<p>Hi everyone! So, I have this idea: to come up with a meaty list of pros and cons of Brown’s curriculum (the “New Curriculum”) or open curricula more generally, including all of the trimmings (like the availability of pass/fail grading system, which some people consider separate from the curriculum itself). This was last tried in the fall (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/979144-pros-cons-open-curriculum.html?highlight=pro+con+open[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/979144-pros-cons-open-curriculum.html?highlight=pro+con+open</a>), but it didn’t get very developed and there wasn’t an attempt at upfront organization.</p>
<p>Here’s what I’m thinking: we start with pros in this thread, and leave cons for a later thread. Each post will consist of a one-liner in bold, followed by two to four sentences of explanation. (For those of you who don’t know, you can do formatting here like this: [BBCode</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode]BBCode”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode) .) I will make an example post immediately under this one. The idea is that every post will have only one pro – people can contribute more than one, but they should be in separate posts. Anyone (alums, current students, applicants, whoever) is welcome to contribute. In my magical happy world, this thread will be a pure brainstorming exercise with no cluttering discussion (see [Brainstorming</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming#Ground_Rules]Brainstorming”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming#Ground_Rules)), but perhaps I should set the upfront request that if you need to make a comment, put it in italics.</p>
<p>First and foremost, I think this would be something great for the people who frequent this board – namely applicants, potential applicants, and their parents. The last really great thread on the curriculum was modest’s (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/385841-brown-curriculum-university-college-explained.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/385841-brown-curriculum-university-college-explained.html</a> – check it out if you haven’t!), but I think it might be a little bit daunting for the casual reader, and it was cluttered by silly replies (including my own). And then there’s my ulterior motive: some friends and I recently established a small non-profit dedicated in part to advocating for curricular freedom. I already have my own list of benefits of open curriucla, but as we develop materials touting the benefits of an open curriculum I thought it might be nice to solicit a diverse group of people for their own feelings about it, and I know of no better place to do so than here. If you want more information, you can PM me, but I’m trying to avoid spam-ey promotion.</p>
<p>I recognize that this will probably get cluttered or just fizzle and die, but a boy can dream.</p>