Graduate School

Master Words: A Social Media Project for Master's Students

This social media project is about the words and thoughts of master's students seeking expertise at Brown University. Created with master's students, the project provided a channel to talk about how disciplinary aspirations and training shape perspectives.

In four installments from September 2015 through February 2016, the project team introduced a word -- mastery, creativity, precision, and inspiration -- and students gave us a brief video. Each of the 21 video essays reflect on a word in the context of the discipline and training.

The introductory video that launched the project at Orientation.

Visibility and Skills 

We invited students to help make master's students more visible to the Brown community, develop presentation skills, and add texture to a portrait of master's education across a wide range of disciplines.

The Graduate School posted the videos on Tumblr. Videos were featured on the Graduate School homepage and people could follow on Twitter at #brownmasters. The Brown University homepage and social media have featured highlights. 

Our inspiration: "The Columnists" in WSJ. Magazine, with six people from different walks of life writing brief essays each month on a single topic.  Thanks go to PhD student Ben Fancy, Lauren Sumiko Combs AM '15 and Wesley Bemus MPP '16, past and current master's advocates for the GSC, and former master's student Nisha Hollingsworth for assisting the Graduate School in developing the Master Words project.

Participating Programs & Students

Acting: Julia Atwood | Olivia Khoshatefeh | Tim Kopacz | Peter Martin | Griffin Sharps
American Studies: Yiru Niu | Sandra Strauch
Biotechnology: Alana Levine | Steven Shen
Biomedical Engineering: Samantha Gates
Computer Science: Christian Mathiesen | Wesley Miller
Education: Martez Files
Literary Arts: Patricio Ferrari
Playwriting: Maurice Decaul
Public Health: Mariya Bachmaha | Andriy Chybisov
Public Policy: Alexandra Curtis (precision and inspiration) | Hannah Orloff
Urban Education Policy: Michaela Tonking and Raha Obaei