Skip to main content
Menu

Secondary Menu

  • News & Stories
  • Events
Duke logo
CDS logo

Main navigation

  • About
    • People
    • E-Newsletter
    • Directions
    • Contact Us
  • Education
    • Undergraduate Education
    • Graduate Education
    • Continuing Education
  • Programs
    • Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
    • Literacy Through Photography
    • Doc+
    • DocX
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibition
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Opportunities
  • Giving
  • Awards
    • CDS Filmmaker Award
    • Full Frame Fellows Program
    • John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards
    • Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies
Women march down the street in Bombay, one holds an independence flag

On View: Disobedient Subjects: Bombay 1930–31

Step into the streets of colonial Bombay through 55 rare photographs documenting India’s Civil Disobedience Movement. Presented by CDS and The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, this exhibition reveals how everyday citizens became agents of change and the camera became a tool of resistance.

The opening reception on October 30 featured remarks by curators Avrati Bhatnagar and Sumathi Ramaswamy of Duke’s history department, along with special guest Rahaab Allana. The show will close with a workshop on January 19.
Learn moreabout the center

Featured Courses

Featured Course
Traditions in Documentary Studies
DOCST 101

Traditions of documentary work seen through an interdisciplinary perspective, with an emphasis on twentieth-century practice. Introduces students to a range of documentary idioms and voices,… read more about Traditions in Documentary Studies »

Oral History and Storytelling
DOCST 330S

Explore the fields of oral history and public history by participating in a community-based project. Examine a wide variety of sources related to oral history and public history theory and practice… read more about Oral History and Storytelling »

Documenting Resistance on Film: The Poor People's Campaign from 1968 to Today
DOCST 325S

This documentary course explores the rich archival landscape and contemporary reverberations of the 1968 Poor People's Campaign, a transformative social movement that radically challenged economic… read more about Documenting Resistance on Film: The Poor People's Campaign from 1968 to Today »

See All Courses

Events

Sep
2
Tue
Miler Lagos: The Merx Tree
12:00 am
Rubenstein Arts Center

Nov
17
Mon
Text+Pix Collective
6:00 pm
Center for Documentary Studies

Nov
18
Tue
Full Frame Presents THE NEW YORKER AT 100
7:00 pm
Carolina Theatre of Durham

See All Events
Steven Bognar points to the camera with a Full Frame banner behind him.
“For filmmakers, Full Frame is an essential experience.”

In our new interview series, Oscar®-winning filmmaker Steven Bognar shares what makes the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival so special and why he keeps coming back.

Bognar calls Full Frame “a gathering of the tribe,” where deep conversations and cinematic discoveries inspire. “I go home full of fuel to keep working, and hunger to keep working. That’s the gift Full Frame has given me for years.”

The Full Frame 2026 Call for Entries is open through November 15. Submit your short or feature!

Read More about this opportunity

News

  • Close up of Evan Bell playing guitar in a club on stage
    From Lens to Lyrics: How One Documentary Studies Class Sparked a Life of Storytelling
  • A portrait of a woman looking into the camera overlays an image of a Duke arc.
    CDS to Host Visiting Keohane Professor Exploring Race, Policing and the Roots of U.S. Immigration
  • Givat Haviva artists and the Full Frame team smile on the CDS porch.
    Day Dreams: Givat Haviva Artists Imagine Community Engagement with Full Frame
See All News

Program Spotlights

Two people in a theater look enraptured by what is on the screen
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

A premier showcase for nonfiction cinema, the 28th annual event runs April 16–19 and will screen dozens of groundbreaking documentaries.

Learn More about the Lehman Brady Professorship
Doc+ text over computer screen
Doc+ Summer Program


The newest summer “plus” program at Duke offers undergraduate students hands-on experience working on real-world documentary projects.

Learn More about the DocX Initiative
Close-up cropped view of young girl's face with eyes looking down.
Literacy Through Photography
 

LTP continues its decades-long work with Durham Public Schools, connecting picture-making with writing and critical thinking.

Learn More about Literacy Through Photography
Support meaningful change through the documentary arts! Make a Gift Today
Duke wordmark.

Center for Documentary Studies

1317 W. Pettigrew St.
Durham, NC 27705

(919) 660-3663
docstudies@duke.edu

For Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate Education
Undergraduate Certificate in Documentary Studies
Courses
Doc+

For Graduate Students

Graduate Education
Courses

About CDS

Overview
People
News

Stay Connected

Instagram
LinkedIn
Mailing List
YouTube
NetID Login
  • About
    • People
      • Undergraduate Faculty
      • Staff
    • E-Newsletter
    • Directions
    • Contact Us
  • Education
    • Undergraduate Education
      • Undergraduate Certificate in Documentary Studies
      • DOCST Course List
      • Current and Upcoming Undergraduate Courses
      • Doc+
      • Full Frame Fellows Program
      • Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professorship
    • Graduate Education
    • Continuing Education
      • Continuing Education Courses
  • Programs
    • Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
      • Full Frame Fellows Program
    • Literacy Through Photography
    • Doc+
    • DocX
  • Exhibitions
    • Current Exhibition
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Opportunities
  • Giving
  • Awards
    • CDS Filmmaker Award
    • Full Frame Fellows Program
    • John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards
    • Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies
  • News & Stories
  • Events