Brittany Shyne holds the Full Frame Grand Jury Award. She tells us about her first time at the festival and the nine-year journey behind Seeds.Doc : Doc is an interview series from the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), where we talk shop with documentary artists and explore the evolving field of nonfiction storytelling. Through candid conversations, we illuminate the creative process, celebrate the power of documentary and highlight the programs that… read more about Doc : Doc — Brittany Shyne on the Documentary Film Circuit and Sharing Her Award-Winning Film “Seeds” »
Marie T. Cochran reflects on the power of documentary art to reclaim erased histories and cultivate cross-cultural connection.This fall Marie T. Cochran presented her exhibition Those We Thought We Knew: Reimagined at CDS and launched a CDS Continuing Education course, Southern Sites and Contested Meaning. A leader in the Affrilachian movement, Cochran brings a powerful lens to place, memory and meaning — whether in the classroom or the gallery.… read more about Doc : Doc — Marie T. Cochran on Teaching, Exhibiting and the Resonance of Documentary Art »
Photography exhibition explores civil disobedience, anticolonial resistance and the power of visual documentation. Durham, NC – Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts in New Delhi, presents Disobedient Subjects: Bombay 1930–31, an exhibition of 55 photographs that transport viewers to the heart of India’s Civil Disobedience Movement against British colonial rule. … read more about “Disobedient Subjects: Bombay 1930–31” Opens at CDS on October 30 »
Trevor Darr (far right), didn’t expect to find his calling in a summer documentary program. He had something else in mind.“I joined thinking I was going to be doing filmmaking,” said Darr, a Duke senior majoring in political science and physics. “Spoiler alert: I held a camera for about five minutes.” Darr was one of 14 undergraduates who took part in Doc+, a new Duke “plus” program led by CDS. Over six weeks, students collaborated with professional artists or community organizers on… read more about How a Summer of Documentary Storytelling Helped Students Find Their Future — and How You Can Help Shape the Next One »
“Creation and expression has always been a big part of my life,” says Evan Nicole Bell, an award-winning artist and musician. As an undergraduate at Duke, Bell found a home for her passions at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), where she ultimately designed her own major through Program II: Documenting Justice: The Role of Photographic Narratives in Activism. One particular documentary photography course she took during her first year — American Communities… read more about From Lens to Lyrics: How One Documentary Studies Class Sparked a Life of Storytelling »
UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernández joins Duke and UNC as the 2025–26 Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor. On February 9, she will speak at CDS on race, reform and U.S. Immigration between 1952 and 1965. Kelly Lytle Hernández grew up in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands during the 1980s and ’90s — a period marked by the rapid expansion of immigration law enforcement. Border Patrol was a major part of everyday life, she says, prompting her to ask many questions about race and policing.“I wanted to know why… read more about CDS to Host Visiting Keohane Professor Exploring Race, Policing and the Roots of U.S. Immigration »
Deadline: November 3, 2025 Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) invites proposals from Duke faculty and community collaborators interested in leading documentary projects with Doc+ students during Summer 2026. Doc+ is a six-week summer immersion program in the documentary arts that welcomes Duke undergraduates interested in exploring creative, community-based approaches to storytelling. Students work in small project teams led by faculty and/or external documentary… read more about Doc+ 2026 Call for Proposals: Faculty- and Community-Led Documentary Projects »
Academy Award® winner Steven Bognar tells us about his first time at Full Frame, and why he keeps coming back. Doc : Doc is a new interview series from Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), where we talk shop with documentary artists and explore the evolving field of nonfiction storytelling. Through candid conversations, we illuminate the creative process, celebrate the power of documentary and highlight the programs that make it all possible.In this first feature,… read more about Doc : Doc — Steven Bognar on Full Frame and the Power of Documentary Film »
At the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), we love to host artists whose work invites reflection, connection and imagination. Recently, five Israeli Jewish, Palestinian and Druze graduate student artists from Givat Haviva, The Center for a Shared Society, stepped into our space for an inspiring conversation with the team behind the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, a CDS program. The artists are currently in residence at Duke University for six weeks through the… read more about Day Dreams: Givat Haviva Artists Imagine Community Engagement with Full Frame »
What happens when documentary artists are given time, space and care to simply create? We asked the DocX fellows to reflect on their four-week residency.Held in Durham at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), DocX: Another World is Possible was created by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow as an invitation for documentary artists to breathe and make. Four individual fellows and one collaborative duo were selected to advance their… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From Six Fellows in Residency at CDS »
