The Academic Neighborhood

Beginning in 2013 with a comprehensive construction and renovation plan for six academic buildings, and continuing with new opportunities for curricular expansion, Davidson is embarking—thanks to the generous investment of The Duke Endowment—on a 10-year plan to remake the model of liberal arts education.

“Davidson graduates lead and serve in an increasingly interconnected, rapidly changing world,” explains Davidson College President Carol Quillen. “To stay ahead of these changes, we need to shift how we work, both physically and intellectually. This bold campus plan will enable our exceptional faculty to create a curriculum centered on students doing original work. It will support our dedicated staff as they help them build bridges between learning and life. The Duke Endowment understands the opportunities that our changing world offers, and we cannot thank their trustees enough for endorsing Davidson’s vision.”

How This Gift Will Transform the Davidson Campus

• A restructure of the main academic portion of campus to create learning spaces that foster new methods of interdisciplinary learning.
• Six buildings will be expanded, renovated, or constructed over the next decade to create a “neighborhood” with flexible spaces and common areas that encourage the exchange and generation of ideas across conventional academic boundaries—between departments, between disciplines, and between the arts and sciences.
• Faculty and staff will be grouped in these facilities by the resources they need and their potential interactions with others. Community and flexible spaces such as a café, classrooms, artist studios, learning labs, shared equipment, and computational facilities will be situated to promote interactions among all members of the campus community.