The Duke University Center of Exemplary Mentoring, the Pratt School of Engineering, and the Duke Graduate School cosponsored Mentoring Matinée, an interactive-theater workshop, on September 27 to explore common pitfalls and issues in STEM Ph.D. student mentoring.
The workshop was facilitated by Theater Delta, a group that uses interactive theater to spur discussions around issues of social change. Attendees watched professional actors perform skits that portrayed situations that often arise between Ph.D. students and their faculty mentors, and then a trained moderator led a discussion about those situations.
This was the second time this year that the Duke UCEM has partnered to sponsor a Theater Delta workshop at Duke. The previous one was in February and was a collaboration with the Chemistry Department. The workshops are part of the UCEM’s efforts to help students from underrepresented minorities more fully integrate into the Duke community, as well as make the Duke community more inclusive and supportive of those students.