Speaking of Duke
Leading the Twenty-First-Century University
Published on 7. April 2017
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-0-8223-6884-7 (ISBN)
Description
Over the course of his thirteen years as president of Duke University, Richard H. Brodhead spoke at numerous university ceremonies, community forums, and faculty meetings, and even appeared on The Colbert Report. Speaking of Duke collects dozens of these speeches, in which Brodhead speaks both to the special character and history of Duke University and to the general state of higher education.
In these essays, Brodhead shows a university thinking its way forward through challenges all institutes of higher education have faced in the twenty-first century, including an expanding global horizon, an economic downturn that has left a diminished sense of opportunity and a shaken faith in the value of liberal arts education, and pressure to think more deeply about issues of equity and inclusion. His audiences range from newly arrived freshmen and new graduates-both facing uncertainty about how to build their future lives-to seasoned faculty members. On other occasions, he makes the case to the general public for the enduring importance of the humanities.
What results is a portrait of Duke University in its modern chapter and the social and political climate that it shapes and is shaped by. While these speeches were given on official occasions, they are not impersonal official pronouncements; they are often quite personal and written with grace, humor, and an unwavering belief in the power of education to shape a changing world for the better.
Brodhead notes that it is an underappreciated fact that a great deal of the exercise of power by a university leader is done through speaking: by articulating the aspirations of the school and the reasons for its choices, and by voicing the shared sense of mission that gives a learning community its reality. Speaking of Duke accomplishes each of those and demonstrates Brodhead's conviction that higher education is more valuable now than ever.
In these essays, Brodhead shows a university thinking its way forward through challenges all institutes of higher education have faced in the twenty-first century, including an expanding global horizon, an economic downturn that has left a diminished sense of opportunity and a shaken faith in the value of liberal arts education, and pressure to think more deeply about issues of equity and inclusion. His audiences range from newly arrived freshmen and new graduates-both facing uncertainty about how to build their future lives-to seasoned faculty members. On other occasions, he makes the case to the general public for the enduring importance of the humanities.
What results is a portrait of Duke University in its modern chapter and the social and political climate that it shapes and is shaped by. While these speeches were given on official occasions, they are not impersonal official pronouncements; they are often quite personal and written with grace, humor, and an unwavering belief in the power of education to shape a changing world for the better.
Brodhead notes that it is an underappreciated fact that a great deal of the exercise of power by a university leader is done through speaking: by articulating the aspirations of the school and the reasons for its choices, and by voicing the shared sense of mission that gives a learning community its reality. Speaking of Duke accomplishes each of those and demonstrates Brodhead's conviction that higher education is more valuable now than ever.
Reviews / Votes
"President Brodhead's passion, commitment, and leadership have helped make Duke University a great place to learn and grow. The wisdom he shares in this book is valuable to all those dedicated to education, service, and leadership. It was an honor to be on his team!" -- Coach Mike Krzyzewski "Only someone who loves letters could write and speak as Richard H. Brodhead does. This is about his journey at Duke but it is no ordinary collection of lectures to young people or statements about the role of the university. He tackles some of the toughest questions facing American higher education, but in a way that connects the big idea to a real person. He writes for the reader. You'll want to read this curled up in front of a fire." -- Judy Woodruff "Speaking of Duke is a remarkable collection of speeches offering rare and valuable insight into the thinking of a university president. While addressing key issues and challenges facing American higher education and our society, Richard H. Brodhead also tells Duke's story with eloquence and authenticity, offering inspiration for both current and future academic leaders." -- Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President of The University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8223-6884-7 (9780822368847)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2017
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€218.99
Available for download
Person
Richard H. Brodhead was the president of Duke University from 2004 to 2017 and served as the William Preston Few Professor of English. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He previously served as the dean of Yale College from 1993 to 2004 and as the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of English at Yale University. He is the recipient of several awards, including four honorary degrees. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004, he cochaired its national Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. A scholar of nineteenth-century American literature, Brodhead is the author of several books, including The Good of This Place: Values and Challenges in College Education and Cultures of Letters: Scenes of Reading and Writing in Nineteenth-Century America, and the editor of many others, including The Journals of Charles W. Chesnutt and The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales, both also published by Duke University Press.