Imani Dennison is a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker whose work explores memory, folklore and identity. They participated in the DocX Residency: Another World is Possible at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in spring 2025 — conceived by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow as an invitation for documentary artists to connect, breathe and create. Below, Dennison reflects on this experience and… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From Imani Dennison »
Director Arielle Knight is a New York- and Mexico-based documentary filmmaker and producer mining the absurd, mythological and mundane to center and recover the multiplicity of Black experiences. She participated in the DocX Residency: Another World is Possible at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in spring 2025 — conceived by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow as an invitation for documentary artists to… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From Arielle Knight »
Emily Mkrtichian is a filmmaker and multimedia artist whose work is deeply influenced by her upbringing in a displaced, diasporic family. Kamee Abrahamian is a queer artist, storyteller, producer, mother, waitress and witch whose work summons ancestral reclamation, diasporic futurism and justice. They participated in the DocX Residency: Another World is Possible at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in spring 2025 — conceived by Stephanie… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From Emily Mkrtichian and Kamee Abrahamian »
J Wortham is a writer, oral historian, reiki practitioner and sound healer living in Brooklyn. They participated in the DocX Residency: Another World is Possible at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in spring 2025 — conceived by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow as an invitation for documentary artists to connect, breathe and create. Below, Wortham reflects on this experience and time spent… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From J Wortham »
Dominic Yarabe is an award-winning filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist based in New York. She participated in the DocX Residency: Another World is Possible at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in spring 2025 — conceived by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow as an invitation for documentary artists to connect, breathe and create. Below, Yarabe reflects on this experience and time spent working on her… read more about DocX Diaries: Reflections From Dominic Yarabe »
The newest +Program isn’t about fetching coffee for directors. Students will take an active role in four unique documentary projects. Doc+ students Ali Pfaff (left) and Shelby Parker (right) explore the rich holdings of Perkins special collections during a guided tour. This summer, they’ll contribute to “Student Action with Farmworkers,” conducting archival research, recording oral histories and curating findings in a public-facing zine. Photo: Lauren Henschel “This kind of program didn’t… read more about Doc+: A Summer of Documentary Immersion at Duke »
At the 2025 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) presented its CDS Filmmaker Award to Coexistence, My Ass! directed by Amber Fares.Full Frame is a vital program of CDS and embodies Duke’s commitment to the arts and community engagement. The CDS Filmmaker Award, offered for the 23rd time, recognizes documentary films that combine originality and creativity with firsthand experience in examining societal issues of our time… read more about The 2025 CDS Filmmaker Award Goes to “Coexistence, My Ass!” »
Duke senior Lauren Valle is the winner of the 2025 Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies. The Biology major, who will graduate with a Certificate in Documentary Studies, will receive a prize of $500.The Julia Harper Day Award was created by the Duke Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) in 1992 in memory of the young woman who was our first staff member — a writer and photographer of real accomplishment. The annual award recognizes seniors who have demonstrated excellence in… read more about Lauren Valle Receives Julia Harper Day Award for Documentary Studies »
A Duke student views a portrait of him on display at Duke Center of Documentary Studies. The work is part of Lauren Valle’s capstone project, “Unseen Histories: Latinidad in Focus.” Photo: Dhruv Rungta Bold new documentary work by four Duke seniors and one rising senior is now on view at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies. Developed this spring in the Capstone Seminar in Documentary Studies course, their projects span photography, zine-making, film and oral history, and will be on… read more about Five New Visions in Documentary Art »
This week author and filmmaker James Robinson ’20 returns to Duke and the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS), carrying signed copies of Whale Eyes, his newly released illustrated memoir based on his CDS capstone project. Join CDS for an author talk with James Robinson on Wednesday, Mar. 26, at 6:30 p.m. … read more about From Capstone to Debut Memoir: CDS Alum James Robinson Shares His Story »
