​Promoting the humanities

Ask most Duke first-years what they plan to major in, and pat come the replies, BME, pre-health, CS, with an assurance that betrays their being new to college. Indeed, in what comes as no surprise to most, Duke has established itself as a reputed university for those looking to dive into STEM fields and those like economics that lend themselves to sure career tracks. Yet one of Duke’s most outstanding qualities is the depth of its opportunities across a wide variety of fields. We boast not only of top-ranked medical, business and engineering schools but also highly regarded cultural anthropology, political science and literature and language departments.

But for much of the undergraduate student community, these sides of Duke remain unexplored. Even as the newly revised Trinity College curriculum extols the virtues of a liberal arts education, there is a student-driven culture on campus that pushes a career-oriented philosophy of education on students. Students single-mindedly bent on consulting or medical professions often neglect to use diverse courses to cultivate critical thinking and holistic intellectual development. While these career goals themselves cannot be written off completely, it is undeniable that some students aiming for them are much less intentional about their education than others.

We believe that there is a clear perception gap between pre-professional students and those devoted to the humanities and majors with less mainstream post-graduation plans. Given the strong tracking of Duke alumni to the worlds of finance, consulting, law and medicine, the options are tempting for the confidence of traveling paths that have been taken by countless others. The social anxiety students face when asked “So what are you doing this summer?” stems from the expectation that the answer of a Duke student is something impressive or is a recognizable company’s name. For some students, it is hardly a choice with the increasing cost of college making high starting salaries increasingly valuable.

While our faculty and academic leadership can push all the change they can manage with the new curriculum as we discussed yesterday, we urge diversifying the promotion of job opportunities and increasing the presence of students with majors that do not fill the Career Fair or the coffee chats in von der Heyden. Promoting research opportunities and grants for the social sciences and arts would be natural for a university that attracts star faculty across departments.

The Duke Experience class featured in the Experience Duke Deliberately curriculum proposal actually provides a great space for the exploration of what research and careers lay down the road for humanities majors. Students should feel comfortable from the get-go with challenging themselves in fields that are off the beaten path.

The proposed curriculum framework presents both students and the administration, with an opportunity to build on Duke’s sometimes neglected, but pre-existing strengths. It is important that we take charge and not fail to capitalize on the strength of our faculty and undergraduates. Our education needs to be one that goes beyond looking good on our resumes to being one that is synonymous with producing students who think critically beyond what their jobs require and who are sensitive individuals in the true spirit of our University.