The Focus Program is a learning opportunity for first-year and second-year students to expand the boundaries of their knowledge and work closely with distinguished faculty at Duke University. The Focus Program offers interdisciplinary course clusters each fall and spring semester.
Students enroll in seminar courses for an intense semester of engaging reading, writing and classroom discussion. Each Focus cluster offers four courses centered on a general theme, of which students choose two. Clusters enroll 30 students for a small class size of 15 students per course. Courses are taught by Duke's most distinguished scholars and faculty.
Focus Program students take a course load of 2.5 Focus courses and 1-2 elective courses. Focus Program courses satisfy the seminar/small-group learning general education requirement and may satisfy several other curriculum requirements. All Focus Program courses are 1 credit courses. Students take 4.5 - 5 course credits each semester for a full course load.
Each first-year Focus cluster is housed in the same coed residence hall on our first-year campus. Students develop a close-knit academic community and a strong support network through this learning community. Residence life programs and opportunities enhance the experience.
Faculty and students integrate the theories and practices of the classroom with educational enhancement opportunities to develop meaningful academic community. Students can participate in independent research, internships, research service learning, and field trips during the semester.
Following their participation in the Focus Program, students qualify for a limited number of Focus Mentor Awards of up to $500, which fund independent research projects.
Funding is provided through Duke University.
The Focus Program reports to Robert Thompson, Dean of Trinity College, Duke University
2007 - 2008 curriculum clusters include:
The Arts in Contemporary Society
Between Europe & Asia: Explorations in Culture, Law & Cognitive Science
Engineering Frontiers: Living Systems for a Living Planet
Evolution & Humankind
Exploring the Mind
The Faces of Science
Forging Social Ideals
The Genome Revolution & Its Impact on Society
The Global Americas
Global Climate Change & the World Ocean (spring cluster)
Global Health: Local & International Disparities (spring cluster)
Humanitarian Challenges
Muslim Cultures: Islam Beyond Terrorism (spring cluster)
Prospective Health Care: The Next Health Care Transformation?
Virtual Realities: Visualizations, Interactive Worlds & Games
Visions of Freedom
The Focus Program shares facilities with the Acadmic Advising Center, the Academic Resource Center, and Residence Life & Housing Services. Classes are held in rooms across the University campus.
The residence halls offer public computer clusters and wired internet access.
Several of our curriculum clusters partner with community organizations for research-service learning projects.
Focus Program courses are designed as seminar courses, which include active student participation and research papers. Most Focus Program students produce one - two research papers per course for final grades.
Additionally, faculty and students often collaborate on joint research projects that result in publication of research results. Research partnerships between faculty and students often happen long after the student has completed the program.
An end-of-term assessment survey and annual reviews are used to assess the Focus Program.
Students can participate in independent research, internships, research service learning, and field trips opportunities throughout the semester.
Each of our curriculum clusters is required to be interdisciplinary. A key component of the Focus Program is that students learn from faculty how to collaborate across disciplines and how to test theories and insights from one discipline on the issues of another.
Courses are offered from across the University: humanities, sciences, social sciences, medical center, engineering, and interdisciplinary research centers.