Location
Thinking Through New Media will be held in the John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary & International Studies on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary & International Studies
The John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies is a unique consortium of programs committed to revitalizing notions of how knowledge is gained and exchanged. Participants from a broad range of disciplines converge to explore intellectual issues, including some of the most pressing social and political themes of our time: race and race relations, the legacy of the African-American experience, equality and opportunity among diverse populations, the implications of accelerated globalization. At its core, the Center claims an intrepid and daring mission: to bring together humanists and those involved in the social sciences in a setting that inspires vigorous scholarship and imaginative alliances. In this way, historians, artists, literary scholars, and philosophers contribute to a rich understanding of moral and ethical issues.
Inspired by the example of John Hope Franklin--Duke professor emeritus, historian, intellectual leader, and lifelong civil rights activist--the Franklin Center embraces a creative cross-pollination of ideas, perspectives, and methodologies. Using such sophisticated resources as multimedia and high-speed videoconferencing, the Franklin Center employes advanced technologies not only as a means to an end, but as objects of critical inquiry themselves. These striking new directions in higher education require the marriage of philosophical imagination and pragmatic design. Find the Franklin Center on the Duke campus map. Find the Franklin Center on Google Maps.
Duke University
James B. Duke's founding Indenture of Duke University directed the members of the University to "provide real leadership in the educational world" by choosing individuals of "outstanding character, ability and vision" to serve as its officers, trustees and faculty; by carefully selecting students of "character, determination and application;" and by pursuing those areas of teaching and scholarship that would "most help to develop our resources, increase our wisdom, and promote human happiness."
To these ends, the mission of Duke University is to provide a superior liberal education to undergraduate students, attending not only to their intellectual growth but also to their development as adults committed to high ethical standards and full participation as leaders in their communities; to prepare future members of the learned professions for lives of skilled and ethical service by providing excellent graduate and professional education; to advance the frontiers of knowledge and contribute boldly to the international community of scholarship; to promote an intellectual environment built on a commitment to free and open inquiry; to help those who suffer, cure disease, and promote health, through sophisticated medical research and thoughtful patient care; to provide wide ranging educational opportunities, on and beyond our campuses, for traditional students, active professionals and life-long learners using the power of information technologies; and to promote a deep appreciation for the range of human difference and potential, a sense of the obligations and rewards of citizenship, and a commitment to learning, freedom and truth. Visit the Duke Vistors' website.
Durham, North Carolina
Recently voted as one of the Best Places to Live in the South by Money magazine, Durham offers newcomers as well as longtime residents a lifestyle where a premium is placed on quality of life. With a rich history and progressive future that combines high technology, medicine and education, Durham boasts vibrant economic performance - where the unemployment rate for 1999 was less than 2 percent and the city's overall economic performance ranked number 1 out of all 100 North Carolina counties. Now known as the "City of Medicine," Durham is proud to be home to the world-renowned Research Triangle Park, Duke University and Duke University Medical Center and North Carolina Central University. Durham also is rich in the arts and cultural activities. Each year, the International Festival, Bimbe, the Blues Festival and numerous other activities sponsored annually by the City of Durham draws thousands of residents and visitors to experience our cultural diversity.
Visit the Durham Convention and Visitors' Bureau website.