Ingeborg Walther
Associate Dean and Director of the Office of Curriculum and Course Development
Ingeborg Walther is associate dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Office of Curriculum and Course Development. She serves as the academic dean for students majoring in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, classical civilizations, classical languages, French, German, Italian and European studies, Russian, Slavic and Eurasian Studies, and Spanish. She also holds a faculty appointment as associate professor of the practice in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, where she has served as director of undergraduate studies and department chair, and continues to teach.
Dean Walther, a graduate of Stanford University (BA), Tufts University (MA), and the University of Michigan (Ph.D.), came to Duke in 1994 as as assistant professor of German. She was the 2000 recipient of the Robert B. Cox Distinguished Award for Teaching Excellence in Trinity College.
The Office of Curriculum and Course Development
The Office of Curriculum and Course Development is responsible for monitoring and promoting the ongoing process of curriculum development in Arts and Sciences with regard to general education, education in the major, and interdisciplinary studies. The office guides the processes for requesting and approving new courses, revisions to existing courses, and curricular changes, including proposals for new majors, minors, and interdisciplinary certificate programs. The Associate Dean who directs the office works closely with Directors of Undergraduate Studies on all matters pertaining to courses and curricula, and advises and serves ex officio on the two faculty standing committees of the Arts & Sciences Council responsible for reviewing and approving curricular and course proposals: the Committee on Curriculum and the Committee on Courses.
In addition, the office works closely with the Office of Assessment to ensure that the goals of the curriculum are being met, and to suggest revisions and improvements as necessary. It also guides the process by which undergraduate programs are periodically reviewed. Other office functions include the coordination of House Courses, and the approval process for students requesting modes of inquiry on transfer courses.
