Century Courses Get to the Heart of a Major

If a student could feel the heartbeat of a major — the way chemists think, the questions historians pursue, the debates economists revisit, the methods artists experiment with — through just one class, which would it be?

This fall, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences answers that question with the launch of Century Courses. A cornerstone of Trinity’s new curriculum, these optional courses invite students into the core ideas, methods and debates that give a discipline its pulse. Open to undergraduates at any stage of their Duke journey, and with no prerequisites, these aren’t the standard survey courses. They are the classes designed to crack open a discipline and immerse students in the intellectual life that drives it — all rooted in a single question.   

“When we were designing the new curriculum, we asked Trinity faculty to consider this: If a student were going to take only one course that defined a major, what would you want it to look like?” explains Dean of Undergraduate Education Deborah Reisinger. “What emerged are Century Courses, designed to give students a front-row seat to the questions that excite scholars, the methods that drive their work and the thrill of exploring a field in real time, creating a space for discovery, connection and shared learning experiences.”

Building on that vision, Century Courses will be offered each semester, with 17 debuting this fall. Participating departments are exploring a range of approaches. Some are designing team-taught models that expose students to multiple faculty perspectives. POLSCI 113CC America in the World, for example, will have four rotating courses, each taught by a different faculty member and centered on a key theme.

Others take a deep dive into a single work or idea. French 215CC From Page to Protest: The Global Lives of Les Misérables, taught by a one faculty member and centered on Victor Hugo’s novel, explores the book’s global impact, interpretations across genres and reflection on sociohistorical and political shifts since its publication.

Still others revisit beloved introductory courses with renewed intentionality, like Math 181CC Math Everywhere, which has had a course tagline for some time: “If you only take one math course at Duke, take this one.” Because each major, rather than each department, can offer a course, options will evolve over time to reflect both student interests and faculty creativity.

What sets Century Courses apart isn’t just the structure; it’s the philosophy. Each carries two curriculum course codes, allowing a single class to fulfill requirements in two areas. A student nervous about Statistics, for instance, might find a Century Course that satisfies both a Quantitative & Computational Reasoning (QC) and Humanistic Inquiry (HI), while also serving as a thoughtful introduction to the field. 

For many students, the pressure to specialize arrives early, shaped by career anxieties, parental expectations or the sense that exploring academically is a luxury they can’t afford. Century Courses are designed to gently push in the opposite direction. A junior juggling multiple majors might take a Century Course in Dance, simply because it sparks interest; a first-year wary of math might try a quantitative course designed to welcome rather than weed out. 

In this way, Century Courses invite inquiry, making it easier for students to engage with subjects they might not have considered. “As we gathered feedback during the development of Trinity’s new curriculum, students consistently asked for courses organized around big ideas, open access and intellectual invitation,” explains Reisinger. “Century Courses answer that call by creating low-barrier entry points into fields that might otherwise feel intimidating or out of reach.” 

Stephen Craig, the William T. Miller Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has felt excitement building among faculty, who have embraced the challenge not as a curricular obligation but as an opportunity to rethink how their disciplines are introduced. “We had early concerns that departments would say, ‘Let’s just use a course we already have,' but it’s been fun to see so many new courses, which really speaks to the reflection and creativity happening among the faculty,” Craig shares. 

Century Courses have been designed to spark curiosity across the curriculum. Whether that leads to new fields of inquiry or deepens appreciation for ones already beloved, the goal remains the same: to provide students with a meaningful liberal arts encounter.