Bringing together Duke faculty, staff, administration and students across a variety of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, arts and humanities disciplines (traditionally referred to as STEAM) to explore overlapping and complementary interests, and promote more sustained and vigorous interdisciplinary research, academic coursework and public engagement in the STEAM space, both within and beyond Duke.

Duke STEAM explores:

The existing STEAM landscape at Duke

STEAM activities that already exist, beyond the following: HASTAC; The I&E STEAM Challenge; Duke TIP STEAM Challenges; Art, Art History & Visual Studies

b. How can we spark and promote more/better STEAM activities at Duke?

c. How can we employ these activities to increase public understanding of, and interest in the ways in which STEAM disciplines overlap to benefit both the intellectual life at Duke and society writ large?

d. How can Duke contribute to and further enhance its role in STEAM scholarship?

The STEAM Working Group at Duke is comprised of faculty from throughout the STEM disciplines, the Arts and Humanities.

It consists of individuals with expertise in communication, public engagement, academic scholarship, and artistic/creative performance.
Several members of the working group are already working together as part of an interdisciplinary Focus Cluster exploring Science and the Public.

4) We also conduct the following events:

STEAM Working Group Meetings: where all participants will introduce themselves and discuss their shared interests and qualifications. A set of common goals and desired outcomes will be discussed, and planning will begin for a campus-wide community STEAM Forum.

STEAM Forum:  each year we host a campus-wide, half-day forum with open enrollment (up to 50 participants) for any faculty, students, administration and staff interested in exploring STEAM at Duke. The objectives will be to catalog and describe innovative STEAM activities already occurring at Duke and explore/spark new STEAM collaborations. It will be run using an “un-conference” format, with activities consisting of lightning talks, breakout groups and a panel discussion.

STEAM at Duke Surveys: the STEAM Working Group will summarize and synthesize observations and outcomes from the campus-wide STEAM Forum and prepare a written report. Grant proposals, Bass Connections Proposals,  new course proposals, a white paper or a perspective piece.

STEAM Slack and Resources: a workspace will be established to facilitate regular communication and collaboration for STEAM Working Group members throughout the year. This is our primary means of interaction between the scheduled meetings described above.

5) The STEAM Working Group effort is creating following outcomes:

a. Establishment of a core Duke STEAM Working Group focused on sustained interactions to advance efforts at the interface of STEM disciplines, the Arts and Humanities, both within and beyond Duke.

b. A campus-wide, half-day STEAM Forum (to be held in May, 2019 and organized using an “un-conference’ format) to catalog and describe innovative STEAM activities already occurring at Duke and explore/spark new STEAM collaborations among faculty, students, staff and administration.

i. A summary/synthesis document resulting from this Forum will provide a survey of the existing STEAM landscape at Duke.

ii. We anticipate multiple new conversations and collaborations will be seeded during this forum and germinate into future STEAM activities at Duke.

c. Additional anticipated outcomes of the year-long STEAM Working Group might include:

i. Bass Connections Proposal(s) focused on STEAM, and/or… ii. Proposals for new STEAM-focused courses and seminars at Duke, and/or… iii. Proposals for external grants to support future collaborative STEAM efforts within and beyond Duke, and/or… iv. White paper(s), perspective pieces, commentaries/Op-Eds, etc