Hardt's big idea Photo by Bruce Feeley It is not often that academic works enjoy the level of media attention paid to Empire. Co-authored by Duke literature professor Michael Hardt and Italian scholar Antonio Negri, the trend-setting book—which argues that the old nation-based global power structure is dissolving into a worldwide Empire without boundaries—not only made waves in academic circles across the world, but unleashed a flood of coverage in such popular outlets as Time magazine, the National Review, and National Public Radio. Drawing on philosophy, political science, history, and literary theory, the book has created what critic Fredric Jameson called "the first great theoretical synthesis of the new millennium"—an idea the New York Times said could transform the humanities. Hardt's accomplishment also represents the many ways in which Duke scholars in the arts and sciences are crossing traditional academic boundaries to view the world from new vantage points.