“You become like how you study.”
This is one of the pedagogical philosophies that Polly Ha hopes to transmit as the new director of Transformative Ideas. The Divinity School and History professor exudes enthusiasm when describing the program, launched by the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences in 2022.
“Transformative Ideas is really raising a new generation of leaders,” she said. “Students complete the program and carve a — sometimes new! — career path based on creativity, engagement and a desire to enrich the world around them.”
Open to sophomores across all majors, Transformative Ideas is the epitome of interdisciplinary education. Enrolled students take classes on questions that transcend fields of study: human flourishing, the political consequences of love, nature and belonging, science and philosophy, among others. The program is a true living-learning experience: Some students in the program share a dorm, and discussions on ethics, politics and spirituality can take place at lunch just as easily as in classrooms.
In a time where divisions, disagreements and polarization seem to dominate every aspect of society, Transformative Ideas aims at encouraging the expression of diverse perspectives, bringing together ideas that might be stereotypically assigned to distinct groups, and teaching students how to engage in civil discourse.
“We are aiming at increasing both the depth and the breadth of students’ perspectives, and practicing ‘both-and thinking’ to expand dialogue,” said Ha.
We sat down with Ha to learn about what brought her to Transformative Ideas, and what are her hopes for the program’s future.
This interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.
You are a Divinity and a History professor. Tell us a little bit about what brought you to Transformative Ideas. How does your background contribute to this new role?
Several things drew me to Duke. I was attracted by its interdisciplinary strengths. I admired its big tent approach and commitment to intellectual diversity. Having spent my entire career based in History, I also knew it would be intellectually stretching to join a Divinity School that embodies those values through and through. The Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies is also a home, and I especially enjoy co-teaching (and sparring!) with David Aers. It is so inspiring to be in conversation with colleagues ranging from Divinity, History, and English to Political Science, Philosophy, Law, Computer Science, Medicine, and the Arts.
My forthcoming book “The Future of Freedom?” explores freedom in relationship to moral deliberation, mental health, politics, materiality, time and aesthetic ideals. I’ve long been fascinated by transformational moments in history and notions of change. It’s exciting to incorporate some of this into Transformative Ideas and build on all the existing strengths and opportunities at Duke. Among other things, I hope to bring a depth of perspective from the past to our thinking about enduring questions that present new challenges and opportunities for us in the twenty-first century.
What have been some of your favorite experiences so far?
Duke students are the best. Since the start of the fall semester, we hosted a series of discussions over welcome dinners and in our Transformative Ideas LLC dorm (our Living and Learning Community). Speakers covered everything from religion, violence, and political conflict in the Middle East to comparative approaches to contemplation, mental health and being human in the age of AI. I am so proud of how the students have been leading with intellectual curiosity and empathy. They want to move beyond superficial headlines and polarizing talking points and get to substantive conversations. They are also extremely hardworking. I love seeing what happens when we give them a little space to rest and reflect.
We took over a hundred sophomores up to the mountains for a tech-free retreat recently. They were so creative and good-hearted. They made new friends, were eager to explore, and at their best. They rose above mounting pressures coming from every direction and could see the bigger picture.
There is currently much discussion about the political bias of higher ed institutions. How is Transformative Ideas, a program so deeply focused on civil and cross-disciplinary dialogue, addressing the issue?
True. There are so many initiatives popping up on college campuses dedicated to fostering civil discourse. I think Transformative Ideas is distinctive in several ways, and even ahead of the game. It’s based at the very heart of our undergraduate curriculum and taps into the traditional strengths at Duke in the humanities and in interdisciplinary studies. Any sophomore can take a Transformative Ideas class and be involved in our program, and we currently have about one third of the Sophomore class involved. Our courses offer a broad context for thinking about enduring questions alongside pressing issues raised by current debates and new technologies.
Our program also brings the intellectual life of the classroom directly into the life of our students through our LLC dorm where some students have elected to live. Rather than shying away from challenging questions, the students in our dorm build friendships around intellectual curiosity and humility. That culture naturally lends itself to constructive conversations across differences. This happens through movie nights and political debate watch parties that are open to all students enrolled in Transformative Ideas classes. It also happens through reading groups and house courses involving those living in the dorm. We invited Ian Shapiro from Yale to speak on political polarization for a post-election debrief in November. All this reflects a wider culture at Duke that has long been committed to those values.
Transformative Ideas has been an incredibly successful program, with some of the most sought-after courses on campus. How are you planning on building upon its current success?
Thank you! I am so grateful to my predecessor Jed Atkins and to our current team. They know how to dream big and make those ideas come to life. Our Executive Director (COO), Alfredo Watkins, helped launch the program and he continues to be the secret sauce behind its success. One of the biggest challenges at Duke is choosing between so many exceptional programs, opportunities, and classes. It’s a privilege for Transformative Ideas to make connections and bring students from different majors and initiatives together into the same classroom. We continue to offer all the signature programming that has made it so successful in the past.
We are also extending our reach. I enjoyed expanding the Good Life course chronologically and thematically this year by bringing ancient traditions into conversation with Transhumanism. We are excited about partnering with Abdullah Antepli, the incoming director of the POLIS program, which shares our goal of fostering civil political discourse on campus. Antepli, Malachi Hacohen (Bass Fellow and Professor of History and Religion), and I teach for the Good Life course and are leading a Bass Connections project on the Middle East this year centering around interreligious dialogue.
I’m excited about new courses in the pipelines too. For example, in Fall 2025, John Martin will be offering a new seminar called Histories of the Future: Hope and its Vicissitudes. He will be introducing students to narratives of hope from antiquity to the present. We are also working on new courses on Grief (covering the ethics of death and dying) as well as Creativity (exploring meaning in the art of making).
We are also planning a major international research initiative to dovetail with our programming on Cognitive Liberty and Conscience that will bring together scholars from law, neuroscience, divinity, history, philosophy, politics, and public policy.
What is your biggest hope as the new director of Transformative Ideas?
I would love to build the program’s resources and personnel so that it can continue growing from strength to strength. One of the biggest wins for me will be utilizing those resources to equip our students as the next generation of intellectual leaders. In whatever they go on to pursue beyond Duke, I hope our program will inspire them to lead with curiosity, creativity, courage and integrity. I hope they will learn to succeed by seeing the bigger picture, especially in their service of others.
Our Duke students are going to be uniquely well prepared to solve complex problems in the future based on their breadth of perspective and training, their maturity and empathy, and their tenacity. And I hope they will always continue to love learning and growing.