Centers in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience The Center for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN) serves as the central focus at Duke University for research, education, and training in the psychological, computational, and biological mechanisms of higher mental function; variability in these mechanisms among individuals, across the lifespan, and between species; application of these mechanisms to real-world problems; and their dissolution in disease and mental disorders. Cognitive neuroscience is by its nature interdisciplinary, and addresses longstanding questions about brain and mind from new perspectives that cut across traditional intellectual and departmental boundaries. CCN research focuses on perception, attention, memory, language, emotion, decision making, social interaction, morality, motor control, executive function, and the evolution and development of mental processes. Participating Arts & Sciences departments include psychology & neuroscience, philosophy, evolutionary anthropology, computer science, and linguistics.
Center for French & Francophone Studies The Center for French and Francophone Studies fosters interdisciplinary French studies. Designated an official Centre Pluridisciplinaire by the Cultural Services division of the French Embassy, the center is an umbrella, a catalyst, and an organizing force designed to consolidate and intensify intellectual energies across the campus and throughout the region. The Center sponsors and co-sponsors a variety of cross-disciplinary activities, including colloquia and workshops; visits by distinguished writers, scholars, joumalists, theater troupes, and researchers; screenings of the best new French films; and virtual and actual intellectual collaborations and exchanges.
Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Science The Duke Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Sciences (D-CIDES) was formed in 2010 as a campus-wide center that was jointly affiliated with two of Duke’s Signature Institutes, the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences (DIBS) and the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI). It brings together Duke’s diverse and campus-wide strengths in the decision sciences – including behavioral economics, judgment and decision making, marketing, neuroeconomics, medical decision making, and addiction – into a single community for programs, education, and new research collaborations. Core programs include an ongoing speaker series, funding for postdoctoral fellows, student travel awards, and affiliated coursework.
Center for Jewish Studies The Center for Jewish Studies is an inter­departmental program focused on the exploration of Jewish language, literature, history, and culture. The program offers courses including on topics such as religion, political science, history, cultural anthropology, comparative literature, Hebrew language and literature, women's studies, Germanic languages, and more. The Center offers students the flexibility to design a curriculum that meets their individual interests.  In addition to our internationally respected faculty, Duke is home to one of the finest collections of Jewish haggadot, theological and liturgical printed works, manuscripts, papers, diaries and art.
Center for Late Ancient Studies The Center for Late Ancient Studies seeks to promote the interdisciplinary study of the culture of the Roman Empire, its neighbors and successors, from the second to the eighth century C.E.  Duke has gained international recognition through its sponsorship of a distinguished annual lecture series, and the center acts as an intellectual focus for the graduate students and faculty from different departments with shared historical commitment. In addition to the annual lecture series, the Center is active in creating and maintaining reading and discussion groups as well as in arranging conferences. Closely collaborating with colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Center also aims at establishing substantive inter-institutional links with neighboring universities.
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies The Duke Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies aims to prepare better educated citizens and future leaders who may work in fields related to Latin America & the Caribbean in academics, business, arts, government, and many other careers. The center oversees and coordinates graduate and undergraduate education in Latin American and Caribbean studies at Duke and promotes research and dissemination of knowledge about the region. Its activities encompass the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and the professional schools.
Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Duke University has been an important international center for interdisciplinary medieval and Renaissance studies for over fifty years. The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies collaborates on many projects with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in the Joint Program for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. The program itself offers an undergraduate major and minor within Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, and a certificate of graduate study within the Graduate School. Duke's libraries contain over 5,000,000 volumes, ranking among the top private university library systems in the United States. In addition to large holdings in art history, British history, English literature, musicology, medieval Church history, and Reformation and post- Reformation materials, the various campus libraries contain several distinguished special collections of medieval and early modern materials.
Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Imaging The Center for Molecular and Biomolecular Imaging is a multidisciplinary program that integrates activities in engineering, the life sciences and medicine. Participating faculty are based in Departments across the University, including basic science departments (such as chemistry, physics, and biology), engineering departments (such as biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering) and medical school departments (such as biochemistry and radiology); this list is meant to be representative, not exclusive. The Program emphasizes research, education and interactions with industry. The focus of the program is upon imaging technologies, from the subcellular level to preclinical (animal) and clinical (human) studies in biological systems. Such work spans the most basic research to direct research applications and implementations in medicine and health care. It may also incorporate significant thrusts in non-biological imaging.
Center for Population Health and Aging The Center for Population Health and Aging (CPHA) is one of two research centers housed within the Duke University Population Research Institute designed to bring together the many faculty and post-doctoral researchers at Duke involved in innovative interdisciplinary research in the areas of population health and aging. The Center provides an interdisciplinary environment designed to foster important research breakthroughs in the biological, medical, and biomedical demography of aging and in the development and application of innovative mathematical and statistical demographic tools and methods.
Center for the History of Political Economy The mission of the Center for the History of Political Economy is to promote and support research in, and the teaching of, the history of economics. It supports an active Fellowship and Visiting Scholars program, a regular Workshop series, a Hope Lunch series for the discussion of work in progress, special events, a summer Teaching Institute, and, with Duke University Press, the annual History of Political Economy conference.
Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences (REGSS) provides a context where scholars interested in examining the constructs of race, ethnicity, and gender from an interdisciplinary perspective can engage each other in dialogue and collaboration. It offers opportunities for scholars researching issues of race, ethnicity, and gender to connect with colleagues in other departments and schools. REGSS provides a context where scholars interested in examining the constructs of race, ethnicity, and gender from an interdisciplinary perspective can engage each other in dialogue and collaboration. It offers opportunities for scholars researching issues of race, ethnicity, and gender to connect with colleagues in other departments and schools. Our questions and our methodologies draw on disciplinary backgrounds that include economics, history, political science, psychology, public policy, and sociology.
Center for Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences The Center for Theoretical & Mathematical Sciences aims to foster and support cross-disciplinary theoretical and mathematical research and education in the natural and engineering sciences at Duke. The center provides an intellectual home for scientists in all fields who use theoretical and mathematical research methods, to exchange ideas, to discuss scientific problems of common interest, and to develop new collaborations; and exposes Duke faculty and students to progress in the theoretical and mathematical sciences by organizing guest lectures, seminars, and workshops.
Documentary Studies The Center for Documentary Studies was the first institution in the U.S. dedicated solely to the rich legacy and continuing practice of the documentary tradition in the American experience. The CDS aims to bridge university and off-campus communities and experiences through the pursuit of the documentary arts, with an emphasis on the role of individual artistic expression in advancing broader societal goals. The Center offers a range of undergraduate and continuing education course offerings alongside numerous wide-ranging public arts endeavors. At the undergraduate level, we offer a Certificate in Documentary Studies.
Duke Financial Economics Center The Duke Financial Economics Center (DFE) leverages Duke’s cutting edge research, world-class liberal arts curriculum, and actively engaged alumni to provide both educational and career opportunities to all Duke students interested in exploring finance.
Duke Global Value Chains Center The Duke Global Value Chains Center (GVC) is built around the use of global value chains methodology to study the effects of globalization on various topics of interest including: industrial upgrading, international competitiveness, the environment, global health, engineering and entrepreneurship, and innovation in the global knowledge economy. Through our research, in which we seek to engage a network of researchers and educators from around the world, we strive to link global, national and local levels of analysis to shed light on the effects of globalization on governments, institutions and corporations. CGGC is dedicated to undertaking innovative, interdisciplinary research projects which harness the strengths of social science research methodology while involving scholars from diverse disciplines which range from engineering to medicine to the environmental sciences.
Duke Human Rights Center The Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars and students to promote new understandings about human rights, with special emphasis on issues of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, income inequality and the environment. The Center is committed to the goal of social justice, and the politics of forgiveness, accountability and reconciliation. It seeks to promote collaborative, cross-disciplinary and critical thinking about human rights, with particular emphasis on developing undergraduate courses that highlight these questions, and sponsoring campus-wide events that encourage awareness and activism on human rights issues.
Duke Islamic Studies Center The Duke Islamic Studies Center is a vibrant, diverse community of scholars and students engaged in interdisciplinary teaching, interactive learning, and cutting-edge research about Islam and Muslims. Duke's Center is one of the leading institutions in North America for the study of Islam and Muslims. Its comparative, cross-cultural approach to Islamic studies will foster fresh interpretations of Islam and encourage creative solutions to the economic, political and social challenges involving Muslims. We are committed to working with partners at home and abroad to provide undergraduate and graduate students, professionals and policy makers with the knowledge about Muslims and Islamic cultures, beliefs and practices that will enable them to operate effectively in a multicultural world.
Duke Network Analysis Center The Duke Network Analysis Center aims to: (a) help make visible the cutting-edge network scholarship currently ongoing on campus, (b) promote new collaborations in network science, (c) introduce new researchers to network science and train them in its methods and applications, (d) provide a research service in network analysis methods to the wider Duke community, and (e) enhance Duke’s position as a leader in the research triangle and throughout the nation in this exciting interdisciplinary field.
Duke Population Research Center

