Brown University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Concentration: Development Studies
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Female
Summary
I’m a student-athlete and a teaching assistant.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
First-Generation College Student: No
High School Experience: American citizen, but grew up in France. I went to an international school in France with about 65 students in the graduating class.
Concentration: Development Studies
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete and a teaching assistant.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for your concentration?
I’m mostly in humanities type classes, so it’s pretty heavy on reading. The smaller classes usually involve a pretty heavy weekly reading load, and then weekly response papers, discussion questions, or blog posts or something like that. I’ve also taken quite a few classes in the Economics department and those usually involve weekly problem sets.
Is there anything that you feel your concentration’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
I think the great thing about the concentration is that it’s really flexible. The core curriculum is five classes and they’re all actually in different departments. You have to take an Economics course, a Political Science course, an Anthropology class, a Sociology class, a language requirement, a regional requirement, and a quota of electives. It’s very flexible to student interests and needs.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think there’s a lot of collaboration and support between students and between professors and students.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for Development Studies?
A Sociology requirement called Globalization and Social Conflict. I thought it was a really great introduction to political and social theory. Even though it was a big class, people were really engaged.
What have been your least favorite classes in Development Studies?
I feel like this is bad for my own concentration, but my least favorite class was a requirement called Sophomore Seminar in Sociology Development. I felt that it was one of those rare classes where the professor was not as invested in the students as he should have been. And, since it was a seminar environment, it was a class that would have benefited from a lot of interaction with the professor and the engagement was just not there, even though the books we were reading and the topics we were discussing were, on paper, really fascinating.
What’s a fun class that you have taken outside of your major?
I’m taking a class right now called Mandé, it’s a type of West African dance from Mali, and it’s a really phenomenal class. It is totally different from anything else I’ve ever taken in the Theater Studies department. It’s great to be able to learn in a different way with a lot of dance and discussions about culture and art and the place of art and dance in society, as well as having the ability to dance in class.
Why did you choose Development Studies?
I came into Brown with a background in economics from high school and was particularly interested in development economics. Also, I think just from coming from abroad, I wanted to do something with an international focus. I was initially thinking of doing international relations, but I was really drawn to the Development Studies concentration because it had all the aspects of the international relations program, but it was much smaller. It felt like there was more focus on individual students and that there was a lot more collaboration between students and flexibility within the program, while still having the international focus and development economics I wanted to engage with.
Reasons to Attend
1) The academic flexibility is a big reason to attend Brown. The concentrations have a lot of space within the requirements to take electives in different departments and outside of the requirements. Brown is really a place where you get to shape your education.
2) Because people get to decide which classes they’re going to take, people are really invested in their courses. You can seek out the classes that are interesting to you and important to you. There is a lot of engagement and excitement in classes from students and professors as well because professors can essentially teach whatever they want to teach.
3) It’s a beautiful campus and a great size. I think it strikes a really nice balance between the smaller liberal arts campus feel and a bigger research university feel.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you’re looking to be super involved in Greek life. I think you can seek out Greek life if you want, but that has not been my experience at Brown at all. I know there are a lot of other schools where that is really more of the foundation of the social scene.
2) Don’t come to Brown if you don’t like the cold. We get a lot of snow.
3) Don’t go to Brown if you don’t want to go to the best college in the world [laughs].
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: I had a shared double in Chaplin. We shared a bathroom with the double next door to us.
Sophomore: I lived in Machado House, which is the Spanish house, in a single
Junior: A five-person suite. I had my own bedroom which was connected
Senior: Off-campus in an apartment about 5 minutes away from central campus with three roommates. It’s great.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
When it’s nice out, I love driving to Newport. It’s about a 45-minute drive away, but you can also get the bus for free.
Social Opportunities
Can you describe a typical night freshman year?
That usually started with hanging out in somebody’s dorm room or meeting up with people in a dorm room and hanging out there. Then we go to a house off-campus, which are usually like a five to ten-minute walk away from the dorms and sort of a classic party scene, you know, basement, music, all that jazz. I think freshman year was also characterized by moving around in large groups. Usually, you’d meet up with a bunch of people in a dorm room and then kind of all roll out somewhere with ten or fifteen people.
What are some alternative options to bars or parties that you like to go to?
There’s a great little movie theater right off-campus. It’s like a small, one screen, artsy movie theater. They show a lot of really cool things so I always like to keep an eye out for what’s showing there. There are also plays and concerts happening on campus that are usually run by students and most of the time are free.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Brown?
I was pretty happy. I think as an international student I could go out when I was much younger than most people can in the States. So, I didn’t want to feel limited by being under 21. But you can still really get out and do things as long as you’re 18.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I got really lucky in that my closest friends are, for the most part, the people who I lived close to my freshman year. Two of my current roommates were on my hall freshman year. We got really close during orientation and have stayed close.
How would you describe the Brown social scene?
Like I said, there is not a huge Greek life scene, so, as far as parties go, those are not centered around Greek life as much. There is very much a culture of off-campus house parties and you’re able to go to bars and clubs and concerts and things if you’re over 18, you just can’t drink. You never really feel limited. I think if you’re under 21 you can still go out, but, at the same time, you don’t have to. There are not assumptions that everyone will be going out partying and drinking all the time. It definitely is not a traditional party school.
To what extent do you feel that international students mix with domestic students?
I think it really depends on what community you want to be in as an international student. There is an international house on campus called Buxton, and there are a number of internationally-focused student groups. So, if you want to make your community primarily other international students, you can, but there’s definitely no divide between international students and the rest of the community. Since Greek life is not a huge part of campus, there isn’t really a divide between where you choose to live and your social life, so you can have international friends, but also be a part of the wider community.
Are there systems in place that help international students feel more at home?
There is a first-year orientation program called the International Mentoring Program that pairs international first years with international mentors who are upperclassmen. I did that my freshman year and they give you a lot of practical resources like setting up your phone and bank account, but also its just a really great support system for sharing experiences about being an international student and shedding some light on social and academic life at Brown.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I think people have much more success with networking through the alumni network if they are pursuing careers in the tech field or banking or something where there is a more direct career path. As a humanities student with a less set career path, I haven’t gotten a lot of help through networking with alumni. But, having said that, it does exist and as a senior I’ve started to look into it more and more. There’s definitely a big network out there that I will be using in the future I think.
How helpful was the career office?
I got an internship through them in Providence funded by Brown after my sophomore year. They have a lot of programs for helping students with jobs and internships in Providence and for providing funding for unpaid internships or research with professors. That’s been a huge asset. Again, I think the career office is more helpful to students who are going into a sector like consulting or banking and they don’t have as many resources available for students looking to go into the public sector or nonprofit sector. But, I think they’re really working to expand that.