Duke's strong, long-standing commitment to the humanities and social sciences can be seen through the creation of new curricula and facilities such as the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute. The university's many strengths in the humanities extend from art, history, religion, literature, critical theory, race and gender studies to new initiatives such as visual studies. Leading social sciences departments, such as economics, history, political science, African and African American studies and sociology, produce research and scholarship that advance the university's goal of knowledge in service of society. Duke's Social Science Research Institute sparks research projects that cross departmental lines.