We live in an age when stories – myths, novels, film and television series, virtual reality games, news narratives, commercial branding, and countless other permutations – are more vital than ever. Duke Story Lab is built on the belief that we urgently need to talk about, reflect on, and critically engage with the phenomenon of storytelling. We curate a dynamic space for exploring what it means to make story, embody story, analyze story, talk story, and live story.
Our method is to connect research with expression, offering people opportunities to both study and practice storytelling. To that end, Story Lab offers a richly interwoven program of academic study, creative expression, and civic engagement that draws in members of the Duke community and wider Durham community alike. We strive for a scope that extends beyond literary and cultural productions to encompass how stories are told in the sciences, public policy, business, and other fields.
Duke Story Lab is co-directed by Professors Eileen Chow (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies), Carlos Rojas (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies), and Clare Woods (Classical Studies). Our lab manager is Sabrina McCutchan. You can learn more about them, as well as about our five undergraduate lab fellows, under our People tab.
The core commitment of the Humanities Labs is to engage undergraduates in advanced research alongside faculty and graduate student mentors/collaborators. Organized around a central theme, each Lab brings together faculty and students from the humanities and other disciplines in interdisciplinary, vertically integrated research projects. Lab participants work in physical spaces at the Franklin Humanities Institute that are designed to foster both formal collaboration and informal exchange. Shared technological resources enable the Labs to experiment with new research methods, new lines of inquiry, and new ways of engaging with public audiences at Duke and beyond.