Learning Outcomes
Updated: May 6, 2008
The Focus Program admits approximately one-fifth to one-fourth of the incoming first-year class to themed interdisciplinary course clusters consisting of small-group seminars taught by regular rank faculty from different departments across the university. Typically, the students take two (of three or four) courses from different departments in each cluster plus a weekly discussion seminar in which all faculty and students in the cluster participate. The program aims to introduce first-semester students to interdisciplinary learning and intellectual engagement both in and out of the traditional classroom environment. Faculty and students work together to apply multiple disciplinary perspectives on a common theme or topic within a cluster (e.g. Evolution & Humankind; The Genome Revolution & Its Impact on Society; Between Europe & Asia: An Exploration in Culture, Law & Cognitive Science ; Exploring the Mind).
The Focus Program also seeks to enhance the Duke experience with a unique residential opportunity that nurtures collaborative study in small communities of students. First-semeseter students in each cluster are placed in the same residence hall. The program supports non-classroom experiences through service learning, field trips, and other activities that allow students to apply theoretical knowledge gained in classrooms to real world situations. Finally, the program supports follow-up projects by faculty-student partners who propose research or other creative or service projects after the semester has ended.
The Focus Program intends that students are able to:
- Apply knowledge, concepts, principles and/or theories from diverse disciplines to specific situations or problems.
- Evaluate the relative merits of ideas and competing claims.
- Integrate lived experiences with classroom learning.
- Learn to make claims in public space with confidence.