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That First Year Rush

A documentary studies program captures Duke Kunshan University’s rapid growth and the changes happening in and around campus.

By Duke University

April 30^th, 2019

The students in Duke Kunshan University (DKU)’s first undergraduate class are wrapping up their freshman year, and along the fringes of campus, new buildings are rising.

To record what it’s like to be among the first of DKU’s undergraduates, nine Duke undergraduates and one graduate student traveled to Kunshan through the “Documenting the DKU Experience” spring break program.

Duke senior Josh Gabay (right) films a DKU student for part of his video project during the spring break program. Photo by Amanda Solliday

Duke students (l-r) Lenae Ryan, Symphony Webber and Rebekah Alvarenga photograph scenes in Kunshan’s historic water town, Bacheng. Photo by Amanda Solliday

Freshman students at DKU take time to share their first-year experience with Duke students. Photo by Lenae Ryan

Kaley Clements (left), a global fellow in the arts and humanities at DKU, at a Kunshan market with some of the “Documenting the DKU Experience” students. Clements co-directed the spring break program. Photo by Amanda Solliday

The documentary studies students spread out through campus, Kunshan and nearby Shanghai to take on individual and team projects, including videography, photography, blog posts and a podcast. They hung out in the common areas with DKU students and listened to DKU students describe their research during a brown bag lunch session. The students traveled on rented bamboo bicycles to Bacheng, Kunshan’s historic water town, and rode the high-speed train to Shanghai.

"Through this weeklong, intensive workshop and documentary project, we attempted to reveal the life of the campus and the place and role of the Kunshan campus in an expanding, local community.” - Tom Rankin, director of Duke’s master of fine arts in experiential and documentary arts.

Duke students (l-t) Symphony Webber, Rae Hsu, Lenae Ryan, Blaire Rikard, Cici Cheng and Tom Rankin, Duke professor of the practice of art and documentary studies, stop to take a group photo during a bike ride in Kunshan, China. Photo by Amanda Solliday

The projects benefited from cross-campus faculty collaboration. Rankin co-directed the students’ spring break projects with Kaley Clements, a global fellow in the arts and humanities at DKU, and Seth Henderson, assistant professor of media and arts at DKU.

Meet the students

Blaire Rikard, Class of 2020, majoring in biology with minors in chemistry and visual and media studies

Lenae Ryan, Class of 2020, majoring in public policy with a certificate in documentary studies

Eva Hong, Class of 2021, majoring in public policy with a certificate in arts of the moving image

Rae Hsu, Class of 2020, majoring in English with a certificate in documentary studies

Vincent Liu, Class of 2021, majoring in computer science

Symphony Webber, Class of 2019, majoring in visual and media arts with a certificate in arts of the moving image

Josh Gabay, Class of 2019, majoring in cultural anthropology with a certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship

Rebekah Alvarenga, Class of 2022, major undecided

Sophia Li, Class of 2022, majoring in economics and computer science

Cici Cheng, Masters of fine arts in experimental and documentary arts

The Duke student participants came from different backgrounds, with majors from public policy to English to computer science.

Biology major Blaire Rikard chose to focus on the connections among water, nature, campus and the broader Kunshan community for her photography project.

“At DKU, this inaugural class has played an integral role in helping to bring new life to campus, shaping their community and building their school from the ground up,” Rikard said. “Like water and nature, the university will continue to constantly flow, change and grow.”

Student Projects

A boat passes under a bridge in Bacheng, a water town in Kunshan. Photo by Blaire Rikard

Rice grows in a field near the edge of Duke Kunshan University’s expanding campus. Photo by Blaire Rikard.

This type of global education program for Duke students is expected to be part of a series, with a different focus each year, said Irina Adams, manager of international programs in the Office of DKU programs.

The Office of DKU Programs chose this year’s spring break theme to complement the Student Experience Documentary Project at DKU. The project “seeks to document, analyze and evaluate the experiences of the initial cohort of DKU undergraduates.”

Balling at DKU

“We wanted to enable Duke students to interact closely with peers at DKU while contributing to an initiative relevant to both institutions,” said Adams. “Documentary arts provided a perfect opportunity to learn about DKU student life, the campus and broader community through intimate conversations and local visits.”

Hotpot

For their podcast, Hotpot, Duke students Sophia Li, Eva Hong and Vincent Liu interview first-year students at Duke Kunshan University. This is a sample of the conversations featuring the variety of DKU student experiences, from hometowns to travel adventures to extracurricular activities, as the students reflect about being a part of the inaugural class at a new university.

Adams expects to continue developing spring break opportunities for Duke students at DKU, through close collaborations with faculty, centers and institutes in Durham and Kunshan.

“We know undergraduates on both campuses are eager to meet and exchange ideas,” Adams said.

personal spaces, personal objects

A quiet conference center balcony on DKU's campus. Photograph by Rebekah Alvarenga

Ashley, a DKU student, holds an ocarina. Photograph by Rebekah Alvarenga

Ashley, a DKU student, on the balcony of DKU's conference center balcony. Photo by Rebekah Alvarenga

Ashley, a DKU student, plays an ocarina on the balcony of DKU's conference center. Photograph by Rebekah Alvarenga

"Sometimes I just use music to distract me so I can recover and go back to work. This one is really easy to play, really easy to carry, so that’s why I brought it here.” – Ashley, DKU student, while playing the ocarina, a popular instrument in China.

Past or Present

Black and white street scene in Bacheng, Kunshan. Photograph by Cici Cheng

Black and white river scene in Bacheng, Kunshan. Photograph by Cici Cheng

The “Documenting the DKU Experience” students in front of The Bund waterfront in Shanghai. (top, l-r) Lenae Ryan, Sophia Li, Eva Hong, Rae Hsu, Blaire Rikard, Rebekah Alvarenga, (middle) Cici Cheng, (bottom, l-r) Symphony Webber, Josh Gabay, Vincent Liu.

Footnotes

Produced by University Communications. Story by Amanda Solliday and Megan Mendenhall.

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FootNotes

Produced by University Communications. Story by Amanda Solliday and Megan Mendenhall.

Where All Roads Lead

That First Year Rush

A documentary studies program captures Duke Kunshan University’s rapid growth and the changes happening in and around campus.

FootNotes

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FootNotes

Students and alumni set off to Italy to build lifelong relationships by studying wartime camaraderie and combat

January 4th, 2023

At the far side of America, students learn from the day that will live in infamy

March 31st, 2022

Thank You Coach K

A look back at the year through our lens

January 4^th, 2023

March 31^st, 2022