We are unclear of the intention of and dispute the accuracy and message of the Feb. 13 editorial "Interdisciplinarity, but at a cost?" Both of us are members of Tim Tyson's class, "The South in Black and White." One of us is registered as a "continuing education" student and the other is a current Duke student. We are happy to report that the first month of the course has gone wonderfully. The setting, as obliquely alluded to, is the Hayti Heritage Center, located in the historically significant and beautiful St. Joseph's AME Church. The Hayti center is walking distance from North Carolina Central University. Notably, it is less than 10 minutes from Duke's campus on the free Duke Transit buses provided to not only to Duke students but also to the many UNC-Chapel Hill students that come on the Robertson Bus from Chapel Hill.
What most concerns us is the editorial's assertion that Duke students are too lazy or too fearful to go into Durham for such a class, or indeed anything else. We are happy to report that even in a class of such impressive numbers, there has been significant and meaningful discussion in class as well as out. The wide array of students forces us to take a revolutionary approach to education, and we manage to have seminar-style discussion, not in spite of the numbers but because of them, making it a very inclusive and intense class. This course is groundbreaking, and is evidence that many Duke students, along with large numbers of their peers from NCCU and UNC, are willing to engage in enriching and challenging educational experiences.
Chris Paul
Trinity '05
Laura Pyatt
Trinity '07
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