The HEARTS Lab

Tracie Canada is the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and is affiliated with the Sports & Race Project at Duke University. As a Black feminist anthropologist and ethnographer, her work uses sport, specifically American football, to theorize race, kinship, care, and gender.

Dr. Canada is the author of Tackling the Everyday: Race and Nation in Big-Time College Football (University of California Press, 2025). In it, she analyzes the performing athletic body to reveal how processes of anti-Blackness, injury, violence, and care impact the everyday lived experiences of Black college football players. In addition to her academic publications, her work has been featured in public venues and outlets like Essence, TIME, The Guardian, and Scientific American.

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For more information, please visit her website: www.traciecanada.com.

Morayo Abbey-Bada is a neuroscience major with a passion for understanding the complex interplay between the mind and body in athletic performance. As a pre-med student with a minor in chemistry, she is committed to pursuing a career in sports medicine. Her research interests lie in the intersection of sports psychology and neuromuscular control, focusing on how psychological factors and physical performance can influence injury risk and recovery. Additionally, she is interested in studying the  college athlete experience, particularly focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Black athletes at D1 institutions. Morayo is eager to explore the multidisciplinary aspects of sports medicine, delving into the social, psychological, and physiological factors that impact athlete well-being.

Federico Dupont Bernal is a PhD student in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. His research focuses on how sports gambling in Colombia reveals new forms of entanglement between desire, technology, and finance. He examines various types of sports gamblers as heterogeneous subjects who navigate speculation, uncertainty, rationalization, and risk. Prior to his doctoral studies, Federico worked as a research assistant at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) and as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Swisspeace. He also serves on the Board of the Colombian Association of Anthropologists (ACANT).

Clark Easley is majoring in a Self-Designed Program II combining Economics, Cultural Anthropology & Ethics as a Robertson Scholar. He is passionate about understanding the cultural politics of sports and the evolving incentive structures that motivate Black athletes. At Duke University, Clark is an elected senator in Duke Student Government, Chapter Basileus (President) of the Omega Zeta chapter of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and on the Debate Team.

Amy-Ruth Gyang is a Cultural Anthropology major with minors in Biology and Global Health. She is passionate about how health systems and cultural institutions shape the body's experiences and access to care. At Duke, she is involved in interdisciplinary research through the HERO study lab, part of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, and the Bass Connections project, "Eye Tracking: Objective Assessment for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Youth Athletes." She is also a Justice Lab Affiliate, Chapel Scholar, and a dance member of Nakisai.

Madeline Lawrence is majoring in Political Science and minoring in Spanish and Marine Science & Conservation. She conducts oral history research with Dr. Tracie Canada, interviewing the first Black college football players at Tobacco Road universities to document their experiences and the relationship between football and race. More broadly, she’s interested in the intersection of race and college athletics, the athlete experience, and the impact of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) on the structure and culture of college sports. Madeline is currently a student athletic trainer for Duke Football, captain and co-president of Duke Women’s Club Soccer, and youth soccer coach at Y. E. Smith Elementary.