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Living and Learning in Residence Halls

Duke’s Faculty-in-Residence Program fosters relationships between professors and students

Christopher Roy, center, speaks to first-year students at his weekly cookie night in Wilson Residence Hall.
Christopher Roy, center, speaks to first-year students at his weekly cookie night in Wilson Residence Hall.

Plates of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies sat ready for students as they entered Christopher Roy’s apartment in Wilson Residence Hall. 

But on this Monday evening, Linus got all the love. The Bernese Mountain Dog sat sprawled on an ottoman, surrounded by a dozen doting students.

“He’s always the star of the show,” said Roy, Duke’s associate professor of the practice of chemistry. “He’s so spoiled.” 

Roy serves as one of 11 faculty members living in residence halls on East Campus as part of the Faculty-in-Residence Program. The program, which began in 1983, houses professors in first-year residence halls on East Campus to encourage interaction between faculty and undergraduate students beyond the classroom or lab.  

A goal of the program is to enhance the intellectual life of a residence hall through programming and exposure to other faculty and administrators such as Valerie Ashby, dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. 

“The program keeps faculty engaged in the community and the intellectual life of the campus,” said Joe Gonzalez, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and dean for Residential Life. “In return, students feel more comfortable approaching faculty members.”

Meet three of Duke’s faculty-in-residence: 

Catherine Admay
Lecturer, Sanford School of Public Policy
Residence Hall: Bassett
Years as Faculty-in-Residence: 4

Catherine Admay, standing, hosts a Pictionary night at her apartment in Bassett Residence Hall.
Catherine Admay stood at the front door of her apartment as she welcomed and ushered students into her living room. A homemade game of Duke-centric Pictionary was about to begin, and Admay didn’t want any of the students to miss out. 

“We have ice cream,” she called out. 

As a faculty-in-residence, Admay hosts several off-campus activities that range from a walking tour of Durham to a visit to the Conservators Center, a Burlington nonprofit that cares for lions, tigers and other wild animals. 

But it’s “Dolce” night on Wednesdays that is the regular feature. The Admays adopted the term from the Italian word for “something sweet.” On this night, Gary Bennett, vice provost for undergraduate education, visited to play Pictionary. He provided 10 words connected to Duke for students to draw on a large easel as others guessed what they depicted. 

One drawing showed the Duke Blue Devil and an engagement ring. After students correctly matched the image with the phrase (in this case, DukeEngage), Bennett spoke to the group about the program that sends students across the globe for a summer of service learning.

“Playing Pictionary lets us connect with students in a way that actually builds rapport,” Admay said. “I know I am a better professor for having a much better sense of the lived reality of undergraduate students.”

Admay became a faculty-in-residence four years ago after teaching first-year students in FOCUS, a Duke program that exposes students to different academic disciplines across the humanities, sciences and social sciences. She wanted a chance to get to know more first-year students.  

Living with Admay in the apartment is her husband, Tom, and their six-year-old daughter, Sibu. 

“Having the opportunity to grow up around so many kind, smart, talented and curious students sets a wonderful example for our daughter,” Admay said. “She gets to know all sorts of people pursuing their passions.”

John Blackshear
Academic Dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Residence Hall: Trinity
Years as Faculty-in-Residence: 2

John Blackshear with his family (from left to right) Amoli, Aiyana, Kim, Aza and Andwele.
About 20 students gathered around John Blackshear and Larry Moneta in Trinity Residence Hall to hear Moneta share his experience as an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1968 to 1972. On this night, Moneta spoke to the students as part of Blackshear’s speaker series in which he invites a faculty member or administrator every week to share stories of their college years. 

Moneta, vice president for Duke Student Affairs, recounted hovering around the television with his classmates in a student lounge to see who would be drafted into military service during the Vietnam War. 

Men born between 1944 and 1950 were assigned a random number that corresponded to their birthday. On Dec. 1, 1969, in a televised ceremony, U.S. officials randomly picked capsules with assigned numbers to determine who would be drafted.

“We gathered around and waited for what felt like hours to see if we would be called up to the war,” Moneta told the group. 

A few years ago, Blackshear decided to become a faculty-in-residence when a position opened shortly after he put his house in Raleigh on the market. His family couldn’t pass up an opportunity to live on Duke’s campus. 

Blackshear lives in Trinity Residence Hall with his wife, Kim Blackshear, dissemination and outreach coordinator for the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, and their four children, ages three months old to six. 

“I’ve started calling this job ‘family-in-residence,’” Blackshear said. “Being a faculty-in-residence has been better than anything I could have imagined.”

The Blackshears invite deans and researchers to speak upon their academic experiences, have massage therapists come to help students cope with stress and take students on tours of downtown Durham. Some students visit the family to simply play with the children. 

“The kids race up and down the hallways with you to no end,” said sophomore Katie Lustig, who lived in Giles Residence Hall last year.  “Even though it totally exhausted you, the smiles on the kids’ faces made you want to keep going.”

Christopher Roy
Associate Professor of the Practice of Chemistry
Residence Hall: Wilson and Jarvis
Years as Faculty-in-Residence: 8

Christopher Roy's dog, Linus, is the center of attention for students at Wilson Residence Hall.
Christopher Roy is usually glued to his oven on Monday nights when he bakes 15 dozen chocolate chip cookies over two hours. 

Cookie night has become Roy’s signature event as a faculty-in-residence. 

“Food is always an easy way to bring people together,” Roy said. “People hang around to chat as they snack and give my dog a few belly rubs.” 

As an associate director of undergraduate studies, Roy wanted a way to connect with first-year students outside of the classroom. When he heard about the Faculty-in-Residence Program, he applied. 

Roy regularly has guests over on cookie nights to speak to students. He tries to bring in a mix of students from campus organizations, faculty members from across departments and administrators.

One of Roy’s favorite evenings occurred in 2016 when Steve Nowicki, then dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, stopped by to talk about his research on songbirds. Nowicki and a team of researchers discovered songbirds that solve food puzzles more quickly sing fewer songs. 

“I love those evenings where you don’t realize it’s almost 11 p.m. because you’re having conversations with people from all over the world,” Roy said.  “I’m meeting and having conversations with students, faculty and staff I would never meet otherwise.” 

Here’s the full list of faculty-in-residence:

  • Catherine Admay, Lecturer of Public Policy for the Sanford School of Public Policy and affiliate faculty for Duke Global Health Institute, Bassett Residence Hall
  • John Blackshear, Adjunct Instructor in Psychology and Neuroscience, Trinity Residence Hall
  • Patrick Charbonneau, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Blackwell Residence Hall
  • Jasmine Cobb, the Bacca Foundation Associate Professor of African & African American Studies and of Art, Art History and Visual Studies, Brown Residence Hall 
  • Christine Folch, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology, Randolph Residence Hall
  • Zbigniew Kabala, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Giles Residence Hall
  • Hsiao-mei Ku, Professor of the Practice of Music, Pegram Residence Hall
  • Kimberly Lamm, Associate Professor in the Program of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, Bell Tower Residence Hall
  • Bradley Rogers, Assistant Professor of Theater Studies, Alspaugh Residence Hall
  • Christopher Roy, Associate Professor of the Practice in Chemistry and Education, Wilson Residence Hall
  • Sue Wasiolek, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Gilbert-Addoms Residence Hall

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