<p>There has been unjust challenge to the university and the open curriculum recently on College Confidential. This has been a common trend by elitists from other institutions who feel they have something to prove to the rest of us. I would like to point out that Ive never attended an institution other than Brown though I did spend significant amounts of time on the Case Western Reserve University campus as well as on the Michigan State University campus (MSU over the summers in high school doing research). Im not writing the following for the benefit of anyone other than those applying or thinking of applying to Brown. It upsets me that I even engage some of these elitists on the College Confidential message boards, because really, my intention when I began actively posting on CC (which was not until after my admittance to Brown despite my earlier registration, which was in fact over the HSHSP program that I was in at Michigan State) was to tell others about Brown and help out. I think my low number of threads and high number of posts are evidence of the fact that Im really just looking to answer others questions. My experience as a science tour guide at Brown I think is indicative of this as well. Of course, most of all, the bulk of my actual posts on this board which Im sure many of you have read is pretty solid evidence to this fact.</p>
<p>So here is a little about Brown that every student attending and every student thinking of applying should know. Unfortunately, I do not have some papers I would like to point you towards available for readingas it turns out theyre not as accessible online as I would have thought. Im sure some trolls will come in here and try to and disagree with me, since they clearly will have superior knowledge about Brown than a current student who has pretty significant interest in these areas, but I implore the high school students to ignore them.</p>
<p>And one last disclaimerIm not hiding on here, Im not behind a false pseudonym. My CC name is the same as my AIM account. Im easy to find on Facebook, Ive posted a significant amount of personal information, and Ive given out my email address on several occasions. I hope that this provides me with some increased level of trust, as thats my intention by not being anonymous. For those of you who dont know, or never cared to know before, my name is Jason Becker, Im a member of the class of 2009 at Brown. Im a chemistry concentrator originally from Long Island, New York. Im one of four student representatives on the Task Force on Undergraduate Education, which is a committee which was started by the Dean of the College as part of our reaccreditation process which is seeking to be the most thorough review of the New Curriculum since it began here at Brown.</p>
<p>Its an egregious error to consider the Open Curriculum a means of avoidance. This is a major gripe of minethose who proclaim the Open Curriculum as wonderful because you dont have to take subjects youre not interested in. The negative statement, while true, is not the design intent and not the way the Open Curriculum is actually used. The Open Curriculum is designed for academic EXPLORATION. Its about seeking out the very things that drive your passions for learning. Its about seeking out challenges in new, sometimes quite uncomfortable, territory. This is, in fact, how the New Curriculum is most often utilized by Brown students. Despite the horrific statement that the New Curriculum is great because, Youll never have to take math again! over 50% of our students will take a math course in their first year at Brown. The number of students who fulfill a distribution (two courses in the social sciences, two courses in the humanities, two courses in the sciences) hovers around 95% each year. In fact, despite what some try to claim, it is humanities concentrators who are least likely to fulfill this distribution (87% do). The New Curriculum is not, never has been, and never will be about avoidance. Despite poor advertising of this fact by the Admissions Office and even some current students, people dont come here for the ability to avoid, but for the ability to explore. I myself, as a physical sciences concentrator with the maximum number of science and math requirements (21), have taken courses in 13 different departments over the course of 4 semesters.</p>
<p>If students are to truly explore areas that are uncomfortable, unsafe, new, and interesting, there needs to be some protection from this risk. So many students are so grade conscious that they do in fact attempt to avoid difficult challenges at the university levelthis is true at many institutions with cores, and its amazing that some people try and forget that fact! At Brown, since the focus is meant to be on the students learning, not on the students assessment (assessment exists primarily as a means of feedback between professor and student, student expectations are known to the student and they can assess if theyve met those, the grade is simply an indication of the professors assessment of the students performance based upon the professors expectations), the idea was to use a pass/fail system to encourage students to move into fields never before explored by them. Not worrying about a multi-tiered, sophisticated grading mechanism, students were able to explore and learn based upon their desire to engage the material. Its not about making the course easier (by design S/NC is meant to be used in an area where a lack of experience means itd be difficult to have any level of considerable success compared to more prepared students), its about removing the pressure (external and internal) of earning a grade and replacing that with the elation of learning a new and exciting area. Its about alleviating the fear of a physics student whos always wanted to study Faulkner but is fearful about being placed in a course with English Literature concentrators. Some people would argue that a core removes this problem, since students are forced to explore. However, its the free form exploration provided at Brown to engage in any class in any area at any moment that makes this more pertinent. None of these courses are being taken by people who need to be there. They are filled with people who are there because they have particular interest in the subject material. These people have strong experiences and prior knowledge, and are often already building the skill set of a disciplinarian. This is not the case in a core requirement and thus has the ability to greatly change expectations (both of students and professors), environment, and of course, the anxiety associated with that course.</p>
