Independent Concentration

Description

Although Brown offers a wide range of concentration programs across its 44 departments, a small number of students have academic interests that fall beyond the scope of these offerings.  Brown allows such students to design their own concentrations through the Independent Concentration (IC) program. The IC program is for exceptionally dedicated students who are willing to spend extra time and effort creating a “new” concentration, representing a coherent field of study that Brown simply does not offer. Such fields may include emerging topics, such as "sustainable technology," or broader interdisciplinary areas, such as "Southern Studies." As of 2010, the Independent Concentration also includes some already approved (though rarely selected) concentration offerings. Students wishing to declare one of these established "tracks" need to work with the relevant concentration advisors. Students interested in pursuing an Independent Concentration are strongly encouraged to speak with the Curricular Resource Center's IC Coordinator and with the IC Dean (Dean Rodriguez) and to review previous proposals in the CRC's library.

Student Goals

Students in this concentration will:

• Design a curriculum around a broad problem or theme not covered in the Brown curriculum
• Collaborate closely with faculty sponsors
• Produce a significant piece of original research or creative work

Requirements

Click here for a list of the Independent Concentration requirements. For more information about this concentration, please visit the department's website.

Honors and Capstones

All concentrators must complete either a one-semester capstone project or a year-long Honors thesis. Please consult the program's website for admission procedures and requirements.

Tracks

• Modern Culture and Media-French Track
• Modern Culture and Media-German Track
• Modern Culture and Media-Italian Track
• Statistics Track

Liberal Learning

This concentration allows you to address the following Liberal Learning goals:

• Enhance your aesthetic sensibility
• Expand your reading skills
• Collaborate fully
• Understand differences among cultures
• Embrace Diversity
• Engage with your community
• Develop a facility with symbolic languages
• Learn what it means to study the past
• Experience scientific inquiry
• Evaluate human behavior
• Work on your speaking and writing

Download the full statement on Liberal Learning at Brown

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Advisors

• Besenia Rodriguez

Graduating Class

Alumni Pathways

Alumni who have created their own concentration at Brown have gone into a variety of industries, including medicine, architecture, and finance. Continuing the entrepreneurial spirit that led them to create their own concentrations, many are now chief executive officers and presidents of their firms.

Dept. Undergraduate Group

Student Leaders:

• Evan Schwartz
• James Walsh