Duke's Center for Philosophy, Arts, and Literature
Requirements for the Graduate Certificate
Each student must take five graduate level courses approved by the Steering Committee.
Each student must also write a research paper and present it at a workshop at Duke. This presentation may take place anytime after the completion of at least four of the graduate level course required for the certificate. The workshop will be organized regularly according to need. A minimum of three members of the steering committee will be present at workshop meetings.
Students are expected to have an interdisciplinary experience in the Certificate. Students must therefore take courses in a minimum of three different departments. Exceptions to this requirement may be granted by the DGS if sufficiently diverse courses have not been offered in the relevant period. A student cannot earn the Certificate by taking five courses in the same department or five courses with the same professor.
Every semester the steering committee will approve a minimum of 2 courses that will count towards the certificate. These courses will be listed on the Certificate’s web pages. As a rule, only approved courses will count for the Certificate. However, to ensure that no suitable course is excluded from the Certificate, students may also petition the DGS to count a non-approved course towards the Certificate. To do so, they must provide a detailed syllabus of the course.
As a rule, Independent Studies cannot replace an approved course.
Regular attendence at PAL Forums and all PAL Events strongly encouraged.