<p>The Open Curriculum gives students the ability to experience what its like to be a disciplinarian in a subject area theyre not experts in. Many times students who are taking courses out of their subject areas choose not to take introductory schmorgasboard type courses, but rather seek to engage material first from depth, not breadth, and gain a wider prospective from the study, in detail, of a particular microcosm in that field. This is quite unique since most places require more survey type course work as you spread yourself across the various disciplines at a school. Having the ability to work first in the area of depth provides an interesting set of knowledge and insight, and often, I feel, provides a student with stronger modes of thoughts skills. Theyre much more capable of taking the knowledge and depth theyve gained on a small subject area in the discipline and apply those tools to other problems in the discipline. The course you take will not be an introduction to the terms of say, an anthropologist; rather, it is a course in which you must think as an anthropologist to even have modest success. Many Brown students step up to this challenge. By learning to study an area in depth, from inception to analysis, provides a more complete toolkit then an introductory survey of information, and while this opportunity exists at other schools, Brown is unique in presenting them in such an easy fashion to its students. Students taking these courses do not only have different expectations from professors than those in introductory material or required core course, but theyre also surrounded by a different breed of studentan essential part of the learning environment.</p>
<p>Whats wonderful about the Open Curriculum is clear to anyone who views choice as empowerment and a responsibility theyre ready to take on. Brown students have a task which students most places do not havethey need to be mature enough to take on the task of designing their own, coherent liberal arts education curriculum. This is a responsibility and power that Brown students tackle heads on. There is a whole culture built around this. Its quite a powerful thing to say to someone that they are mature and responsible enough to seize their education by the horns and direct it appropriately for them. It is, in my opinion, rightly determined that there are a significant amount of students in this country and abroad that have a very good idea of how they would like to shape their education. Its empowering and allows for some of the most unique educational experiences anywhere in the world. This is not for everyone. THE OPEN CURRICULUM IS NOT DESIGNED FOR EVERYONE. There are plenty of merits to other curriculum types and this subject has been intensely discussed ad naseum through out academia. But, the Open Curriculum is one such model which has served Brown quite well for forty yearsour students come out better for it, and we build our class around students we feel can best take advantage of an offering like the Open Curriculum. Every applicant must fill out a, Why Brown? essay, it and comes as no surprise that many mention the Open Curriculum. Its what divides our institution and our students from many others out there and makes this place unique (well, one of two major forks, the other is the university-college which Ill get to in another paragraph or so). </p>
<p>Brown students have a really unique opportunity when they arrive here. Is there some room for abuse? Yes, though not muchthere arent courses designed to give people As (other than maybe 2 or 3 out of several thousand), and people do leave here not having stepped up the challenge. This is true at any university, however, and is typically quite easy to spot no matter where you come from. However, there is a significant portion of the student body here at Brown that could not do what they did here anywhere else. Thats a powerful opportunity were offering to students and one which accounts for quite a bit of our popularitythe ability to do something you cannot do anywhere else.</p>
<p>This has already run a bit long so Ill only briefly discuss the university-college. Brown Universitys focus in undergraduate education, and we dont view pre-professionalism as the direct goal of our education. While we are great preparation for many pre-professional schools, the design of Brown is to provide a liberal arts education. I could write a paper twice as long as this defending the merits of a liberal education and what that provides students, but there is also plenty of reading material out there on this subject. The consequence of the liberal education here at Brown is, much like the Open Curriculum, a student body here to learn, here to be driven by no one other than themselves and their insatiable hunger to learn about the world. Browns anti-competitive atmosphere comes from the uniqueness of one curriculum verses another, its grading scheme which is less discriminatory, and the clear message and value of liberal education. </p>
<p>What is important to note is that Brown is a university only as a function to improve its undergraduate college. There is a distinct difference between an institution with a small graduate program and an institution which designs its graduate school to better its undergraduate offerings. Brown is the latter. This is what lies at the heart of the university-college. We seek to bring graduate students here in order to attract top professors and ensure theyre able to do world class research here at Brown. We also need to ensure that our undergraduates have the experience to engage in research on that level. Many student on science tours ask me about access to research here at Brownnot only is it as easy as asking a professor to do research to find an opportunity, but in order to graduate from Brown with an Sc.B. degree from Brown you MUST do research for credit. Research is not just an option we provide undergraduates, for many it is an integral and mandated aspect of their undergraduate experience. I must stress that we provide our professors with the best resources and whatever it is they need. I could go into many anecdotal examples, but I implore you to visit and askyoull find that Im telling the truth here. The difference is our graduate programs are small; all professors teach undergraduates and are engaged with undergraduates, etc. Yes, we spend less money on graduate programs and have less money overall than many places, but were purposely supporting smaller, better designed programs for the advantage of our undergraduates. Our graduate school programs are actually quite good, just simply not as well known overall due to their size.</p>
<p>Brown is a university-college, and has been for many years (President Wriston or Wayland in the early 20th century wrote a lot about this idea I cant remember which at the moment). The university-college exists to ensure the small liberal arts college advantage for undergraduate education with the backing of a full-fledged, world-class research institution.</p>