CDS Spring Celebration

Thursday, April 24, -

Please join Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) for a celebration and showcase of emerging documentary work. Everyone is welcome — students, faculty, staff and community members.

View exhibitions of CDS student work from an array of courses. Watch screenings of two films highlighting the long-lasting legacy of CDS and Duke: “WAYS OF SEEING: A film about photography, the documentary tradition and the impact of one course on the lives of five Duke alumni" and “Permanent Good: A Duke Documentary.” Soak up artwork by 80+ students while enjoying live music by Tea Cup Gin and refreshments, including Filipino cuisine from Kuya Bear Food and locally-sourced fare from My Croft Kitchen. See the program below. 

Duke Center for Documentary Studies
1317 W. Pettigrew St.
Durham, NC 27705

Please see directions and email docstudies@duke.edu with any questions. 

A woman sits in a brick building entrance outside with a Duke arch behind her, and with images of her wrapped in plastic to her left and right.
This mural-size portrait by Yile Liu (DKU ‘26) is one of the works on display for the CDS Spring Celebration.
Program
  • 5:30 p.m. | Premiere of "WAYS OF SEEING: A film about photography, the documentary tradition and the impact of one course on the lives of five Duke alumni" | Auditorium 
Graphic with the film title, WAYS OF SEEING, and 20 stills from the film

This 25-minute film explores a groundbreaking visual seminar first introduced at Duke in 1974 by photographer Alex Harris and later taught by photographers Margaret Sartor and Bill Bamberger through CDS. Students have one semester-long assignment: get to know and photograph a single individual, group or neighborhood beyond the university. In this film, which received funding from the Duke Centennial, five former students reflect on the seminar's impact in their lives. Following the screening there will be a panel discussion including former students and professors.
 

  • 6:30 p.m. | Welcome by CDS Director Chris Sims | Front Porch/Lawn
     
CDS Director Chris Sims portrait

Sims will provide brief remarks and recognize capstone students receiving a Certificate in Documentary Studies:

Grace “Gi” Chun
Ella Davis
Harriet Throsby
Lauren Valle
 

 

  • 8:00 p.m. | Screening of "Permanent Good: A Duke Documentary" | Auditorium
Graphic that says "Permanent Good: A Duke Documentary" and has historical image of Duke Chapel in the background.

This feature length historical film was produced during Duke’s Centennial year and chronicles the evolution of Duke University from a one-room schoolhouse to one of the world’s preeminent institutions of higher learning, bringing to life the moments and people that forged this path. 

 

Four vibrant and colorful photographs by four students enrolled in documentary studies courses