Though Maribeth Rubin '07 came to Brown intending to study mechanical engineering, she quickly found herself pondering other options. By her second semester, she realized she "wanted to do something that was art with a technology focus, and there really wasn't something like that at Brown."
So Rubin used the University's independent concentration program to combine elements from the visual arts, music and modern culture and media departments into a concentration called "interactive digital media."
Rubin's academic path culminated in a museum-style exhibit called "Perceptions of Reality" that integrated sculpture and digital media to explore the mythical island of Atlantis. Now, instead of mechanical engineering, Rubin's dream job is "integrating digital media techniques with exhibit design," such as "imagineering" at a Disney theme park.
This weekend, Rubin will be one of two independent concentrators - who design their own courses of study - to walk through the Van Wickle Gates. Though the independent concentration program was a key feature of Brown's 1969 New Curriculum, only a dozen or so of the College's approximately 6,000 undergraduates are currently in stages of the program's application process.
Life experiences, inspirational teachers and intriguing courses can all motivate students to diverge from Brown's standard concentrations and follow their own academic inclinations. Independent concentrations relate to the sciences, humanities and social sciences, but "there is always an interdisciplinary element," said Ariane Helou GS, the graduate proctor who oversees the independent concentration approval process.
"Students who apply for independent concentrations tend to be pretty impressive," Helou said. "They're highly motivated, passionate, self-directed and committed to their chosen topic."
Occasionally, waves of student interest in a topic not covered by the University's standard concentrations can provide a convincing argument for the University to add the subject to its official offerings. Years ago, biomedical ethics and science and society became standard concentrations due to student interest, though neither ever became a formal department.
But in many cases - often as a result of the University's decision to suspend previously approved concentrations, such as biomedical ethics and biotechnology - students must devise alternate courses of study to satisfy their academic passions.
Most students embark on the approval process late in their sophomore or early junior years, though some wait until as late as the beginning of senior year. They typically spend several months revising and resubmitting proposals to justify their departure from the pool of available concentrations. In addition, they must submit an essay describing their academic goals, a fully designed curriculum and an annotated bibliography.
A portion of the proposals, often having been revised two or three times, finally reach the Independent Concentrations Committee, which accepts about 50 percent of the applications, Helou said. The committee includes faculty members, deans and students, whom Helou described as "watchdogs for the curriculum."
The committee, Helou said, verifies that the "concentration is not just an idea for a project or something like a double concentration but is really a unified field with a strong methodological grounding." She noted that some students' proposals merely try to skip requirements or avoid undesirable classes.
The ideal independent concentration, Helou said, is "not the marriage of two fields of study but the birth of a new one."
From the perspective of independent concentrator Noah Gardiner '07, the topic must be "specific enough to make an argument but broad enough to make a concentration and not just an independent study project." Gardiner, who enrolled at Brown through the Resumed Undergraduate Education program after 14 years out of school, decided on a concentration titled "Western esoteric studies," focusing on magic, alchemy and spiritual trends in Western thought, areas that have been "mostly ignored or suppressed in the past."
Gardiner said magic and esotericism have been lifelong interests of his that emerged as an academic field only in the last 15 years.
Another keystone of a successful alternative course of study is finding a willing professor to serve as a guide. These faculty members must dedicate a significant amount of time catering to a single student's interests and helping make connections across disciplines.
Independent concentrators have to "find a handful of faculty that will really back (them) up," Gardiner said. In his experience, these faculty members have been "instrumental in recommending sources and discussions in general."
"You have to network until you find someone who will help you with it. You have to keep throwing your idea out there," said Rubin, who worked with Professor Emeritus of Visual Art Roger Mayer after taking an animation class with him.
Unlike concentrators in standard departments whose facilities and support systems are clearly organized, independent concentrators often must look in unusual places to uncover materials relevant to their individual
curriculum.
The study of magic and esotericism requires an immense amount of literature and rare materials. Brown has "not one but two of the best collections of magical and occult literature" in the world at the John Hay Library, Gardiner said, adding that the Hay's collections drew him to Brown.
But in some cases, independent concentrators find resources locked up behind "For Departmental Use Only" signs. One of Rubin's greatest challenges was gaining access to the animation lab typically reserved for computer science concentrators but necessary for much of her work.
Students designing their own courses of study have the added responsibility of integrating diverse academic experiences into a coherent foundation of understanding.
"You have to have a core idea of what you're interested in or it's easy to get lost," Rubin said. She added that going through the process has taught her to combine lessons from disparate courses to advance her main focus. "You have to bring everything back to it."
Gardiner, who drew from the religious studies, history, Judaic studies, Egyptology and anthropology departments, said he "always had to twist around what the class is about, though it's hard since the teachers have certain ideas about what they want the class to be about. But I've found that professors can be really supportive in helping you follow your own interests in the context of the class."
Independent concentration proposals must also contain a clear plan for a senior thesis or capstone project, "which is particularly challenging for first- and second-year students thinking about independent concentrations," Helou said.
Rubin, who began writing her proposal in her first year at Brown, did not have her capstone project approved until the end of her third year. "I took the time to see how all the ideas and skills I've learned (can) combine into something intriguing for people to experience," she said.
For her final project, Rubin transformed Room 221 in List Art Center into the weeklong Atlantis exhibit. It featured display cases of "mimic artifacts" exploring the fine line between reality and illusion.
"As people unravel the 'offness' of the artifacts, the room reacts to the way they are reacting," Rubin said.
Even after following an individualized course of study, independent concentrators usually have the same range of post-graduation options as standard concentrators, Helou said. Gardiner, for example, plans to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan's Department of Near Eastern Studies.
"It's such a Brown thing to make your own concentration," Gardiner said. "I'm surprised more people don't."
"There will be a lot of rules in your way," Rubin advised, "but if you think Brown has all the resources but hasn't put them together, you should go for an independent concentration."
