Graduate School

Doctoral Certificates

Doctoral certificate programs are open to enrolled PhD students. These programs are designed to extend expertise into interdisciplinary areas and to certify training beyond the home Ph.D. discipline. They promise to advance student careers as well as promote intellectual exchange and community in these academic areas.

To pursue a certificate program, a student must have the support of the department in which they are pursuing the doctoral degree and the program offering the certificate. Certificates typically require three to five courses and sometimes require a substantial piece of written work, internship, practicum, or other project. The programs are offered at no charge to eligible doctoral students.

Successful completion of the requirements of the certificate program will be recognized on the Brown University transcript with a notation indicating the field of this advanced study. Although approved programs may be informally described as “certificates,” no separate document will be awarded by the Registrar.

Doctoral Certificate Programs

Archaeology of the Ancient World

Department/Unit: Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Director of Certificate Program: Andrew Scherer

Africana Studies

Department/Unit: Department of Africana Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Francoise Hamlin

Collaborative Humanities

Department/Unit: Cogut Institute for the Humanities
Director of Certificate Program: Amanda Anderson

Data Science

Department/Unit: Data Science Institute (Division of Applied Mathematics and the Departments of Biostatistics, Computer Science, and Mathematics)
Directors of Certificate Program: Andras Zsom 

Digital Humanities 

Department/Unit: Brown University Library Center for Digital Scholarship and Cogut Institute for the Humanities
Director of the Certificate Program: Ashley Champagne and Tara Nummedal

Early Cultures

Department/Unit: Program in Early Cultures
Director of Certificate Program: Amy Russell

Gender and Sexuality Studies

Department/Unit: Pembroke Center
Director of Certificate Program: Denise Davis

Hispanic Studies

Department/Unit: Hispanic Studies
Director of Certificate Program: 

Language Pedagogy and Academic Engagement

Department/Unit: Center for Language Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Jeremy Lehnen

Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Department/Unit: Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs 
Director of Certificate Program: Neil Safier

Portuguese and Brazilian Studies

Department/Unit: Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Director of Certificate Program: Luiz F. Valente

Science, Technology and Society

Department/Unit: Program in Science, Technology and Society
Director of Certificate Program: Lukas Rieppel

Spatial Analysis

Department/Unit: Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4)
Director of Certificate Program: Kevin Mwenda

Translation Studies

Department/Unit: Comparative Literature
Director of the Certificate Program: Esther Whitfield

W.E.B. Du Bois, Race, and Racism

Department/Unit: Department of Sociology
Director of Certificate Program: Sandra L. Barnes

Proposing a Program

Programs interested in proposing a certificate program are invited to read guidelines for doctoral certificates and to contact William Wittels, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs.