Outreach & Engaged Scholarship
Primary Theme: Education & Human Development
Incivility and antagonism infect our political and online cultures. One promising remedy is to construct a culture of questioning, where people ask and answer questions about each other’s views and reasons instead of parodying and abusing each other. Most people today discuss controversial moral and political issues only among like-minded allies who do not press challenging questions. When we do ask opponents about their views, the answers are often slogans and quips that entrench stands, antagonize opponents and exacerbate disagreements. Luckily, some recent studies suggest that people who are regularly called upon to answer the right kinds of questions will exhibit greater intellectual humility and be more likely to participate constructively in public discussions. But which questions are the right questions for encouraging mutual appreciation and understanding?
United States of America
United States of America
United States of America
Service to the Profession
Service to Duke
Administrative Responsibilities ; Serve on the Executive Committee of Arts and Sciences Faculty Council; Appointed by Dean of Arts and Sciences as Chair of the Arts and Sciences Faculty Committee on Assessment (SACS committee); Provide leadership for service-learning at Duke; Direct undergraduate tutoring/mentoring program which places 250 Duke students in service roles in local schools. Collaborate with Durham Public Schools and community agencies within the Duke Durham Neighborhood Partnership; Co-direct International Center for Service Learning in Teacher Education; Served as co-principal investigator on several grants; Serve on and chair APT review committees of faculty within the Program in Education. Represent the Program in Education and the Duke University Service Learning Program at regional and national conferences. Other responsibilities and activities at Duke University Faculty representative to Arts and Sciences Council and member of the Executive Council Committee; Trinity College pre-major advisor; Samuel DuBois Cook Society Convener; Advisory Committee for Center for Child and Family Policy Certificate Program; Advisory Committee for AB Duke Scholarship Program; Interviewer for Fulbright, Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell Scholarships; Selected by Vice-Provost Nowicki to serve on a task force on campus examining the campus role of OUSF; Selected by Academic Faculty Council to serve on University Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Education.
Service to University
House Courses
Administrative Responsibilities
Administrative Responsibilities
House Courses ; In 2012 I did not sponsor any Houses Courses, but as DUS I meet with several students who were developing Houses Courses, two of which were sponsored by the program in Education and required my endoresement.
Service to University
House Courses ; As DUS, I assisted with the two House Course sponsored by the Program in Education: Durham Giving Project and Reflections on Service Learning.
Administrative Responsibilities ; Director of Undergraduate Studies, Program in Education (1994 to present) Faculty Director Duke University Service Learning Program (2006 to present) Director Partners for Success Tutoring Program (1998 to present) Faculty Co-Director of the International Center for Service Learning in Teacher Education (2009 to present)
Service to University ; In terms of service to the University, in 2009 I continued to serve as the Social Sciences representative on the Executive Committee of the Arts and Sciences Council (ECASC). ECASC is the steering committee for the undergraduate faculty council. My ECASC work involves serving as liaison to the Arts and Sciences Course Committee and working closely with the Dean of Arts and Sciences (George McLendon) and the Dean of Academic Affairs (Lee Baker) on issues of concern to faculty and students. During the spring semester of 2009 I continued to serve in the role of Faculty Director of the Duke University Service Learning Program which is housed in the Program in Education. I lead the effort to develop a strategic plan for increasing civic engagement and academic service experiences among Duke undergraduates. I wrote a 12 page report outlining alternative strategies for increasing service oriented courses. My work as Director of the Service Learning Program involved weekly meetings and oversight of 3 individuals who serve as OSL staff members. I gave more than a dozen presentations on service learning to Duke faculty groups and administrators. I meet with the chair and DUS tin several Arts and Sciences departments to discuss service learning. I oversaw the production of a Service Learning Program Annual Report which was widely distributed both on and off campus. Another aspect of my service to the University involves my work as a member of the Executive Committee of the Duke University Samuel DuBois Cook Society. I helped develop several initiatives and I carried major responsibility for planning the annual Cook Society Awards Dinner which was held in February 2009. I continued working with this group as we planned the 2010 Cook Dinner. I was invited by Director Duke Center for Civic Engagement to serve as an “anchor” on the Carnegie Civic Engagement Classification Committee. This committee was tasked with compiling data and writing a report as a part of an application for Duke to be designated on the national level as an Engaged Campus. This project involved several months of work and in 2009 Duke received this national award. Director Duke Center for Civic Engagement also invited me to serve on the Duke Engage Assessment Advisory Committee. This group meets a few times each semester with an external consultant who has been hired by Duke Engage to oversee program evaluation. We examine data on undergraduates who have participated in Duke Engage and make modifications to the program based on this assessment. The Provost asked me in 2009 to chair a review committee which conducted a three month long extensive review of the Director of the Duke Talent Identification Program. I conducted in person interviews of more than 25 people to collect data for this review and spoke to numerous scholars in the gifted education field in order to complete a thorough review. The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education asked me to serve on the Academic Council Committee on Undergraduate Education (ACCUE) which meets twice a month to develop strategic ideas for revitalizing undergraduate education. In 2009 I had a leadership role in developing an extensive proposal for Duke Immerse an innovative initiative aimed at creating a more intellectually engaged campus. I actively serve on several University committees and councils including: The Arts and Sciences Faculty Council which is the elected body that oversees faculty governance of Arts and Sciences; AB Duke Scholarship Advisory Committee which recruits and selects AB Duke Scholars; University United Way Duke Durham Partnership Committee; Master of Arts in Teaching Faculty Advisory Committee; Advisory Board of Duke Durham Neighborhood Partnership Initiative; and the Advisory Board of the Student U Program.
Administrative Responsibilities ; Administrative Responsibilities in the Program in Education I serve as Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Program in Education. This administrative position has a well-defined set of responsibilities that are outlined in the DUS Handbook at http://www.aas.duke.edu/faculty/dusbook/. In brief, duties include coordinating oversight of: the quality and scope of undergraduate courses within the Program in Education, the structure and content of the undergraduate initiatives within the Program, and the courses, course scheduling, and academic procedures. In meeting this charge the DUS serves as a link between the Program in Education and its undergraduate students, and also as an essential administrative link between Trinity College and the faculty. Because of these responsibilities the DUS must be well informed of the degree requirements and academic regulations of Trinity College, of the Program in Education, and of other programs throughout the University. The DUSs meet as a faculty group with the Dean of Trinity College and with the academic deans several times during the academic year to discuss academic issues. They also communicate with other DUSs through the listserv maintained by the College. In 2009, one aspect of my work as DUS involved working with other Education faculty members to implement our newly-approved Minor in Education. This work involved developing informational materials, making public appearances at student information sessions and career fairs, and designing mechanisms for keeping records on who applies for the minor and how each student is progressing in meeting the course requirements if the minor. In 2009 I lead the effort to plan and offer a series of activities for Education minors to participate in such a semester long film festival and a visit by a nationally known scholar in service learning. Other administrative duties also include serving as director of the Partners for Success Tutoring Program (PFS is described above). Since PFS is a part of the Duke Teacher Preparation Program, part of my administrative responsibility involves coordinating the activities of PFS with the accreditation requirements for teacher preparation. As director of PFS, I submit an extensive IRB proposal to the Duke review board each fall. I also prepare an annual report for the Duke Endowment that is the primary funding source for PFS. I also need to work closely with Duke’s Office of Community Affairs to coordinate the work of PFS which is one several tutoring programs on campus.
House Courses ; I participated in several initial planning meetings to help create House Courses such as the Durham Giving Project and the LEAPS House Course on civic engagement.