Digital Intelligence Certificate Now Available to Duke Undergrads

We live in a hyperconnected world. Education, work, and entertainment are increasingly impacted by emerging technologies. To reap the benefits of these advances, a new kind of intelligence is needed that combines core computational skills with an understanding of the ethical, social, and institutional challenges they introduce. Digital intelligence, or DQ (digital intelligence quotient).

Duke is committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to ethically create, deploy, manage, and critique emerging technologies in their lives. From the recent launch of the Athena Institute to the Science and Technology Initiative, Duke is on the cutting edge of research in emerging technologies. Now, with the introduction of the Digital Intelligence Certificate, students have the opportunity to research, learn from world-class faculty, and to take a focused course of study to further develop their digital intelligence.

The Digital Intelligence Certificate builds on the growing investment by Duke Science & Society in its Digital Intelligence project. In 2020, with the rapid global pivot toward remote learning and engagement, Science & Society invested in a new series of flipped classroom course modules to provide students with foundational skills in emerging computational and data technologies immersed in the policy and ethical context in which they arise.

Over the past 15 months, Science & Society has worked tirelessly toward this goal and have successfully launched the core course for the DQ Certificate: Computation, Ethics and Policy (SciSoc 256-02). As part of this effort, we’ve already:

• Defined 25 topical areas for course modules on the ethical challenges raised by artificial intelligence and emerging technologies
• Catalogued and developed hundreds of real-world case studies
• Interviewed over 100 technologists, stakeholders, and observers with expert knowledge in these areas
• Recorded leading Duke faculty lecturing on the ethics of emerging technologies
• Incorporated these elements into instructive and professionally-edited course modules devoted to the Ethics of Emerging Technologies

With the launch of the Digital Intelligence Certificate, Duke undergraduate students in any major can delve into these materials, and undertake an interdisciplinary course of study to gain foundational knowledge in computational technologies and their relationship to society. Certificate students will benefit from a tailored curriculum that focuses on contemporary and emerging computational thinking. Students can also follow a tailored pathways in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, web/mobile technologies, databases, and software engineering. And dive into courses exploring the ethical, legal, social and policy frameworks to contextualize how these technologies impact society. The Digital Intelligence Certificate is designed to adapt to the rapidly evolving technological developments, allowing for new explorations of emerging technologies as they evolve.

Duke Science & Society is dedicated to exploring these important topics, and encourages interested students to check out our full list of course offerings and learn how they can enroll.
 

Learn More about the DQ Certificate