First-year A.B. Duke Scholars develop a community among themselves. Through the
program, they all participate in a seminar entitled "Thinking in Public: Challenges
and Virtues of the Public Intellectual." The seminar, also open to upper-level
A.B. Duke Scholars, provides a structured format for intellectual engagement on a
variety of issues faced by public intellectuals.
The term "public intellectual" has many meanings. For some, it means an intellectual
in the public spotlight. For others, it refers to intellectuals seeking to use
their knowledge to improve the world. Others, still, would jettison the term
"intellectual" for its failure to encompass sources of wisdom outside academe,
and instead affirm scholars' public engagement in their roles as leaders and
community members. This seminar considers a variety of views about the roles
of public intellectuals. Most sessions include a guest discussant from the
Duke community who is doing the work of a public intellectual in some important
way.
Some of the questions considered include: Is there a responsibility to use knowledge
to help others when feasible? If the best of intentions can sometimes lead to harm,
how can a public intellectual know when ethically to act or speak up? Are there
dangers to valuing knowledge in terms of its current social relevance? How might
an intellectual's academic and public engagement roles come into conflict?
In the Fall of 2006, guest speakers for the "Thinking in Public" seminar included
Emeritus Professor of History John Hope Franklin,
recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995, and New York Times columnist David Brooks,
visiting lecturer that term at The Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.