Call for Applications: Peter Lange Director of DukeEngage

The Kenan Institute for Ethics seeks applications from current, regular-rank Duke faculty to become the Peter Lange Director of DukeEngage. The deadline for applications is April 8, 2024.

The ideal candidate will have a record of community-engaged scholarship and teaching, the capacity to collaborate with peers and staff members, and experience with academic service and/or community-building that demonstrates excellent potential for leadership. We are looking for an energetic person who will help lead ongoing efforts to adapt the past and current successes of DukeEngage to the shifting landscapes of higher education and the world.

Background

DukeEngage was launched in the summer of 2007 with the ambition to change the way students learn about the world, about the challenges facing specific communities, and about the potential to draw on community assets to address those challenges. Since then, more than 5,500 Duke undergraduates have participated in the program. DukeEngage now sends roughly 200 students into the field each summer for eight-weeks of immersive experience in communities in the United States and around the world.

In summer 2023, students participated in twenty-two programs in thirteen countries outside the United States, from Paraguay and Brazil to Oman and Jordan to South Africa and South Korea. Sites for domestic programs included Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Orange County, CA, and Washington, DC. Programs are populated with six to ten students and designed by Duke faculty and staff in collaboration with community partners on a wide variety of topics: health, education, conservation, sustainable development, immigration, democracy, science and technology, and so on.

Job Description

The director will work closely with the director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the associate director of DukeEngage on all aspects of the design and implementation of DukeEngage, from strategic and financial planning to the successful fielding of summer programs. Responsibilities include:

• adapting the program to a changing culture inside and outside the University;
• integrating DukeEngage with other projects in the Kenan Institute;
• assessing existing projects, via site visits when time allows;
• developing pilots to experiment with new models;
• connecting with similar programs in other institutions;
• articulating the program’s strategic vision to diverse audiences;
• recruiting and onboarding directors for new summer project teams;
• aiding with project design, and mentoring project team leads as appropriate;
• convening project directors and marshaling their input on program aims and implementation;
• guiding the development of content for pre-program trainings and post-program reentry for students
• strengthening the curricular aspects of the program’s co-curricular identity;
• linking DukeEngage appropriately to Duke’s efforts to build enduring partnerships with Durham and other communities in the Carolinas; and
• developing collaborations with other Duke units and programs, not least Duke Service Learning, the new Center for Community Engagement, the Office of Durham and Community Affairs, the Focus Program, and Bass Connections.

The DukeEngage director, in their role as director, will report to the director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics and will work closely with the four full-time staff who run the day-to-day operations of the program. In addition to the above duties, expectations are that the faculty director will direct a DukeEngage program each summer and will continue to teach in a way that models possibilities for making connections between DukeEngage programs and the wider curriculum. Effort percent is negotiable, but will be substantial; as a result, the endorsement of a candidate’s department chair, or school dean as applicable, will be crucial.

Send queries to David Toole (david.toole@duke.edu). To apply, candidates should send a letter of interest, a two-page statement discussing their philosophy of community engagement, a CV, and the names of three references to Kim Dorman (kimberly.dorman@duke.edu). The deadline for applications is April 8. The goal is to have a director in place by July 1.