Duke international comparative studies becomes full program

At the Arts and Sciences Council meeting Thursday, the group approved changing International Comparative Studies from a major to a program.
At the Arts and Sciences Council meeting Thursday, the group approved changing International Comparative Studies from a major to a program.

International comparative studies has been approved to become an official program, as opposed to just a major.

The Arts & Sciences Council unanimously passed a motion to grant ICS program status at its meeting Thursday. ICS will now be able to hire faculty for the program, beginning with a visiting professor of the practice and eventually a permanent professor of the practice, in addition to other faculty members to stabilize the program, Dean of the Social Sciences Angela O’Rand said. ICS Director Frances Hasso, presented her case for the major to become a program, noting the need for a fortified staff—particularly a tenure-track faculty member within the department. She also noted the increasing relevance of transnational and global studies even outside Duke, as well as the major’s popularity since its inception nearly 40 years ago.

“We are institutionally the largest undergraduate intellectual project of this kind that’s doing global, international and transnational [studies],” Hasso said.

She also noted that a name change for the program was being considered—more than 70 prospective and declared ICS majors were surveyed to get a sense of whether international studies, global studies or other options would suit the major better than ICS. The results of the survey, however, overwhelmingly favored the original name.

ICS’s program status comes on the heels of structural adjustments that have been made to the major in the past few years, said Lee Baker, dean of academic affairs of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

“ICS has made some strategic and comprehensive shifts in streamlining and thinking through the curriculum, and that has to be recognized as a part of this,” Baker said. “ICS definitely fits within the University’s priorities and the college’s priorities in terms of civil and global engagement, interdisciplinary learning and undergraduate research.”

Hasso fielded a question from Charlie Becker, associate chair of the economics department, who asked how ICS is distinctive from other social sciences. Hasso noted that although the field of study draws from many traditional departments—such as political science, history and cultural anthropology—it distinguishes itself because of its focus on exploring global and transnational trends.

“It’s not an institutionalized field yet, but it’s getting there,” Hasso said.

The council also discussed DukeImmerse—a semester-long four-course program centered on a unifying theme—and its potential for expansion. Participants in the program take four courses as a group of 12 classmates, fostering an integrated learning community and creating opportunities for research and civic engagement, said Donna Lisker, associate vice provost and associate dean of undergraduate education.

Two DukeImmerse programs ran in the Spring, including “Black Freedom Struggles in the 20th Century: A Comparison of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Anti-Apartheid Struggles in South Africa.” Program participants traveled to South Africa for three weeks at the end of their semester of courses on the topic. Bill Chafe, Alice Mary Baldwin professor of history and Karin Shapiro, visiting associate professor of history, spoke about and praised the program and will lead the program along with junior Marcus Benning and senior Sara Adam, who participated in the program.

“Definitely, it was more than the sum of the parts,” Shapiro said of the program. “It was incredibly rewarding for Bill and me.”

Of the 12 students who participated, three are currently writing honors theses, one won the Robert F. Durden Prize for undergraduate excellence in research, and several returned to South Africa over the summer to pursue research and civic engagement, Shapiro noted.

“DukeImmerse was by far the best semester I’ve had at Duke,” Benning said. “It’s structured in a way that facilitates and encourages constant discussion inside and outside of the classroom. Taking four courses with the same 12 people forces us to engage on a really deep level.”

Members of the council discussed the merit of the program—widely decided to be a valuable part of Duke’s emerging goals of interdisciplinarity—and its future. Incorporating study of foreign language into the program could enhance the potential for fieldwork, Benning noted.

Although both pilot DukeImmerse programs were international—the other one took students to Nepal and Cairo—domestic opportunities are also an option and may be more economically sustainable, Lisker said.

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