Doctoral certificate programs are open to enrolled PhD students. These programs are designed to extend expertise into interdisciplinary areas and to certify training beyond the home Ph.D. discipline. They promise to advance student careers as well as promote intellectual exchange and community in these academic areas.  

To pursue a certificate program, a student must have the support of the department in which they are pursuing the doctoral degree and the program offering the certificate. Certificates typically require three to five courses and sometimes require a substantial piece of written work, internship, practicum, or other project. The programs are offered at no charge to eligible doctoral students.

Successful completion of the requirements of the certificate program will be recognized on the Brown University transcript with a notation indicating the field of this advanced study. Although approved programs may be informally described as “certificates,” no separate document will be awarded by the Registrar.

Approved Doctoral Certificate Programs

Archaeology of the Ancient World
Department/Unit: Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Director of Certificate Program: Peter van Dommelen

Africana Studies
Department/Unit: Department of Africana Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Matthew Guterl

Collaborative Humanities  
Department/Unit: Cogut Institute for the Humanities
Director of Certificate Program: Amanda Anderson

Data Science
Department/Unit: Data Science Initiative (Division of Applied Mathematics and the Departments
of Biostatistics, Computer Science, and Mathematics)
Directors of Certificate Program: Samuel Watson (Graduate Program Director), Alden Bumstead (Associate Director)  

Early Cultures
Department/Unit: Program in Early Cultures
Director of Certificate Program: Amy Russell

Department/Unit: Pembroke Center
Director of Certificate Program: Denise Davis

Hispanic Studies
Department/Unit: Hispanic Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Felipe Martinez-Pinzon

Language Pedagogy and Academic Engagement
Department/Unit: Center for Language Studies
Director of Certificate Program:  Jane Sokolosky and Jeremy Lehnen

Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Department/Unit: Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs 
Director of Certificate Program: Jeremy Lehnen

Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Department/Unit: Portugues and Brazilian Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Luiz F. Valente

Science, Technology and Society
Department/Unit: Science, Technology and Society
Director of Certificate Program: Deborah Weinstein

Spatial Analysis  
Department/Unit: Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4)
Director of Certificate Program: Kevin Mwenda

Translation Studies
Department/Unit: Comparative Literature
Director of the Certificate Program: Marc Redfield

Proposing a Program

Programs interested in proposing a certificate program are invited to read guidelines for doctoral certificates and to contact William Wittels, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs.