Meet the Incoming Director of Polis: Professor Abdullah Antepli

On April 23rd, the Polis Student Committee Executive Board hosted incoming Director Professor Abdullah Antepli for a casual conversation about his goals for Polis, his thoughts on the current political climate across college campuses, and the importance of ideological diversity. He argued that universities should “make students comfortable with complexity, nuance” and not just “cheap, easy answers.” He continues that “simplistic” ways of thinking are at the “heart of intolerance.”

Many students in attendance asked for his opinion on the student protests that are occurring across college campuses like Columbia and NYU due to Israel-Gaza conflict. He called the arrests of students as “incredibly sad.” Antepli argues that outside of violence and threats of violence, there should never be a reason to arrest students. One student asked why Duke University has mostly avoided the large-scale social unrest seen in Columbia and NYU. Antepli believes it is because Duke “invests heavily in relationships.” His peers in the Divinity School respond to the conflict “as friends” due to “intentional interfaith work happening on the ground.” Antepli goes on to argue that engaging with difference is essential in a functioning society. We must “celebrate differences,” he argues, without compromising a “moral red line.”

The event concluded with a game of trivia that focused on geography, the history of religion / religion and politics, Durham and North Carolina, foreign policy, and international travel. Antepli won (by himself!), but the winning team of students were given prizes to the Duke Store.