First-Year Students Reflect on Benefits of Kenan-Affiliated FOCUS Programs

Students recently told The Chronicle that two Kenan-affiliated FOCUS clusters provided “hands-on learning” opportunities and a sense of “community” during their first semester at Duke.

FOCUS is a fall semester program for first-year undergraduate students. Students take two or more courses in a course cluster on a shared theme, live in the same dormitory, and attend weekly dinners or outings with program faculty.

Two FOCUS clusters are affiliated with Kenan: “Free for All: Freedom, Justice, and Citizenship” and “It’s Not Too Late to Build a Better World.” 

First-year student Lily Oliver told The Chronicle that she enjoyed the “hands-on learning” experiences, trips to Duke Campus Farm and Duke Gardens, and talks from guest speakers in “It’s Not Too Late to Build a Better World.”

While Nigel Cooper found the classes in “Free for All: Freedom, Justice, and Citizenship” to be more rigorous than he expected, he said he was able to build community during the program due to its shared living space and a weekend trip to Washington, D.C.. “Most of them are still my friends going into the second semester,” Cooper said.

This year, the new Trinity College of Arts & Sciences curriculum requires students to either participate in a FOCUS cluster or a new program called Constellations, in which they take three courses on a related theme, including Writing 120, during the fall and spring semesters. 

While students have noted that this new requirement can lead to some difficulties with class scheduling, Cooper pointed out that there are benefits to it as well.

“If Duke didn’t have a curriculum, most students wouldn’t be able to become exposed to most of the classes Duke has to offer,” Cooper said.

To read the full article, visit The Chronicle.