Curriculum Development

The Trinity Curriculum Development Committee (TCDC) is committed to reviewing the structure and content of the curriculum that governs much of undergraduate education at Duke and proposing changes that speak to the interests and needs of our students in the coming decades. In receiving its charge, the committee was asked to think big – setting no limit to what they can ask or explore, while creativity, purposeful dreaming and curiosity were strongly encouraged.

To best engage the full Duke community in this task, the TCDC is holding numerous listening sessions with constituents, exploring institutional research on students’ pathways through Duke, and making committee materials (e.g., readings, institutional reports) accessible to all Duke faculty.

Read the Charge

Access Committee Materials*

Read the Approved Curriculum

^{*Having trouble viewing the materials Box folder? Request access by emailing sarah.ishmael@duke.edu with your NetID, name and academic unit affiliation.}

Principles of the Curriculum Development Process

Developing the Trinity curriculum is a core responsibility of its faculty. We will take advantage of the breadth of expertise and perspective among our faculty and will ensure that all faculty have opportunities to contribute to our discussions. The recommendations of the TCDC will also be subject to approval by the faculty at large, as represented by the Arts & Sciences Council.
Planning should be grounded in evidence. We will explore institutional research on how the current curriculum has shaped Duke students’ experiences and scholarly research on other curricular models.
Committee activities should be transparent. We will provide regular updates to stakeholders on committee activities.

Recent & Upcoming Activities

Spring 2024 – Discussions of Proposed New Curriculum

The initial recommendations for a new Arts & Sciences Curriculum were presented to A&S Council on January 11, followed by discussion at its February 1 meeting and presentation of a final recommendation and report at the March 7 meeting. A vote was held on April 4 and the new curriculum was adopted.

The new curriculum will include the introduction of Constellations, a first-year experience composed of three interconnected courses that explore a single topic from multiple perspectives. To learn more about this new experience and how you can be involved, we invite all Trinity faculty to a Constellations Launch Party on May 2 from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Washington Duke Inn.

Fall 2023 - Integrating Feedback and A&S Council Work Sessions

Our committee is focused on integrating feedback and considering how various curricular features would impact Duke undergraduates. A September update to Arts & Sciences Council provides overviews both of key visions/values central to the committee’s discussions and of several topics for which we are requesting feedback from Council and our faculty colleagues. Those topics include:

Selecting a model for encouraging breadth across the Trinity curriculum;
Structuring the first-year experience;
And providing flexibility in the academic calendar.

Your appointed representatives to the council will be important partners in this final phase of curriculum development.

Spring 2023 - Student Engagement & Curricular Elements

Formal discussions about any new curriculum and its elements began, after the completion of meetings with faculty stakeholders and after soliciting input from Duke students in early spring. We synthesized all we have learned into a set of principles that form the basis of an interim report that we presented to Arts & Sciences Council on Thursday, March 2.

Fall 2022 - Meetings with Faculty & Staff

Using our Interview Questions as our guide, we will collect input from faculty and staff about the process and content of curriculum reform via meetings organized in three categories:

Initial meetings about process
Meeting with department/programs about curricular content
Meetings with other stakeholders

Primary Documents for Faculty

TCDC is making committee materials accessible to Duke faculty in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School of Public Policy. Access the curriculum proposal from the Arts & Sciences Council below.

Proposal

Members of the Trinity Curriculum Development Committee

Scott Huettel, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Curriculum Development Committee Chair
Edna Andrews, Professor of Linguistics and Director of the FOCUS Program
Owen Astrachan, Professor of the Practice, Computer Science
David Berger, Associate Professor, Economics
Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel, Professor of the Practice, Statistical Science
Denise Comer, Professor of the Practice, Thompson Writing Program
Stephen Craig, Professor, Chemistry
Gustavo Furtado, Associate Professor, Romance Studies
Christina Gibson-Davis, Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy
Jennifer Hill, Office of Assessment
Hae-Young Kim, Professor of the Practice, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

David Malone, Professor of the Practice, Education
Jarvis McInnis, Assistant Professor, English
Lillian Pierce, Professor, Mathematics
Deborah Reisinger, Professor of the Practice, Romance Studies
Sophia Santillan, Associate Professor of the Practice, Pratt School of Engineering
Tom Schultz, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Nicholas School of the Environment
Josh Sosin, Associate Professor, Classical Studies
Sarah Wilbur, Associate Professor of the Practice, Dance
Chris Wildeman, Professor, Sociology
John Willis, Professor, Biology
Candis Watts Smith, Vice President for Undergraduate Education, Ex-Officio
Josh Socolar, Chair of Arts & Sciences Council, Ex-Officio

Curriculum Development

Principles of the Curriculum Development Process

Recent & Upcoming Activities

Spring 2024 – Discussions of Proposed New Curriculum

Fall 2023 - Integrating Feedback and A&S Council Work Sessions

Spring 2023 - Student Engagement & Curricular Elements

Fall 2022 - Meetings with Faculty & Staff

Primary Documents for Faculty

Members of the Trinity Curriculum Development Committee

Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Academics

Affiliated Programs

About Trinity College

Stay Connected