Program Information
Programs for Adult Students
Adult students come to Brown seeking an enriched learning environment. They currently can take day, evening, or weekend non-credit courses through Continuing Studies during the Fall or Spring terms in content areas that reflect Brown’s academic strengths in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. Courses vary in length from two to ten sessions. Faculty are invited to present topics of interest and discipline-specific courses but should be prepared to engage with adults who have educational goals, who are frequently self-directed, and who will want to draw on their personal experience. Adult students expect high quality instruction from expert faculty. Faculty can consider the use of innovative technology in both the development and delivery of their courses with support provided by the Office of Continuing Education (CE). CE also sponsors lectures on contemporary topics.
Off-Campus and International Programs
The Office of Continuing Education's International Programs are for pre-college (high school) students, college undergraduates (Brown and others) and adults who are seeking to extend their experience with a language and/or a culture in a secure, faculty-facilitated academic environment typically between one to seven weeks in length.
Undergraduate travel programs are designed for a mix of students from Brown and other institutions (typically first and second year, though not restricted) who may have limited experience abroad as well as international students and students who have traveled but have not studied abroad previously. A small percentage (5-10%) of undergraduates will use this short term experience abroad as a springboard to a semester or year-long program in the same locale.
Some international programs may not require previous language experience and are open to all students who use the summer semester in order to reduce the conflict with concentration-based scheduling constraints and to explore a country or a culture of interest. Other international programs may focus on advanced language acquisition and application in an environment where students must speak and think in the required language.
Pre-College travel programs are for exceptionally motivated students with interests in cultural diversity, cultural studies of the arts and sciences, and leadership. Faculty who have well established research interests and resources abroad are invited to develop programs with support from the staff of Continuing Education.
Adults in the travel programs are seeking global education as an increasingly essential component for understanding and living in today's world. Travel programs for adults offered by Continuing Education are designed to develop an awareness of some of the important elements of interdependence necessary for coexistence in the world, to build insight and background for interpreting international problems and conflicts, to clarify awareness of their own culture through contrast with others, and to interact with other cultures providing a historically relevant perspective of both developed and emerging nations of the world.
Undergraduate Students
Brown University undergraduates comprise the primary audience for Summer Session courses although some visiting undergraduates, advanced high school students, and Brown graduate students do enroll. Summer Session serves as the summer term for Brown University. Faculty should be prepared to teach courses that have broad appeal across disciplines since the number of students focusing on any single discipline is likely to be small. Additionally, the summer is a good time for courses that may be critical prerequisites for subsequent fall classes. Students are frequently seeking courses to improve their academic standing, to access courses that are typically full during the rest of the academic year, or to explore new subjects.
The term is 7 weeks long which include 6 weeks of instruction along with an additional week of combined reading period and final examinations. All courses and instructors must have the endorsement of a Brown University academic department and must also be approved by the University faculty committee responsible for the curriculum.
Pre-College Programs for High School and Middle School Students
High school students interested in the intellectual sophistication and varied methods of inquiry typical of a college curriculum can pursue opportunities through the Pre-College program. These non-credit courses are presented in an intensive workshop format that meets Monday through Friday, usually for 3 hours per day. Multiple sessions are offered, beginning at the end of June and ending the first week in August. Courses may range in duration from one week to four weeks, allowing the instructor to present either a brief introduction or a more in-depth opportunity for content mastery in a wide variety of disciplines. The program curriculum represents the diversity of a college curriculum in general, as well as the diversity of the particular academic fields represented at Brown University.
Courses appropriate for this audience should be targeted towards a freshman-level student; in other words, for those beginning learners who are ready to be intellectually challenged, but might not have all of the building blocks of a more experienced student. It is important for instructors to consider a varied toolkit of teaching techniques as presentations must be engaging and—as much as possible—interactive.
High school students interested in developing knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with socially responsible leadership may choose the Leadership Institute. Summer courses are two weeks in length and meet for two hours each morning and two hours each afternoon. The courses are team taught and have a teaching assistant.
The Leadership Insitute helps students develop the intellectual skills to analyze complex social issues and the interpersonal skills and confidence to act on the knowledge they have gained. Faculty should be prepared to focus their academic content on contemporary issues such as: globalization, women’s studies, civil rights history, global health, environmental concerns, conflict and violence, comparative religion, social change or other areas of interest. Faculty may come from a wide variety of disciplines and are paired with educators who have experience teaching the leadership aspects of these courses. Together as a team they bring an engaging multidisciplinary approach to these topics.
The SPARK program is a Pre-College program for middle school students who have demonstrated an outstanding ability in science and are seeking to experience hands-on scientific experimentation. SPARK courses are one and two weeks in the summer and classes meet for three hours each morning and on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. They should be designed to introduce a complex scientific topic in a manner appropriate for advanced 7th/8th grade students and should include hands-on activities. Faculty should be prepared to develop courses that allow students to begin to think as scientists – asking sound scientific questions and understanding that through the process of answering questions, new questions arise. The courses should expose students to the scientific concepts behind familiar topics that are part of the students’ world and make them aware of where their scientific curiosity and strengths may lead them in the future.