Ideas for celebrating your birthday in quarantine

Start an ASMR Mukbang Channel.

Frick Madison: Living Histories & the “Profundity of Art”

Two specific paintings in the entire Frick Madison spoke with the loudest voices.

The giving internet: Why we should post more reviews

Positivity is not an inherent personality trait but a behavior to be learned, practiced, and refined.

The Duke Difference: A tradition of admin refusing to listen to students and staff

The decision to fundamentally alter the Thompson Writing Program is almost unilaterally opposed by the student and faculty body, who called for Duke to support faculty and listen to students during Sunday’s protests. As such, it can only be concluded that there are some traditions that the Duke administration cannot continue to uphold.

Low stakes, high reward caretaking

On face value, nothing huge just happened here. It likely wouldn’t be clear that any words were even exchanged between us. Why do I feel so darn giddy and fulfilled, then? I wonder to myself.

Where to go on Duke's campus when you are tired of Duke campus

Social media is not redeemable

Life online removes the short term joy of real, unmediated life, in exchange for short term satisfaction when using these social media platforms, with no long-term benefits on either side of the screen.

The case for talking to strangers

There’s tremendous value in engaging with the world around us, even if the interactions don’t seem particularly profound or meaningful in the moment.

No regrets

I am still struggling and will likely continue to over the next four years. But if I could do it all over again, I would. 

A coherent life

So, as we approach the end of another calendar year and look toward a new year, I invite you to join in this whole-person pursuit of a coherent life. 

We have lost our way in the liberal arts

The main question remains: Is creating new programs the most efficient way to expose students to new fields and educate future leaders? Not necessarily. While we would all like to have hundreds of majors, minors and certificates to choose from, creating efficient programming demands time and funding from Duke’s faculty and administration. 

Leaning into the absurd

That we’re doing this right now doesn’t make any sense and—by all definitions—is absurd. Yet we’re suspending disbelief, leaning into the bizarre and trying to lift a limo.

The body cost of excellent sheep

And out we come, crammed to the brim with shiny prizes, our spirits numb or dying.  

In loving memory of the culture I grew up with

 After all, how can I preserve my family’s French culture and language within my descendants if I can’t even bother to preserve it within myself? And if I lose touch with my culture and language altogether, what does this mean for my relationships with my extended family? With my home away from home? With my own mother?

Silencing supporters of Israel does not further the Palestinian cause

What frustrates me more than hearing someone call Israel a European colonialist regime is hearing a well-intentioned Jew refuse to criticize Israel because they’re too busy defending its right to exist. 

False claims of antisemitism obscure the need for accountability from pro-Israel organizations

Zionism diminishes our years of abundant survival and persistence and strength to the idea that we cannot have a home without the ethnic cleansing of someone else’s home; that we cannot have strength without someone else having despair; that we cannot have survival without someone else having to die. 

So much Duke, so little time

Spreading yourself thin and shallowly engaging with a lot of people and activities keeps many doors open, but if you never walk through any of them, you only ever appear to have a great social and personal life.

Letter: It's okay to support Palestine

Duke must condemn targeted harassment impersonating educational student-led organizing. 

Supreme Court rules that eviction moratorium extends to K-Ville residents

Just a barren wasteland of Keystone Light cans and Kroger brand sod 48 hours before, by Sunday morning, K-Ville was transformed. 

Joy?

Joy is not even necessarily something we have to earn, but it is key to our flourishing.