Professional Development

Duke offers a wide range of professional development programs and support for doctoral students.

Versatile Humanists

Duke’s Versatile Humanists program is a National Endowment for the Humanities-sponsored Next Generation Ph.D. Implementation Grant aimed at professional development for doctoral humanities students. The Versatile Humanists program augments professional development programs in The Graduate School and will benefit students interested in academic or non-academic career paths.

Versatile Humanists at Duke builds on six focus areas:

  1. Individualized advising support
  2. External internship opportunities
  3. Project management roles on interdisciplinary research teams
  4. Alumni Ph.D. networking
  5. Fostering pedagogical innovations in graduate training
  6. Ongoing conversations about professional development for Ph.D. students

For more information visit: https://sites.duke.edu/versatilehumanists/

The Graduate School - Professional Development

The Graduate School offers a deep bench of professional development training, workshops and support with the goal of helping you succeed in the career path of your choice. Programs include:

  • Teaching ideas workshops
  • Courses on college teaching and a formal certificate in college teaching
  • Bass Instructional Fellowships
  • Year long Preparing Future Faculty program
  • Duke OPTIONS online program with a focus on teaching & mentoring, communication, professional adaptability, leadership, self-awareness, and professionalism & scholarly integrity
  • Six-week Emerging Leaders Institute
  • Professional Development Series featuring talks, workshops, panels and events to help students develop transferable skills
  • Professional Development Grant program to support discipline-specific professional development programming
  • Responsible Conduct of Research training
  • Writing Support in the form of courses, consultations and additional support for international students
  • Professional development blog

For more information, visit https://gradschool.duke.edu/professional-development