Duke's PhD Lab in Digital Knowledge (PhD Lab) is designed to help PhD students develop digital skills for teaching, research, and publishing / production. Because of this interest in helping PhD students develop these skills -- which will be useful for an academic career, an "alt-ac" career, or a career outside the academy -- Duke has signed on as one of seven members of the recently formed Praxis Network.

Inside Higher Ed recently featured the network, noting particularly that "common themes uniting [the seven programs] include not just interdisciplinary cooperation and a desire to explore how new technologies affect research, but also the mentality that their students should broaden their understanding of the sort of career options an advanced degree in the humanities can lead to."

The Praxis Network is part of a larger effort undertaken by the U.Va.-based, Mellon Foundation supported, Scholarly Communication Institute to evaluate how graduate programs in the humanities prepare students for life after graduation.