Undergraduates may have three new certificate programs to choose from among next semester.
Certificate programs in Global Health, Children in Contemporary Society and the Study of Ethics have passed the scrutiny of the Curriculum Committee of the Arts and Sciences Council. They now face a vote by the full council at its next meeting April 13.
University initiatives, such as those on global health and increasing undergraduate research and interdisciplinarity, helped to spark the programs' development. All three proposed certificates are highly interdisciplinary, a requirement of certificate programs.
Faculty involved in the programs' development stressed the certificates' broad nature.
Elizabeth Kiss, director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics, said the Study of Ethics certificate should attract both students with academic interests in ethical theory or practice as well as those with "strong ethical commitments."
"Students who complete the [ethics] certificate would have a really strong cross-disciplinary background," Kiss said.
She added that the program would incorporate current classes across a range of departments, as well as new gateway and capstone courses. Internship opportunities and speaker series are also planned.
Ultimately, Kiss said she hopes the program will be able to make joint faculty appointments and create additional courses.
Similarly, Christina Gibson-Davis, assistant professor of public policy studies, described the cross-disciplinary nature of the Children in Contemporary Society program's topic as the driving force behind the need for a certificate.
"It just struck us that this was a really important topic, and there was no systematic way to study it [among current undergraduate offerings]," Gibson-Davis said.
She explained that many courses in the field already exist, but there is presently no link among relevant classes in several departments.
The certificate will also support the current University initiative to promote undergraduate research. Each student will spend a semester doing research under individual direction from a faculty member, in addition to taking a cornerstone course, a capstone and two electives.
Gibson-Davis said the CCS program should draw a diverse range of students.
"This issue is so central to a lot of different professions and a lot of different careers that students might have," she said.
Kate Whetten, associate professor of public policy studies, anticipates that the planned certificate in global health will also have a wide appeal. She said more than 30 students were enrolled in a course on global health she taught last semester, which will become part of the program.
"There's so much interest in global health," Whetten said. "The Global Health certificate program, I know, is going to be very popular."
She noted that the certificate in global policy, the model for the new program, is currently the University's most popular undergraduate certificate.
The new certificate appeared in a draft of Arts and Sciences' most recent strategic plan and is part of the Duke Global Health Initiative. The GHI is a major drive that has so far included international partnerships, the creation of a steering committee and the May 2005 groundbreaking on the Global Health Research Building.
Both President Richard Brodhead and Dr. Victor Dzau, chancellor for health affairs and president of the Duke University Health System, have been major supporters of the focus on global health. The issue was the theme of Brodhead's inaugural weekend in September 2004.
Interdisciplinarity is central to the certificate, which will be co-directed by Sherryl Broverman, assistant professor of the practice of biology, as well as another still-undetermined member of the humanities faculty.
A graduate certificate in global health is also making its way through the approval process.
For three new undergraduate programs to come into consideration at the same time is not particularly unusual, said Alvin Crumbliss, professor of chemistry and chair of the Curriculum Committee.
"Having three in a year is sort of high, but not really," Crumbliss said.
He noted that the certificates are products of development throughout the academic year, adding that scheduling challenges delayed the consideration of two of the programs.
If approved by the Arts and Sciences Council, the certificate programs should open to undergraduates this fall.
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