“If students could take just one foundational course in your discipline, which course would best introduce them to its core questions and essential approaches?”
This guiding question is at the heart of Century Courses, a new set of offerings that provide students with a broad yet rigorous introduction to the fundamental knowledge, methodologies and ways of thinking that define an academic field.
Launching in Fall 2026, Century Courses introduce students to a discipline's foundational and core ideas. They invite students to engage with a field’s central questions and intellectual practices while equipping them with the conceptual tools needed for deeper exploration or further study.
Key Features
- Century Courses are open to all students and have no prerequisites.
- Students earn two codes from a Century Course, either two of the same code or two different codes.
- For up to two Century Courses, a student may count both codes toward distribution requirements. Students may enroll in as many Century Courses as they wish. For any Century Course enrollment beyond two, students will receive only one code for each of those Century Courses.
- Century Courses are optional; there is no requirement for students to take a Century Course.
- Century Courses carry a CC suffix.
Fall 2026 Offerings
Is chemistry a set of facts, a way of thinking and practice, or both? How do we know what is real versus what may just sound real? This course explores chemistry as a central science and a cultural practice: one that both explains our material world and shapes how society understands what is real in science. Students will investigate the chemical principles underlying global issues such as climate change, energy use, materials sustainability, nutrition, and human health, while also examining how chemical knowledge is created, shared, and discussed. They will utilize Socratic methods to investigate timely case studies such as food-dyes, fluoride, black plastic, and 1,4-dioxane contamination in North Carolina drinking water. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: NW, NW. Learn more
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology offers a broad, foundational understanding of how culture shapes human life across time and place. This class provides the essential tools for making sense of social differences, global connections, and everyday practices - from family and religion to politics, inequality, and globalization. It equips students with critical thinking and cross-cultural awareness that are useful in any field, helping them better understand both the world around them and their own place within it. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB, SB. Learn more
An introductory, interdisciplinary course that invites students to explore dance not only as an artistic practice, but as a powerful way of knowing and understanding the world. Through active engagement with movement, discussion, and reflection, students will examine how knowledge is generated, embodied, and communicated through dance. The course brings together guest speakers from across Duke as well as professional artists beyond campus, offering students multiple perspectives on choreography, performance, and movement-based inquiry. Students will encounter a wide range of dance forms—including popular dance, ballet, modern and contemporary dance, African and global dance traditions, as well as dance on screen. No prior dance experience is required. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: CE, HI. Learn more
Basic microeconomic concepts such as demand and supply, market structures, pricing and equilibrium. Conditions for market efficiency, and approaches to addressing market failures from externalities, asymmetric information and market power. Tensions between efficiency and equity. Macroeconomic concepts such as inflation, unemployment, trade, economic growth and development. Different perspectives on issues of monetary and fiscal policy. Emphasis on public policy issues and the logic behind the economic way of thinking. Open to all students. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB, SB. Learn more
How does our evolutionary past shape our lives today? In this course we examine human biology and behavior from an evolutionary perspective, comparing our anatomy, physiology and behavior to those of living primates and other mammals. We will discuss the relative roles of genes (“nature”) and environment (“nurture”), the biological basis of behavior, and local biological adaptations evident in modern human populations. The course will also cover the role of health and well-being in our everyday lives. Material covered will help prepare students to understand and evaluate recent advances in genetics, behavioral studies, medicine, and evolution. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: NW, NW. Learn more
Why has Les Misérables, a 19th-century novel set in post-revolutionary France, become a global bestseller and a cultural touchstone? This course explores Hugo's story of justice, punishment, redemption, and revolt alongside its many afterlives—in film, theater, graphic novels, and digital media. We'll examine the novel's engagement with the penal system, political power, and ethical transformation, while asking how its meaning shifts across time, geography, and medium. Students will gain tools for literary and cultural analysis through close reading, historical inquiry, and creative work. No prior experience required, just curiosity and critical thinking. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: HI, HI.
