Chapter 4 - Academic Goals and Strategies to Build Distinction
Goal 5: Transform the Arts at Duke
The arts are vital to reaching the fullness of human experience and achieving a well-rounded education. They give intellectual and emotional texture to daily life and create community through the sharing of concerts, exhibitions, readings, and productions. The arts are, therefore, fundamental to Duke's teaching and research mission, providing historical and cultural insight, offering diverse perspectives on human behavior and concerns, and affording students opportunities to experience artistic creation and production. Over the years, Duke - as other comparable research universities - has struggled to create an environment where the arts are central to the university and where they are clearly valued and widely supported. In promoting this revitalization of the arts, we seek to integrate the creative and interpretative dimensions of the arts, so as to encourage closer interaction between theory and practice, the intellectual and the avocational.
The opening of the Nasher Museum of Art in 2005 is a milestone in the university's full recognition of the importance of the arts. Since its inauguration, it has become a major cultural force, serving as a destination for the campus as well as the wider community. As we have come to learn, a dynamic campus arts scene is essential for recruiting and retaining the highest quality undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and for attracting the most outstanding faculty and researchers, who often seek to live and work in an environment where the arts are of the highest quality.
As we move forward, we will focus on five areas:- Enrich the student experience in the arts
- Increase faculty strength in the arts
- Build national and international arts programming
- Create vibrant arts facilities on all three campuses
- Strengthen arts leadership
Enrich the student experience in the arts
Students find the arts in a variety of ways and at different times in their lives. Some come to Duke with years of experience and well-developed talent in the arts, while others have had little exposure. Our strategy for enriching the undergraduate arts experience is to create multiple avenues for students to deepen their understanding of the arts, while increasing their engagement in artistic creation, performance, and related activities.
In the curriculum, the Provost will work with the Deans to increase the number and variety of courses in the arts. These will include additional courses that connect the arts to the humanities and other disciplines and intellectual currents, that give students a broad overview of one or more arts disciplines, or that give students experience in the practice of the arts (such as acting, creative writing, or photography). In keeping with Duke's strength in interdisciplinary study and research, we will support new certificate programs in the arts (such as the recently approved program in cultural policy and arts management) and research into the intersections between arts, society, and technology, which bring together students and faculty in multiple schools such as Arts & Sciences, Business, Divinity, Medicine, Engineering, or Law.
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