We find many aspects of Yale’s Directed Studies program very appealing and believe a similar program would be highly beneficial for Duke. The Directed Studies program at Yale is a competitive, opt-in program for freshmen that consists of three year-long courses. The three courses are taught by veteran professors and cover literature, philosophy and historical and political thought. Students read central texts of the Western intellectual tradition from Greco-Roman antiquity to the modern day. Throughout the program, which is highly coordinated among the professors, students gain a solid, broad and fundamental understanding of the history and progress of humanity.
The interdisciplinary nature of this program synthesizes different pillars of the humanities, all of which are imperative for gaining a robust understanding of the discipline. This allows humanities students to develop a common base with which they can later approach more narrowly focused electives. By reading Plato, Cicero, Machiavelli, Locke, Nietzsche and other integral thinkers, students not only are immersed in the full breadth and depth of human thought throughout the ages, but also acquire a shared experience with other humanities students. It is precisely that shared experience that we hope will generate camaraderie among humanities students, creating a unique community of humanist scholars akin to the bond public policy students form with one another through their major program.
Additionally, the opt-in nature of the program self selects for students dedicated to the humanities. This would lead to the positive effect of humanities students declaring their majors sooner, allowing them more time to specialize. The opt-in feature also eliminates many of the reservations we have with other comprehensive programs, such as Columbia University’s or the University of Chicago’s core curricula, both of which are mandatory.
Lastly, this program would also solve a key structural issue we see with humanities curricula here at Duke. A large number of humanities courses are offered in niche subject areas such as, for example, “Queer China” or “Neuroethics.” Naturally, professors choose to offer courses that pertain to their particular field of interest. While these may be interesting and valuable electives for upperclassmen, for an incoming freshman who lacks a solid foundation in humanistic inquiry, having to choose from among a set of highly specialized courses might curtail their interest in the humanities if not extinguish it altogether. Thus, a directed studies program, in addition to its other benefits, could draw in more undecided students to the humanities.
We believe that the benefits of such a program can not only be easily reaped, but also readily implemented. Duke currently offers the FOCUS program to incoming first-year students. We envision this new humanities program to be a natural offshoot of FOCUS. Whereas FOCUS can be restrictive and narrow, directed studies would have a more enriching experience. The intellectual rigor of directed studies would perhaps also relieve some of the laments of current students regarding the very much lacking intellectual climate at Duke.
A renaissance in the humanities requires some sort of spark, and we believe a directed studies program to be it. Moreover, this program may also attract humanities minded applicants away from our competitors. Yale and Princeton already have such programs, and Harvard recently created a common introductory course for their humanities majors. As previously mentioned, Columbia and the University of Chicago also have such a core program, although it is mandatory for all students rather than optional and designed only for humanities majors.
As Mark Twain allegedly declared, “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated, ” and, indeed, Twain—along with many other great writers, artists and philosophers—remains very much alive. It’s high time for a humanities comeback.Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
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