Graduate Liberal Studies at Duke University

This June, Duke GLS students are heading to Asheville for another Hidden History Discover Trip! 🔍

✨ About the Project:
This amazing initiative was started by '23-24 MALS students with help from a Duke GPSG mini-grant and the Lottie Applewhite Fund.

The purpose of this initiative is to engage the GLS community in the investigation and presentation of histories buried within settler-colonial narratives.

Students select their own texts, conduct on-site fieldwork, and bring their findings back to the community.

Looking forward to hearing from them this summer. New pics and voices coming soon. Stay tuned! 📸

DukeUniversity

Museums are liberal studies in physical form.

A single object can embody history, art, politics, and memory all at once. Learning to navigate that complexity? That is a museum skill. It is also the core of GLS.

Happy International Museum Day. 🏛️

Where did you last get lost in a museum?

Conversations over coffee, photographs spread across tables, ideas taking shape.

In American Spaces, students examined the visual history of the United States through photography, exploring how images construct meaning, memory and identity. Through photography theory, visual analysis and critical discussion, the course considered what photographs can reveal and obscure about “Americanness.”

The seminar culminated in student cultural portfolios that interpreted American space, history and culture through photography.

The course was taught by John Bechtold, an alumnus of Duke Graduate Liberal Studies.

Celebrating the work, curiosity and impact of our community this Labor Day. At Duke University Graduate Liberal Studies, labor is more than effort, it’s inquiry, creativity and purpose in action, sustained by every person who makes it possible.

Come celebrate the work of our GLS students 🎓

The annual Student Showcase highlights master’s projects, research, and creative work from across the program.

📅 April 30 | 5–7 PM
📍 Center for Documentary Studies
Start with a reception in the Lindhurst Building, then join us in the auditorium

🔗 Check the QR code for more details, including presenters and full program

What a special afternoon we shared at our GLS Porch Sitting this Monday 🏠✨

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the end of the semester with treats and even better company. The porch was filled with laughter, meaningful conversations and that unmistakable sense of community that makes these moments so special.

It was so nice to reconnect with familiar faces and welcome new ones into the circle as we closed out the semester together 💙

We’re already looking forward to the next gathering. Stay tuned!

Today we celebrate the joy of reading. At GLS, we’re obsessed with the "why" and "how" behind the page.

Our students spent this spring semester getting inside the creative process with the seminar The Writer’s Brain 🧠. The journey continues this summer with Who Can Recall? Writing (and Drawing) Time, a course that involves weekly practice of close reading 📖.

Whether we are analyzing a text or drafting our own, we celebrate the connection between the author's voice and the reader's mind. Happy reading!

Between deep dives into research and final season writing, Earth Day reminds us to pause and breathe.
We' re lucky to have the Sarah P. Duke Gardens just steps away from the GLS House. Taking a moment today to ground our studies in the beauty of the Earth. 🌍✨

📸 Bill Snead

What’s your favorite spot in the gardens? Tell us below! 👇