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.