The Focus Program
The Focus Program is Duke University’s signature program for first-year students, providing clusters of interdisciplinary courses designed around a common theme. In these thematic clusters students explore issues such as engineering and the urban environment, the performing arts, genomics, migration and globalization, global health, and social ideals from multiple perspectives. The small Focus courses foster close interaction with faculty from a diverse array of academic departments who are leading researchers in their fields.
Approximately one-quarter of the first-year class participates in Focus each fall semester. Focus students take three courses within the cluster:
The IDC gathers students and faculty in a weekly dinner seminar to discuss issues related to their cluster’s theme. All Focus clusters include educational opportunities outside the classroom such as hands-on field or lab work, guest lectures, or research service-learning projects in the local community. In addition to the Focus courses, students register for two additional courses of their own choosing.
As part of the Focus Program’s intellectual community, there is a residential component, where Focus students live in cluster-based housing in East Campus residence halls.
