The College

Curricular Programs

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Curricular Programs

Collaborate on campus research and community projects and delve further into social issues, humanities and other topics.

With more than 2,500 courses offered each academic year, the Brown curriculum is ripe for exploration. Among these options are specially designated curricular programs that offer opportunities for out-of-classroom research and collaboration, small-group discussion and focused study.

These curricular programs provide you with unique opportunities to delve further into existing interests, discover new ones, and develop an understanding of the connections between and across disciplines. Like all undergraduate coursework at Brown, these programs also help you build relationships with peers, professors and members of the community and gain skills, experience and perspectives that will serve you well in your time on campus and after graduation.

Community-Based Learning and Research

Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) courses allow students to collaborate with one or more community partners to investigate an important social challenge or problem.

Examining Race, Power and Privilege

In their content and their objectives, Race, Power, and Privilege courses examine issues of structural inequality, racial formations and/or disparities, and systems of power within our complex, pluralistic world.

First-Year Seminars

First-Year Seminars (FYS) aim to promote close interaction between faculty and students in a small setting, providing an entrée for incoming first-years, not only into college-level work, but into Brown's unique academic culture.

Humanities Seminars

Seminars on topics informed by ongoing research at Brown University are offered every year through Brown's Cogut Institute for the Humanities.

Independent Study

Brown’s Open Curriculum places a high value on independent learning experiences for undergraduates. Chief among these are individual and group independent study courses.

Sophomore Seminars

Sophomore Seminars are small courses designed to help sophomores develop knowledge, skills and methods they need to progress toward more advanced learning in a field.