Undergraduate, graduate, and professional school University Scholars are selected for their ability to explore new academic horizons. They represent diverse personal and intellectual backgrounds and share an excitement for original research, collaborative thinking, and innovative scholarship. By providing generous financial aid support to its scholars, and an environment conducive to interdisciplinary learning, the University Scholars Program encourages the highest levels of creativity and originality.
The University Scholars Program promotes both curricular and extra-curricular interdisciplinarity. The extra-curricular component includes participation in an informal seminar in which students think collectively, across the generational divide, about topics of shared interest. In these seminars, undergraduate, graduate and professional school scholars explore creative ideas with Duke faculty and distinguished visiting scholars, scientists, and artists. An intellectual mentoring program between the scholars offers interdisciplinary research possibilities and models the benefits of collaborative thinking and intellectual risk-taking. Each year, the University Scholars organize and participate in a symposium to which the entire university community is invited.