The Duke Population Research Center (DPRC) is one of two research centers housed within the Duke University Population Research Institute designed to bring together the many faculty and post-doctoral researchers at Duke involved in innovative interdisciplinary research in the areas of population health and aging. DPRC research interests encompass health and well-being over the life course, extend across generations and primate species and use cutting-edge network analyses to broaden our understanding of population health processes.

Humanities Unbounded

Funded by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant, Humanities Unbounded is a five-year initiative designed to nurture collaboration and inventive expressions of the humanities at Duke — and beyond our campus. The three pillars of the program are are:

  • innovation and collaboration in the educational environment: team‐based humanities
  • deepening impacts of collaboration: fellows from liberal arts colleges and historically black colleges and universities
  • pedagogical innovation for community college students: engaging with Durham Technical Community College
Information Science + Studies The Information Science + Studies (ISS) helps students fill the gap between current academic training and the increasing demand in all professions for a broad understanding of the legal, social, philosophical, computational, and aesthetic issues concerning information technology and other related innovations. The program's integrated curriculum combines topics and practices including information management; photonics and visualization; multimedia design; issues of security, privacy, and property; and the history of science and technology. At the undergraduate level, we offer a Certificate in Information Science + Studies, independent study options and co-curricular opportunities. At the graduate level, we offer a Certificate in Computational Media, Arts & Cultures; and we support the master of arts in Digital Art History/Computational Media, and the Ph.D. Lab in Digital Knowledge.
Philosophy, Arts and Literature The Center for Philosophy, Arts & Literature (PAL) encourages and promotes work that places literature, theater, painting, film, and other arts in conversation with philosophy without reducing them to mere illustrations of philosophical paradigms. It seeks to foster conversation between writers and artists and scholars and critics by organizing or co-sponsoring conferences, symposia and more informal working groups.