College Discussion - View Single Post - The Brown Curriculum and University-College Explained

SBmom · 09-03-2007, 10:15 PM

Okay I will fess up and say that at 18 avoidance was on my mind.

I was pretty uninterested in taking more math/science after AP everything in HS, but I was extremely interested in sampling ALL the humanities and arts that I hadn't yet had a crack at-- religious studies, semiotics, comp lit, urban studies, international relations, philosophy, art history, etc-- things were not offered in my HS.

So I guess for me it was a bit of both, explore and avoid. I surely liked getting to pick based on my inner voice, loves, and desires.

24 years out: I completely agree that it is not what one avoids but what one encounters that defines the open curriculum. Further, I would say this is so EVEN if you skip out on math, or languages, or whatever.

Here is what you'll encounter at Brown: passion, joy, excitement, bliss, kindreds, energy, inspiration. This sets the tone for the sort of life and career you will want after Brown. You will want to be deeply interested, excited, and in love with what you do. Nothing else will really feel right. You will keep going until you have that blissful feeling of total engagement.

You will also have a four year head start on running your own life and finding out what makes you tick, so you will be ahead of the game. And probably, by following your passions, you will have wound up at a high level of something or other.

I believe this is a common experience of all Brown students: the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you look at the course catalog and realize you'll only get to take ~32 of those incredible classes before it's time to go-- and the resultant determination to choose well and carefully.

I will also fess up that I NEVER took a science class at Brown. After sampling the humanities smorgasbord, I concentrated in English Literature and became a writer (mostly because writing is always new; you can always learn about a new thing and write about it).

Then a funny thing happened to me about a year ago. I got interested in a scientific subject and when there were no books on it for me to study, I decided I wanted to write a book about it.

I had some basic catching up to do, clearly. So I bought and borrowed about 50 text books and proceeded to teach myself 101-level Endocrinology, Neuropsych, Evolutionary Anthropology, Human Sexuality and a smattering of basic Bio, all stuff that danced around my topic.

I got so into it that I began corresponding with a researcher I'd run across (his email was appended to a journal article in PubMed), asking him a bunch of my unanswered questions. He turned out to be a BIG cheese in his field (little did I know). He was astounded that I was self-taught, once that came out, because I was asking such sophisticated questions.

Anyhow, one of my questions so intrigued him-- because it had never been studied before from the angle I suggested-- that now he and I are doing a study on it together. SO-- now I am a science person (!), which is really hilarious given my science-avoidant background.

My point is that in ~32 classes, there is NO WAY to deliver an education with no gaps. But gaps can always be filled later. All you have to know is how to learn.

Brown does a phenomenal job of serving passionate, self-directed learners, because Brown makes it FUN and EASY to dive headlong into things that interest you. So far, diving headlong into the things that interest me has been a very satisfying way to live my life.

09-03-2007, 10:15 PM	#28
SBmom Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Threads: 26 Posts: 2,964	Okay I will fess up and say that at 18 avoidance was on my mind. I was pretty uninterested in taking more math/science after AP everything in HS, but I was extremely interested in sampling ALL the humanities and arts that I hadn't yet had a crack at-- religious studies, semiotics, comp lit, urban studies, international relations, philosophy, art history, etc-- things were not offered in my HS. So I guess for me it was a bit of both, explore and avoid. I surely liked getting to pick based on my inner voice, loves, and desires. 24 years out: I completely agree that it is not what one avoids but what one encounters that defines the open curriculum. Further, I would say this is so EVEN if you skip out on math, or languages, or whatever. Here is what you'll encounter at Brown: passion, joy, excitement, bliss, kindreds, energy, inspiration. This sets the tone for the sort of life and career you will want after Brown. You will want to be deeply interested, excited, and in love with what you do. Nothing else will really feel right. You will keep going until you have that blissful feeling of total engagement. You will also have a four year head start on running your own life and finding out what makes you tick, so you will be ahead of the game. And probably, by following your passions, you will have wound up at a high level of something or other. I believe this is a common experience of all Brown students: the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you look at the course catalog and realize you'll only get to take ~32 of those incredible classes before it's time to go-- and the resultant determination to choose well and carefully. I will also fess up that I NEVER took a science class at Brown. After sampling the humanities smorgasbord, I concentrated in English Literature and became a writer (mostly because writing is always new; you can always learn about a new thing and write about it). Then a funny thing happened to me about a year ago. I got interested in a scientific subject and when there were no books on it for me to study, I decided I wanted to write a book about it. I had some basic catching up to do, clearly. So I bought and borrowed about 50 text books and proceeded to teach myself 101-level Endocrinology, Neuropsych, Evolutionary Anthropology, Human Sexuality and a smattering of basic Bio, all stuff that danced around my topic. I got so into it that I began corresponding with a researcher I'd run across (his email was appended to a journal article in PubMed), asking him a bunch of my unanswered questions. He turned out to be a BIG cheese in his field (little did I know). He was astounded that I was self-taught, once that came out, because I was asking such sophisticated questions. Anyhow, one of my questions so intrigued him-- because it had never been studied before from the angle I suggested-- that now he and I are doing a study on it together. SO-- now I am a science person (!), which is really hilarious given my science-avoidant background. My point is that in ~32 classes, there is NO WAY to deliver an education with no gaps. But gaps can always be filled later. All you have to know is how to learn. Brown does a phenomenal job of serving passionate, self-directed learners, because Brown makes it FUN and EASY to dive headlong into things that interest you. So far, diving headlong into the things that interest me has been a very satisfying way to live my life.