A visiting artist, Duke MFA|EDA student, and Duke professor share how a popular exhibition came together. Mary Berridge's photograph, “Graham at the Louvre,” is part of the “Visible Spectrum: Portraits from the World of Autism” exhibit on display at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies through Friday, February 28. (Image: Mary Berridge) “My son Graham was diagnosed at age seven with Asperger’s, but I think we should have known when he was a lot younger,” says Mary Berridge, a… read more about Behind the Visible Spectrum: Curating Photographs of Young Autistic People »
Photo by Lauren Henschel, director of Doc+. Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) announces Doc+, a new six-week summer program for undergraduate students focused on the documentary arts. The newest addition to Duke’s popular +Programs, Doc+ will provide students the opportunity to contribute to documentary fieldwork addressing critical issues and explore diverse mediums such as photography, film, audio and oral history. Through Doc+, students will work in small teams under… read more about Call for Applications: New Doc+ Summer Program for Undergraduates »
Join us for a workshop series to hear from Duke faculty awarded seed grants in documentary studies. To support the expansion of scholarly and artistic communities across campus, Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) awarded 2024-2025 grants to faculty to seed new research undertakings.In February and March, faculty recipients will present their work to date, followed by question-and-answer sessions. All are invited to participate in the workshops below sponsored by CDS and Duke's University Forum… read more about Faculty Present Documentary Studies Work-in-Progress »
Duke's Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) is offering a Summer 2025 funding opportunity for documentary fieldwork and research.Established in 1990, the John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards are named for the noted scholar John Hope Franklin, the late professor emeritus of history at Duke, in recognition of his lifetime accomplishments and his dedication to students and teaching.CDS makes awards of up to $2,000 available to undergraduates attending Triangle-area universities to help them conduct sustained work on… read more about 2025 John Hope Franklin Student Documentary Awards: Apply Now »
Deadline: March 17, 2025. Become a fellow at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival! This opportunity is open to all Duke undergraduates and takes place April 3-6, 2025, in Durham, NC.The Full Frame Fellows Program is aimed at educating, motivating and nurturing students. Along with screening films, fellows have the opportunity to network with documentary filmmakers and seek advice that can apply to their own careers. In 2024, approximately 150 participants from 15 schools took part in the Fellows Program… read more about Full Frame Fellows 2025: Apply Now »
First row: Imani Dennison, Arielle Knight, Emily Mkrtichian; second row: Kamee Abrahamian, J Wortham, Dominic Yarabe Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies announces the cohort chosen to participate in the 2025 DocX Residency–Another World is Possible, created by Stephanie Owens and Nyssa Chow. The residency is an invitation for documentary artists working across disciplines to take space to breathe and create.Gathering at Duke from March 18 through April 18 and coinciding with… read more about Six Documentary Artists Coming to Duke for the DocX Residency–Another World is Possible »
Deadline: January 31, 2025 The Center for Documentary Studies announces a call for proposals to support Duke University faculty who wish to engage students with DocX Residency Fellows during the period of March 18 – April 18.DocX is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies that strives to meet the critical need for artists to be supported and nurtured in their imaginative thinking, exploring and questioning. We believe that joy, fellowship and reciprocal care for each other’s processes and… read more about Call for Proposals: Duke Faculty/Student Engagement with DocX Residency Fellows »
Photo by Zeni Alia Two students in the Documentary Studies course “Photo Fever: Curating Photography Exhibitions” (DOCST 333S/733S) are the curators of a photography series, “Waiting for a Train,” and an installation, “Good Luck!”Ama Kyereme is a graduate student in the MFA Experimental and Documentary Arts program at Duke who explores cultural interpretation and storytelling through curation. Annie Tong is a third-year student and photographer from Duke Kunshan University whose work… read more about Works by Albanian Photographer Zeni Alia on View at CDS »
Mia with Fur, 2016 © Mary Berridge Mary Berridge’s award-winning series of photographs is paired with narratives written primarily by the subjects or their parents. The exhibition, “Visible Spectrum: Portraits from the World of Autism,” offers an intimate view of life with autism, as told from within an autism community, which includes Berridge and her son. It encourages an alternate way of seeing the condition, in which the diverse and unconventional perspectives of the autistic are… read more about Student-Curated Exhibition Explores Portraits from the World of Autism »
Deadline: October 23, 2024 The Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) seeks applications from current Duke faculty to become the Doc+ program director. The ideal candidate will have a record of community-engaged artistic practice and/or scholarship, teaching, the capacity to collaborate with peers and with staff and faculty across the university, and experience with academic service and/or community-building that demonstrates excellent potential for leadership. We are looking for an energetic person who… read more about Call for Applications: Doc+ Program Director, Center for Documentary Studies »