Successfully complete a concentration (major)
Brown offers 85 standard concentrations that lead to either the Sc.B. or the A.B. degree. Students also have the option of creating an independent concentration, with the approval of the College Curriculum Council. Descriptions of all standard concentrations are in the back of the Course Announcement Bulletin and on departmental web sites. Click here to view a list of concentrations.

Demonstrate competence in writing
Learning to write well is a developmental process that occurs over time; Brown students are therefore expected to work on their writing in their general studies and in the concentration. By the beginning of their fourth semester of study, students must present evidence that they have worked on their writing, either through coursework or through some other activity that involves drafting and revising. When declaring the concentration, students explain what writing they intend to do in the concentration. The University provides an online portfolio in which students may save examples of their best work each year. This evidence allows students to demonstrate their abilities not only to Brown advisors but also to future colleagues and employers.

Fulfill the enrollment requirement of eight semesters
Brown students must be enrolled for the equivalent of eight full-time semesters of instruction, four of which must be in residence at Brown during fall and/or spring semesters. Tuition payments are based on the norm of thirty-two courses, four courses in each of eight semesters. Advanced standing based on advanced placement credits and/or college-level work completed before Brown may be applied toward this requirement. Approved study during the school year at another institution in the United States or abroad may also count toward this requirement. Students who successfully complete four summer session courses at Brown—and who have completed all other degree requirements—may request a waiver of the eighth semester of the enrollment requirement.

Brown's open curriculum has long supported one general education requirement: that all students demonstrate the ability to write well. This fundamental aspect of liberal education has been a part of the curriculum since the late nineteenth century. Why? Good writing is essential to learning. Across the disciplines, scholars, teachers, and students write to explore ideas, uncover nuances of thought, and advance knowledge. Writing is not only a medium through which we communicate and persuade; it is also a means for expanding our capacities to think clearly.

Learning to write well is a developmental process that occurs over time. For this reason, all students matriculating to Brown after spring 2012 must work on their writing at least twice: once during the first half of their college experience, and once during the second half. Students meet the first half of this requirement in their first four semesters by completing an approved writing course at Brown. Reflection is an important part of your development as a writer, so we also ask that you go into ASK to verify completion of this part of the writing requirement.

Transfer students admitted as sophomores may meet the first part of Brown’s writing requirement with an approved course taken at their prior institution. Sophomore transfers with no such course must take an approved course at Brown, but have an additional two semesters to meet this part of the requirement. Transfer students admitted as juniors are exempt from part one of the requirement.

In semesters 5 through 7, students work on their writing a second time, by taking another approved Brown course or by documenting that they have worked on their writing in another course. The final step is to go into ASK to verify completion of the requirement and to reflect on your development as a writer at Brown.

The PDF at right provides more details on the writing requirement for each class. It’s important to know that the requirement as it is laid out here is a minimum expectation. Our hope is that students will work on their writing throughout their four years. By embracing this responsibility, students become stronger writers and thinkers, thus fulfilling a critical aspect of their liberal education.

Brown students are expected to work on their writing in their general studies and in the concentration. To that end, Brown offers a number of courses that help students develop their writing abilities. Students are encouraged to take at least one of these courses in their first year of study and at least one additional writing course in their area of concentration.

Writing-designated courses provide students with feedback about their writing and opportunities to apply that feedback on the same assignment or when completing writing assignments later in the course. Offered in nearly all departments, writing-designated courses are designated "WRIT" at the end of course descriptions. WRIT courses for a particular semester may be viewed in the Banner class schedule by selecting "Writing-Designated Courses" in the Attribute Type section.

The Nonfiction Writing Program in Brown's English Department offers a number of intensive writing courses that help students develop their abilities to write academic essays, journalism, and creative nonfiction. Students from all disciplines benefit from enrolling in English 110, which focuses on critical reading and writing, or English 130, which focuses on the research essay. Other popular courses focus on journalistic writing (English 160) and creative nonfiction (English 180).

In Writing Fellows courses, students improve their written communication skills through intensive work with a Brown student, called a Writing Fellow, who has been trained in composition and pedagogy. Writing Fellows read drafts of student papers and meet in conferences with student writers to discuss the drafts. Students then revise their work and submit both versions (the original with the fellow's comments and the revision) to their professor or teaching assistant. When grading papers, professors in Writing Fellows courses consider both the process the student went through and the final product.

Brown students are expected to communicate effectively in writing in all of their courses. If an instructor is concerned about a student's ability to write competently, he or she may register the concern online in the form of a "writing check" at mid-semester or with the final grade. A checkmark then appears on the student's internal academic record next to the course in question; it does not appear on the official Brown transcript.

Once a writing check appears, a dean follows up with the course instructor and with the student to determine if focused work is needed to improve the student's writing abilities. If extra work is needed, the dean will help the student develop a plan to work on writing. Once the dean determines that the student has demonstrated writing competency, the check will be removed from the student’s record.

In addition to written assignments in courses, all writing that students submit for official purposes to Brown University is expected to meet baseline standards for written communication. This includes pre-matriculation materials submitted to Brown and written correspondence with University offices or committees. Some students may be required to complete a writing course during their first year of study at Brown; such cases are determined on the basis of materials students submit when applying for admission to Brown or during the summer prior to matriculation.

Brown expects students to approach their undergraduate studies as an intellectual process that unfolds over time. Growth in writing is essential to this process. Students are therefore required to demonstrate that they have worked on their writing across the four years.

We offer the following criteria to assess competence and to help guide students as they develop their writing skills.

Highly competent writers

                      • create coherent and well-developed responses to assignments
                      • demonstrate a high level of critical and abstract thinking
                      • demonstrate a sophisticated appreciation for readers’ needs 
                      • support their arguments with relevant, detailed, and convincing evidence
                      • logically sequence their paragraphs with content-based transitions
                      • use appropriate diction and tone and constructively vary sentence structures
                      • use correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax

Competent writers

                      • exhibit moderate ability to think critically and abstractly in response to assignments
                      • clearly attempt to address intended readers’ needs
                      • sufficiently organize and develop their ideas so as not to impair the readers’ understanding
                      • use loosely- or unclearly-related examples 
                      • sometimes use weak transitions between paragraphs
                      • depend upon basic sentence structures, phrasing, and usage
                      • occasionally use incorrect grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax, but not to the point where errors

                         impair the reader’s understanding of the text

Writers whose work falls below the level of competence typically

                      • exhibit little or no ability to think critically or abstractly 
                      • fail to recognize the needs of the reader
                      • fail to answer the questions asked in assignments
                      • depend upon weak generalizations and undeveloped examples
                      • fail to write coherent prose
                      • use imprecise or inappropriate vocabulary
                      • fail to demonstrate sufficient understanding of grammar, punctuation, and syntax