Mark Dalhouse, Ph.D.

Duke Presidential Fellowship Project/Civil Discourse, Duke Faculty-Student Interaction Committee, POLIS Steering Committee, Faculty Fellow for College Debate and Discourse Alliance, Liaison to QuadEx.

Ph.D., History, Miami University

Hello! I earned my Ph.D. in American History from Miami University in Oxford, OH. In my career I’ve experienced and worked in both the classroom and residential student life, including serving as resident live-in faculty at Truman State University, Vanderbilt University, and Elon University. Throughout my professional life, I’ve been able to help and mentor students drawing from my experience working in such diverse areas as academic advising, study abroad/away, learning-living communities, community engaged learning, and internship placement.

One of the core  principles that infuses my work at Duke starts with the premise that the skills acquire from a solid liberal arts education are the same as the skills one needs to practice good citizenship involvement and leadership. I work to reflect that commitment through teaching a Focus Seminar Class, “9/11 and the World We’ve Inherited” that encourages students to build skills of critical thinking, contextualizing current events in historical perspective, increasing their intellectual humility, and reflecting on ways in which they can become active citizens and leaders. Every presidential election year in January, I take Duke students to the Iowa Caucus every January for ten days to experience grass roots political involvement, following presidential candidates around Iowa, attending press conferences and rallies, and reflecting on how a Duke undergraduate education prepares students for lives of leadership, public service and active community involvement.