Vision

The Duke Center for Civic Engagement (DCCE) seeks to create, sustain, and exemplify an ethos of civic engagement at Duke by connecting university education to public service, promoting reflection on the values of civic engagement, and cultivating synergy among Duke's diverse efforts to make the world a more equitable place.

Programs and initiatives at the DCCE cohere around four central values that pertain to all civic engagement: Learning, Collaborating, Reflecting, Transforming

In the Center’s vision, a civic sensibility recognizes that:

• An informed and imaginative understanding of the world’s inequities is a civic responsibility
• For change to be effective, it has to be democratically-determined and infused with a collaborative spirit
• Adaptability and the ability to see the world in creative, plural and interrelated ways empower civic engagement
• Transformative engagement is ultimately sustained by cultivating civility, humility, and empathy in everyday practices
• The essence of civic engagement is Co-Being—acting in a way that reflects the understanding that we live alongside others and with other forms of life and are aware that the individual thrives only when the collective thrives

The DCCE actively seeks, welcomes, and builds on the participation of all members of Duke— faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, other researchers, staff, alumni—and partners outside Duke—in our efforts to promote civic engagement.

Mission

The DCCE seeks to create an ethos of civic engagement at Duke by:

• Conceptualizing and implementing initiatives that bring together various civic engagement efforts across the university
• Strengthening efforts to creatively connect academic learning to civic engagement
• Designing and presenting interdisciplinary programs that deepen awareness about civic engagement and approaches to it
• Providing a centralized listing of courses, internships, volunteer activities and other resources (www.civic.duke.edu)

Background

The DCCE, created by the Office of the Provost in 2007, embodies Duke University’s commitment to make the world better through collaborative civic participation. The Center is dedicated to a core mission of Duke: “Knowledge in the Service of Society” elaborated in Duke’s strategic plan Making a Difference.   

In 2010, following a study by a committee of Duke faculty, staff and students, and the Dean & Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education appointed the first Faculty Director for the DCCE in a reorganization of the Center. http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2010/02/dcceresponse.html

A significant milestone in this new phase was achieved in Fall 2010 when the DCCE created, in collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Education, a web portal for civic engagement across Duke.