Brown has long touted the open curriculum as what sets it apart from its Ivy League counterparts.
Martha Mitchell鈥檚 , an online database for University history, partially credits the efforts of former instructors George Morgan, originally a professor of applied mathematics, and Bruce Lindsay, a professor of physics, in the curriculum鈥檚 development. And both Brunoniana and a detailing the curriculum鈥檚 history note years of student work and activism that went into the curriculum鈥檚 creation.
In 1958, Morgan approached then University President Barnaby Keeney with a plan for a course titled 鈥淢odes of Experience: Science, History, Philosophy and the Arts,鈥� which sought to examine the intersections between the respective fields of study. Keeney, intrigued by the idea, told Morgan to talk to Lindsay about a similar course, 鈥淭he Role of Science in Civilization.鈥�
The two courses became the first in a new category: 鈥淯niversity Courses in Interdisciplinary Studies.鈥� They gained popularity quickly, according to a .听
Morgan, according to a , laid the intellectual foundation for the open curriculum: Students, he believed, needed the 鈥渃hance to integrate (their) understanding of the various intellectual disciplines.鈥�
鈥淕eorge felt that the students were watching,鈥� said Chaplain of the University Janet Cooper Nelson. 鈥淗e felt that the school Brown needed to be was a place where you could pursue your interests and feel 鈥� passionate about your reasons why.鈥�
In 1966, Elliot Maxwell 鈥�68 and Ira Magaziner 鈥�69 began a Group Independent Study Project examining 鈥渕ethods of teaching and learning at Brown,鈥� according to the University website.听 Their final recommendations included removing all distribution requirements, the choice to take any class pass/fail and adding four semesters of interdisciplinary 鈥淢odes of Thought鈥� classes.
According to the 1970 article, both Magaziner and Maxwell were 鈥渟tudents of Mr. Morgan and sought his advice.鈥�
Maxwell and Magaziner built support for their recommendations throughout the student body, leading activism that 鈥斅燼longside reports from multiple faculty committees 鈥斅燾ulminated in a May 1969 faculty vote establishing the key tenets of the open curriculum.
鈥淚f there weren鈥檛 really important faculty like George joining with student leaders, the curriculum change would never have happened,鈥� Cooper Nelson said.
Sofia Barnett is a University 国产偷拍 editor overseeing the faculty and higher education beat. She is a junior from Texas studying history and English nonfiction and enjoys freelancing in her free time.
