awarded A.B. degrees to three sisters—Mary, Persis, and Theresa Giles—who had studied both with private tutors and in classes with men. With
15500-551: Was recruited by Cornell University with an offer of tenure ; Gates asked Yale whether the university would match Cornell's offer, but they declined. Gates accepted the offer by Cornell in 1985 and taught there until 1989. Following a two-year stay at Duke University , he was recruited to Harvard University in 1991. At Harvard, Gates teaches undergraduate and graduate courses as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor , an endowed chair he
15625-604: Was removed from the entrance to Duke University Chapel, after having been vandalized by protesters. In August 2020, the first undergraduates from Duke Kunshan University arrived for their study abroad on Duke's campus. Due to COVID-19, Chinese Duke undergraduate and graduate students unable to travel to the United States were reciprocally hosted at Duke Kunshan campus. In 2006, three men's lacrosse team members were falsely accused of rape , which garnered significant media attention . On April 11, 2007, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped all charges and declared
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