Content
Preface ix
2003
Remarks on Being Named President of Duke University 1
2004
Freshman Convocation: Authoring a Community 5
Graduate and Professional Convocation: The Virtues and Limits of Specialization 12
Inaugural Address: More Day to Dawn 19
Remarks at the Induction Ceremony of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Literature as Life 29
2005
Baccalaureate: On Education and Empowerment 32
Founders' Day Address: On Founding as a Continuous Labor 37
Faculty Address: Financial Aid, the Problem-centric University 44
2006
Preface to the University Strategic Plan, Making A Difference: Duke and the Changing Landscape: A Planning Prologue 53
2007
Commencement Address at Fisk University 60
Fresman Convocation: The Ethic of Engagement 64
Lessons of Lacrosse 71
2008
Baccalaureate: Frolics and Detours 75
2009
Baccalaureate: Advancing in a Recession 80
In Memoriam: John Hope Franklin 85
2010
Faculty Address: The University and the Financial Downturn 88
Baccalaureate: Walk Ten Thousand Miles, Read Ten Thousand Books 98
2011
Faculty Address: Budgets, International Opportunities, the Humanities 103
In Memoriam: Reynolds Price 113
Freshman Convocation: On the Use of New Freedoms 115
John Tyler Caldwell Lecture on the Humanities: The Fire That Never Goes Out 119
2012
In Memoriam: Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans 127
Faculty Address: Duke and Race 130
Baccalaureate: Repairing the Broken World 139
2013
Baccalaureate: Connecting and Disconnecting 144
Interview with Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report 148
Freshman Convocation: Receive, Connect, Engage 153
Remarks at the Opening of the Center on Sexual and Gender Diversity 157
Presidential Address, The College Board Forum: The Value Debate in Higher Education 161
2014
Lecture at Tsinghua University, Beijing: Interconnected Knowledge and the Twenty-First-Century University 172
Faculty Address; Leadership Transitions, Rebuilding the Campus, the Role of Philanthropy 183
Commencement Address at Miami Dade College: Opportunity Changes Everything 194
Freshman Convocation: On Comfort True and False 201
2015
Faculty Address: Chocies That Made Duke-Medicine, Athletics, Durham 205
Remarks at a Community Forum on a Racial Incident 216
Freshman Convocation: Constructing Duke 220
Keynote Address, Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the National Endowment for the Humanties: On the Fate and Fortunes of Public Goods 225
2016
Baccalaureate: I Learn by Going Where I Have to Go 237
Freshman Convocation: Citizens of Duke 242
Index 247
2003
Remarks on Being Named President of Duke University 1
2004
Freshman Convocation: Authoring a Community 5
Graduate and Professional Convocation: The Virtues and Limits of Specialization 12
Inaugural Address: More Day to Dawn 19
Remarks at the Induction Ceremony of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Literature as Life 29
2005
Baccalaureate: On Education and Empowerment 32
Founders' Day Address: On Founding as a Continuous Labor 37
Faculty Address: Financial Aid, the Problem-centric University 44
2006
Preface to the University Strategic Plan, Making A Difference: Duke and the Changing Landscape: A Planning Prologue 53
2007
Commencement Address at Fisk University 60
Fresman Convocation: The Ethic of Engagement 64
Lessons of Lacrosse 71
2008
Baccalaureate: Frolics and Detours 75
2009
Baccalaureate: Advancing in a Recession 80
In Memoriam: John Hope Franklin 85
2010
Faculty Address: The University and the Financial Downturn 88
Baccalaureate: Walk Ten Thousand Miles, Read Ten Thousand Books 98
2011
Faculty Address: Budgets, International Opportunities, the Humanities 103
In Memoriam: Reynolds Price 113
Freshman Convocation: On the Use of New Freedoms 115
John Tyler Caldwell Lecture on the Humanities: The Fire That Never Goes Out 119
2012
In Memoriam: Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans 127
Faculty Address: Duke and Race 130
Baccalaureate: Repairing the Broken World 139
2013
Baccalaureate: Connecting and Disconnecting 144
Interview with Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report 148
Freshman Convocation: Receive, Connect, Engage 153
Remarks at the Opening of the Center on Sexual and Gender Diversity 157
Presidential Address, The College Board Forum: The Value Debate in Higher Education 161
2014
Lecture at Tsinghua University, Beijing: Interconnected Knowledge and the Twenty-First-Century University 172
Faculty Address; Leadership Transitions, Rebuilding the Campus, the Role of Philanthropy 183
Commencement Address at Miami Dade College: Opportunity Changes Everything 194
Freshman Convocation: On Comfort True and False 201
2015
Faculty Address: Chocies That Made Duke-Medicine, Athletics, Durham 205
Remarks at a Community Forum on a Racial Incident 216
Freshman Convocation: Constructing Duke 220
Keynote Address, Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the National Endowment for the Humanties: On the Fate and Fortunes of Public Goods 225
2016
Baccalaureate: I Learn by Going Where I Have to Go 237
Freshman Convocation: Citizens of Duke 242
Index 247