DURHAM, N.C. - A two-day conference at Duke University will address what some say is a quarrelsome relationship between two fields of research -- the humanities and social sciences.

"Can We Talk?: Bridges Between the Humanities and the Social Sciences" will be held Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26, in the Friedl Building on Duke's East Campus. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

The conference aims to bring scholars from the two worlds together in a conversation about how they can mutually benefit each other. Organizers believe collaboration between researchers in these fields can improve our knowledge of race, inequality and social difference.

"We're hoping the conference will give attendees a foundation about how we might alter the curricula to a more integrated approach for the humanist and the social scientist," said conference organizer William Darity, a professor of public policy and director of Duke's Research Network on Race and Ethnic Inequality, a co-sponsor of the event.

Chairs from three African and African American studies departments -- J. Lorand Matory of Duke, Julius Nyang'Oro of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Greg Carr of Howard University -- will participate in the discussion.

On Thursday evening excerpts from films meant to stimulate discussion about racial inequality, such as "Precious" and "Akeelah and the Bee" will be shown. "The Doll," a film by Duke artist-in-residence Dante James and based on a novel by Charles Chestnutt, will be shown in its entirety. Duke professor Mark Anthony Neal and UNC-Chapel Hill professor Charlene Regester will lead Thursday's film discussion.

The following evening, professors Wahneema Lubiano of Duke and John Renfrio of the College of William and Mary will lead a discussion of the CNN series "Black in America" and "Latinos in America."

The conference is sponsored by Duke's Department of African and African American Studies. Co-sponsors include the John Hope Franklin Center for African and African American Research; the Franklin Humanities Institute; the departments of cultural anthropology and sociology; and the Mary Lou Williams Center.

For more information and to register, go to http://thenetwork.ssri.duke.edu/newsevents.php.