Introduction to critical transnational studies through several disciplinary approaches. Examines capitalism and neo-liberal globalization and their relationships to culture, politics, economics, and other social forms and outcomes; considers transnationalism 'from below'; addresses linear and Western-centric thinking about progress and modernity; focuses a historical lens on political discourses, institutions, and projects to understand them contextually; demonstrates how cultures and identities are dynamically constituted in interaction with historical, material, political, and situational factors; considers how different inequalities and contestations inflect most social formations. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: IJ, IJ. Learn more
Introductory-level course with no prerequisites. Examines Hollywood cinema and its sociocultural contexts of the past 100+ years. Introduces students to theoretical research approaches that explore the “Hollywood phenomenon”: its connection to modernity and postmodernity as historical-cultural periods; its activation and circulation of shaped beliefs about American national identity and international influence; its narrativization and formation of ideals related to personal individuality and social identities within American society; as well as its promotion of aesthetic models for the art of cinema. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: HI, HI. Learn more
Mathematical concepts and reasoning, and their essential and exciting roles in our modern world. Topics include but not limited to: storage and communication of data, images, and music; social networks; evaluation of assessments based on statistics; design of visuals for video games and animated movies. Designed for students without college math but with interest in mathematical concepts important to modern applications. Six largely independent units, focused on building understanding and appreciation rather than development of mathematical techniques. Transfer credit not accepted as equivalent. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: QC, QC. Learn more
Experiencing Live Music invites students into the vibrant world of live concert music across a wide range of musical genres, including symphony orchestra, wind ensemble, chorale, chamber music, opera, jazz, and non-Western music. Chosen as the Music Department's Century Course, it offers a broad view of music and prepares students to attend live events, explore unfamiliar music, and become informed, confident listeners. The central focus of Experiencing Live Music is preparing to attend events as an informed audience member. By the end of the course, students will be well-equipped to enjoy and appreciate a wide variety of styles of music throughout their lives with greater confidence, insight, and curiosity. No previous knowledge or prerequisites are required. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: CE, CE. Learn more
Introduction to neuroscience that explores methods, models, and reasoning that led to discoveries about brain-behavior relations. Students learn and apply concepts in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, synaptic transmission, the somatic sensorimotor system, vision, emotions, attention & consciousness, memory & learning, sexual differentiation & orientation, and psychopathology. In-class experiences organized around principles of team-based learning, with students collaborating in small teams for readiness assessments and team applications. Course fulfills gateway requirement for Neuroscience major. First years are welcome. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: NW, NW. Learn more
Sometimes, a set of seemingly obvious assumptions about the world combine to produce absurd or contradictory conclusions. This is known as a paradox. Paradoxes force us to question our most basic commitments and to rethink—sometimes radically—how our worldview is structured. Throughout its history, philosophy has uncovered many such troubling paradoxes and has made significant progress in understanding how to respond to them, as well as what they reveal about ourselves, the world, and the nature of rational thought. This course offers a guided tour of some of the most important paradoxes drawn from core areas of philosophy, including ethics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, rational choice theory, logic and metaphysics. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: HI, HI. Learn more
This course aims to help students make sense of the confusing daily stream of headlines coming from around the world by providing the background and conceptual tools students need to understand their role as global citizens. The course introduces basic concepts of social science – theory, paradigm, hypotheses – and shows how the different disciplines of political science and history can be combined to explain global politics, thus preparing students to contribute meaningfully to contemporary public policy debates about American foreign policy and international relations. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB,SB. Learn more.
Broad survey of the field of modern psychology. The class includes a broad study of behavior with emphasis on biological, evolutionary, cognitive, and developmental perspectives while placing this work in its historical, social and philosophical context. Conceptual issues unifying the subfields of psychology are highlighted along with consideration of techniques and methods by which knowledge about the brain, mind, thought and behavior is acquired and refined. There is also discussion about the impacts on life and society of contemporary scientific approaches and technologies. Students are required to participate in psychological research. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB, SB. Learn more
How does public policy in the United States shape inequality, economic security, and health in the 21st century, and what trade-offs influence policy choices? We’ll explore how social problems are identified and measured, how evidence and data are used to make policy choices, and the trade-offs policymakers face. Most importantly, we’ll focus on how policies show up in everyday life—who benefits, who doesn’t, and why well-intended policies can have very different results in practice. Public Policy in the 21st Century is a team-taught course that explores a shared set of questions across three policy areas. The class will mix traditional coursework like lectures and writing assignments, with activities like simulations, writing blog posts, and engaging with policy practitioners. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB, SB.
Course explores a wide range of early modern writings (e.g., essays, fiction, lyric poetry, epic poetry, conduct manuals) originally published in French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, studied in English translation. It examines questions of ethics, education, and civic and familial responsibility as they are probed in historical, political, and literary works concerned with exemplary figures and “the good life.” It engages debates about wealth and poverty, justice and injustice, and access to—or exclusion from—civic life, as these concerns shape the experiences of both men and women. No prerequisites; course conducted in English, with all readings and assignments in English. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: HI, HI. Learn more
Introduction to social networks, groups, organizations and institutions with a focus on the contemporary US. The impact of technology on social interaction and cultural change. Investigation of cultural and social construction of individual characteristics (e.g., race, gender) as well as of scientific and professional standards. Ethical controversies surrounding health care, education, income inequality, and related topics. Course will help prepare students for the social and behavioral science portion of the MCAT exam. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: SB, SB. Learn more
Intro to data science and statistical thinking. Learn to explore, visualize, and analyze data to understand natural phenomena, investigate patterns, model outcomes, and make predictions, and do so in a reproducible and shareable manner. Gain experience in data wrangling and munging, exploratory data analysis, predictive modeling, and data visualization, and effective communication of results. Work on problems and case studies inspired by and based on real-world questions and data. The course will focus on the R statistical computing language. No statistical or computing background is necessary. Not open to students who have taken a 100-level Statistical Science course, Statistical Science 210, or a Statistical Science course numbered 300 or above. Arts and Sciences Curriculum codes for this course: QC, QC. Learn more