Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina, a Piedmont city of about 187,000 people (or 223,000, if you include Durham County) (see the US Census' web site, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet). Durham is a former tobacco processing center, with many of its old tobacco warehouses now fitted out with shops, restaurants, and apartments. Durham's nickname is now the "City of Medicine," thanks in large part to Duke University Medical Center, one of the country's most important medical research centers and hospitals. Duke has two campuses: Gothic-style West Campus, where the Sociology department is housed, and Colonial-style East Campus, where many of the arts and humanities departments are situated. For a virtual tour of Duke's campus, click here.

The town of Chapel Hill, eight miles southwest of Durham, is home to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the country's top public universities. Although Durham is too big to be simply a college town, Chapel Hill provides a very close and beautiful setting for all sorts of nightlife, quaint shopping, and unique dining. Adjacent Carrboro, sometimes called "the Paris of the Piedmont," is home to a thriving arts and local music scene. Of course, during Duke-UNC basketball games, it's best not to venture into Chapel Hill unless you're cleverly disguised…

Raleigh, North Carolina's capital, is approximately 25 miles southeast of Durham, and with nearby towns like Cary-where over 60% of the households have occupants with advanced degrees-is a fast growing area of over 600,000 people. Raleigh is home to many of the state's finest cultural institutions-the North Carolina Symphony, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Exploris Museum, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, among others. North Carolina State University, another major public school of the Southeast, is located in Raleigh (among other smaller colleges at which our graduate students often have opportunities to teach).

Linking all three of these cities is the Research Triangle Park, an industrial and research park established in the 1950s that is now one of the country's-and world's-leading technology centers. In fact, taking the Triangle as a whole, no other place in the country has as many Ph.D.'s per capita.

Outdoor recreation is easily available, both locally and within a day's drive-North Carolina's Outer Banks and the Blue Ridge and Appalachain Mountains are only a few hours drive away (although, sorry to say, in opposite directions…). Duke maintains Duke Forest, a sprawling preserve with many hiking and running paths, while nearby lakes like Jordan Lake and Umstead Lake provide fishing, swimming, and boating opportunities. Duke itself has multi-million dollar recreation centers, with access costing nothing beyond your standing as a graduate student. If you're more inclined to observatory techniques, a number of sports teams call the area home: the Durham Bulls (remember the film Bull Durham?), a AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; the NHL franchise Carolina Hurricanes; and the WMLS team Carolina Courage. But of course, when you have Duke Basketball, what other spectator sports do you need?

Land values and rental prices are relatively cheap in Durham, especially for those coming from larger metropolitan areas-graduate students and their spouses often find they can rent or even buy a house cheaper here than they could rent a small apartment in California or New York. Plenty of apartment complexes also make living close to campus easily achievable.

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Graduate Student Life