The Duke Campus: Durham, NC: Duke & Durham

Duke and Durham are intertwined. When you’re part of one, you’re part of the other. Faculty members and their families live near freshman residence halls and in neighborhoods close to campus, where there’s a lively mix of native North Carolinians and international researchers, grassroots activists and Research Triangle Park professionals. Life here is part cosmopolitan, part small-town.

Once a textiles and tobacco factory town, Durham continues to transform its red-brick mills and warehouses into shops and restaurants where Duke students and locals dine on all types of fare, from sushi to steak. A short walk from campus is the historic Carolina Theatre, which hosts alternative music, art-house movies, and one of the world’s premier documentary film festivals. On campus, Duke presents top-notch music, dance, and theater performances that students can attend for less than the price of a movie and that many Durham residents enjoy, too.

Duke and Durham families picnic in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, exercise on trails in Duke Forest, and cheer loudly at Blue Devil home games. Our Durham Bulls baseball team always draws a crowd of all ages. Aficionados from the campus and the city revel in exhibits at the new Nasher Museum of Art.

Many Duke students enjoy working with kids in all grades of Durham’s public schools. Our engineering students partner with local contractors to design and build playgrounds and parks. And local political figures lecture in public policy classes. Chances are you’ll find these and other new, creative ways to link your knowledge and interests to those of your neighbors.

You’ll find opportunities to discover, to share, and to create – and, of course, to have fun.