This Spring, Duke will introduce a new program to academically engage its students on a meaningful level.
In the pilot semester of DukeImmerse, a group of 15 to 20 students will be able to work closely with faculty members on an interdisciplinary research topic, foregoing the traditional four course curriculum. The program is the brainchild of Susan Lozier, Academic Council chair and professor of physical oceanography. Lozier said the council was asked to create new ways to deeply engage students along the same lines as DukeEngage, the Focus program and the Winter Forum.
“[DukeImmerse] is designed to immerse a student for a semester at Duke in a topic that has a lot of interdisciplinary components,” Lozier said.
Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, said the program aims to foster relationships between students and professors.
“[The goal] was to create a learning environment that better connected students and faculty to each other and did so in a problem-based cross-disciplinary environment,” Nowicki said, calling DukeImmerse “Focus on steroids.”
Two programs will be offered this Spring. “Black Freedom Struggles in the 20th Century: A Comparison of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle in South Africa” will be taught by William Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin professor of history, and Karin Shapiro, visiting associate professor of history. The program requires students to enroll in four related courses and includes a three-week trip to South Africa.
The Kenan Institute for Ethics will offer second program titled “Leaving Home: The Law, Ethics and Political Economy of Displacement,” led by Suzanne Shanahan, associate director of Kenan, and Lou Brown, director of undergraduate studies of Kenan. On top of its four courses, the program will include a four-week trip to either Nepal or Egypt to study refugee displacement, Shanahan said. She added that the program will allow students to focus on one specific concentration, which is more conducive to in-depth study.
“Since it’s all your courses, you can push a project further,” Shanahan said. “With one course, you can’t really do that much.”
Students will enroll in a cluster of four related classes and receive four credits on their transcripts. Within the domain of their predetermined research topic, students will be able to choose their own particular research path and then collaborate with faculty and students who are pursuing a different angle. During the semester, students will also hear from guest speakers, Nowicki said. DukeImmerse allows students to study abroad without interrupting their work, he added.
“Everyone is working in the same environment so [DukeImmerse faculty and students] can pull up stakes and just go to South Africa for six weeks,” Nowicki said.
Nowicki said he appreciated the fact that the program was developed by faculty.
“It’s great when faculty take a lead and say, ‘We want to teach differently,’” he said.
Although the program is not exclusive, DukeImmerse is intended for juniors, Nowicki said. He noted that many juniors may come out of the program with an idea for a senior thesis. Duke will likely offer only a few DukeImmerse programs per semester, but early programs may see too few students as opposed to too many, he added.
“It will be just like the Winter Forum where we had 90 applications for 100 spots [the first year the program ran], and the next year we had 150 applications for 100 slots,” he said.
Lozier said she not too concerned that the program may not appeal to the entire student body.
“If 10 percent of students went through DukeImmerse, it would be successful in our eyes,” she said.
There is always the risk that the program will not be a success, Nowicki said, adding that it is all part of the educational process so better programs can be developed in the future.
“You have to do experiments—we have to try new things, learn from trying new things,” Nowicki said. “What we’re trying to do is push the envelope of education here at Duke.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.