What’s the purpose of college?

That may seem a silly question, but it surely strikes some as solid.

Once upon a time, a university education prepared young people for careers — they academically acquired aptitude of which society was in need.

Armed with a diploma, graduates went out into the world and sold their skills.

These days, with regard to a bevy of emphases offered on campuses nationwide, who’s buying?

At Duke University, they’re investing in equality…is there a market?

As reported by the school’s paper, The Chronicle, late last month, the Arts and Science Council voted on something new.

In collaboration with Duke’s Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, the History Department will now hawk an “Inequality Studies” program.

As indicated via an October 8th press release, the school is psyched:

The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University is excited to announce the approval of its new program of study: a minor in Inequality Studies.

The six-course minor, a joint collaboration between the Cook Center and the Duke University Department of History, is expected to launch in full this spring. Undergraduates both within and outside the History major will be able to add the minor, which consists of three History electives and three core courses from the Cook Center–two of which will debut in the spring 2021 semester.

Students will gain greater understanding:

The new minor is a wonderful step forward for Duke University and an exciting new opportunity for undergraduate students across many areas of study to advance their understanding of social inequality,” says Adam Hollowell, senior research associate at the Cook Center and the director of the minor in Inequality Studies.

The news release notes Duke isn’t the primary pioneer — Cornell University’s Center for the Study of Inequality hosts a program by the same name.

Included in Duke’s curriculum: the required “Global Inequalities Research Initiative” class.

The longtime seminar will be accompanied by new offerings “History of Inequality” and “Methods in Inequality Studies.”

As relayed by The College Fix, “The minor would cover several different courses from the Cook Center, which focuses on taking a ‘cross-national comparative approach to the study of human difference and disparity,’ in conjunction with Duke courses in a variety of fields, according to the center’s description.”

The news is certainly not Duke’s first nod to equality.

On October 3rd, RedState’s Mike Miller wrote thusly:

With the 2020-21 NCAA Division I men’s basketball season set to begin league play on November 25, the Duke University basketball Twitter account on Thursday proudly posted pictures of the team’s brand- spanking-new “social-messaging” jerseys — emblazoned with “Equality” on the back, below the player’s number.

And there was this, three years ago:

Duke players wearing black and white shirts reading "EQUALITY" in pregame warmup pic.twitter.com/3vIeVthEZz

— Adam Rowe (@AdamRoweTDD) October 27, 2017

Back to the school’s spanking new studies, for what job does the minor prepare students?

Similar to other majors and minors containing the word “studies” in their name, post-graduation job opportunities for the new program may be — in a word — unequal to that of more conventional credits.

Maybe someone will notice the inequality of that — and who better to fix it than someone with an Inequality Studies minor?

Or perhaps the new plan’s a cash cow.

From my August article:

How’d you like to make nearly $7,000 per hour? … [A]uthor Robin DiAngelo wrote the book on white people — literally.

…

As it turns out, bigotry is big business: DiAngelo will drop in and drop science for the low, low price of $20,000.

That’s what she’s raking in during the University of Connecticut’s three-hour racial justice workshop this fall.

I guess if you know enough about inequality, you can ensure it — in your favor.

Maybe Duke’s new Inequality Studies should nest in the Business Department.

-ALEX

See more pieces from me:

‘Female Empowerment’ Hotel Opens in D.C., and the Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg is…Something

Man Passes Gas in an Uber, Ends up Charged With Assault

Report: College Biology Course Asks What Trump Is, Straight-A Students Correctly Select ‘Eugenicist’

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.