Reaffirming the Liberal Arts and Sciences at Brown: Summary on 2025-26 Faculty Working Group Deliberations

As a follow-up to our Oct. 9 message about reaffirming the liberal arts and sciences at Brown, we write to invite all Brown faculty to engage in the efforts of a working group and provide input on its initial work to explore the centrality of liberal arts education in the context of the national debate about the fundamental purpose and value of education. As we shared previously, a faculty working group has been examining current issues facing undergraduate education at Brown with the goal of sustaining Brown’s commitment to excellence in educating students for lives of meaning and purpose. We write now to provide additional information about the working group’s work to date and to invite your input, which will help inform a set of recommendations for Brown’s undergraduate education framework.

As we noted last week, the working group in its initial work affirmed the value of a liberal arts education. It found that Brown’s distinctive Open Curriculum continues to enable students to acquire critical thinking skills, pursue an education that combines breadth of exploration with depth in a concentration, and develop the skills necessary for lifelong learning and growth. The working group also concluded that the University needs to reevaluate its learning goals and the structure of the Brown faculty’s advising role in undergraduate education at Brown, given various trends and pressures that the group identified. The group developed some initial recommendations that call on us to focus our attention on three areas: the importance of community in learning; the role of faculty in advising; and what our learning goals should be to guide students as they navigate the Open Curriculum.

As we begin to gather broader community input (with student engagement opportunities to come), we are starting with faculty, recognizing your experience and continuity in shepherding education at Brown across generations of students, and your roles in both curriculum and advising. To that end, we will begin by seeking your feedback on three questions:

What learning goals can best help students navigate the Open Curriculum and chart their own education?
How can faculty best advise students throughout their time at Brown?
Should we incorporate the importance of living in community and serving community into the principles of the Open Curriculum (and, if so, how)?

As you begin to consider these questions, we ask that you please review this document summarizing the faculty working group’s deliberations and offering a proposed framework for learning goals. We’ve created a user-friendly faculty feedback form to welcome your input, and over the next two months, we’re providing opportunities for you to join us for in-person discussion sessions, facilitated by members of the working group. Each session is limited to 20 participants. Please use the links below if you would like to sign up for one of these:

We hope for as broad a participation in these sessions as possible, but again, for those who prefer to offer written input, you can submit your comments and questions via this faculty feedback form.

We want to thank the members of the working group for their work to date and continued commitment to the work ahead, and we are grateful in advance for your input into this important work and for your enduring commitment to undergraduate education at Brown.

Sincerely,

Ethan Pollock, Dean of the College, Professor of History and Slavic Studies
Leah VanWey, Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Environment and Society and Sociology