The Open Graduate Education program builds on the traditions of free inquiry and collaborative research at Brown. It aligns the training of doctoral students with the spirit of Brown's Open Curriculum for undergraduate students, a cornerstone of the University's pedagogy. The program was launched as a pilot project by the Graduate School in October 2011.
The objective of this program is to enable students to combine fields in unique ways and acquire expertise in more than one area. Consequently, there is no constraint on the choice of the secondary field -- as long as the master's program participates in the program -- and the field may be either close to or quite far removed from that of the doctoral studies.
The program is designed to enable select doctoral students to write unique dissertations, pursue research, and forge career pathways that require knowledge in more than one field. The overarching goal of the Open Graduate Education program is to provide Brown doctoral students with the opportunity to broaden their intellectual and scholarly horizons, without sacrificing depth of study, as they prepare to launch their careers.