Prison Engagement Initiative at the
Kenan Institute for Ethics
The Prison Engagement Initiative at the Kenan Institute for Ethics invites undergraduate students to apply to become 2026–2027 Justice Lab affiliates and fellows. Please note that the deadline to apply is April 23, 11:59 p.m.
PROGRAM
How can students at a university like Duke provide services to incarcerated or recently incarcerated people? The goal of the Justice Lab is to centralize, systematize, and improve Duke’s volunteer offerings for undergraduate students. This project was developed in tandem with the student group Duke Justice Project.
It focuses on the following areas:
- Tutoring of incarcerated students (for GED/HiSET exams) at Butner Federal Corrections Complex
- Support for the re-entry population in Durham, including leading resume workshops and academic enrichment for the children of adults attending evening programs (e.g., through StepUp Durham)
- Participation in re-entry and support circles through the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham
- Expanding tutoring initiatives through partnerships like the Petey Greene program
COMMITMENT
There are two ways for students to get involved.
Justice Lab Affiliates
Affiliates are the core of our work. They commit to volunteering consistently with one or more of our partner programs in a way that fits their interests and schedules. This work is relationship-driven and requires reliability, especially for programs like tutoring or re-entry circles. This is an unpaid volunteer position.
Justice Lab Fellows
Fellows take on a leadership and coordination role. This includes organizing schedules, managing communication with partner organizations, ensuring trainings are completed, troubleshooting logistics, and helping shape the direction of the program. Fellows also collaborate on a year-end report reflecting on how Duke can more effectively engage with incarcerated and re-entry populations.
Justice Lab Fellows will be paid at a rate of $18.50/hr and will average 3 hours of work per week. They expect fellows to begin working in August 2026.
ELIGIBILITY
All Duke undergraduate students who are enrolled in classes at Duke during the 26–27 academic year are eligible to apply. If you are a graduate student who is interested, please write to Nicole Schramm-Sapyta.
APPLY
If you would like to be involved in this program, please fill out applications at the link below. If you are applying to become a fellow, you do NOT need to apply to become an affiliate as well.
Please note that the deadline to apply is April 23, 11:59 p.m.
CONTACT
If you have any questions about this program, please contact Nicole Schramm-Sapyta at nicole.schrammsapyta@duke.edu.
Alpha Kappa Delta Undergraduate Research Symposium
Submissions for the sixth annual Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) Undergraduate Research Symposium are now open!
Date: Friday, April 24, 2026
Time: Presenters may choose from four available time slots, with the first session beginning at 11:00am ET/10:00am CT/9:00am MT/8:00am PT. The three other time slots will begin at 12:00pm ET, 1:00pm ET, and 2:00pm ET.
This event will be held virtually over Zoom (free).
All current Alpha Kappa Delta undergraduate student members are invited to submit a title and 150-word abstract describing their papers by April 3rd; however, participation in the symposium will be limited to the first 100 undergraduate student submissions. Full papers must be submitted by email no later than April 15th to remain on the program.
Although students must be AKD members to submit a paper, attendance at the event is open and free to non-members with advance registration. There are no registration fees or costs for faculty, student presenters, or attendees.
We hope you will join us for a day of celebration of undergraduate student research as we seek to acknowledge and promote the scholarship in the study of sociology and build community among AKD members across the United States.
Link to apply to present or register to attend: https://forms.gle/iyNDjeHfiSaTLanF6
The Academic Resource Center's VOICE Lab helps undergraduate students strengthen presentation and communication skills and build confidence. Whether you’re preparing a class presentation, a research talk, a thesis defense, or want to improve your public speaking, the VOICE Lab is here to help.
You can book a session online with a peer communication coach to:
• Practice presentations in a low-stakes, supportive setting
• Receive personalized feedback from trained peer communication coaches
• Learn strategies to engage your audience and grow as a communicator
• Build skills to manage public speaking anxiety
Sign up for a session today - we look forward to meeting you! If you have any questions, reach out to us at theARC@duke.edu.
Duke in Venice 2026
