The College

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.

Sophomore seminars were introduced in 2014 in order to create focused opportunities for second-year students — no longer eligible for First-Year Seminars and not yet able to enroll in more advanced seminars offered by departments for junior and senior concentrators — to connect with faculty and a small number of students around together ideas, perspectives and approaches that are not normally seen side by side in a given course or program.

Embracing a range of intellectual perspectives, many of the seminars focus specifically on issues of social justice, identity and difference. The seminars are limited to 19 students each.

Select "sophomore seminars" in the Curricular Program field in Courses@Brown to view a current list of seminar offerings.

Faculty with an interest in offering a sophomore seminar may be eligible for course development funds if their proposed courses focus on social justice, identity and difference.