Just under two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join a small group of my classmates on what Duke calls a “Faculty Outing” to the historic (and small) town of Pittsboro, N.C. Pittsboro, which is the county seat of Chatham County, was established in 1785 and looks and feels like a quintessential small, southern town. There’s a main street lined with small, locally owned shops and a statue of a confederate solider in front of a historic courthouse.
Dr. Michael Munger, who is a professor of economics, public policy, and political science at Duke, chair of the Political Science Department, and the former Libertarian candidate for Governor of North Carolina, led our tour around Pittsboro. He explained some of the town’s Civil War-era cultural and economic history in the context of what was happening in the area at the time. We then explored a few of the local shops and went to the classic S&T’s Soda Shoppe for lunch.
Each Faculty Outing had a different theme and set of activities. Some were designed to be fun, others had the intention of providing some quality exercise, and some were designed to introduce first-year students to their new homes. Regardless of the particular outing’s agenda, each student who participated in a Faculty Outing got to meet and spend time with a professor or administrator who they might not have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
