Avery Redlich ’28 came to Brown planning to triple-concentrate in neuroscience, physics and literary arts on a pre-med track. But after discovering that she was limited to declaring just two concentrations, she decided to study biophysics alongside another humanities-focused concentration.
In a meeting last May, faculty passed a motion limiting students to declaring a maximum of two concentrations. The Herald spoke to students and administrators about the value and legacy of triple concentrations at Brown.
Professor of Engineering and Physics Rashid Zia ’01, the dean of the College at the time of the vote, said students could still complete the requirements for three concentrations and list all three concentrations on their resumes, but the third degree would not be recorded on their transcript, The Herald previously reported.
“We’re just trying to ensure students aren’t doing it for the sake of credentialing,” said Dawn King, deputy dean of the College for curriculum and a teaching professor of environment and society.
She is a member of the College Curriculum Council, a group of around 20 undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff that King said introduced the original motion to limit the number of concentrations to two.
According to King, students in the class of 2025 who had already declared and completed requirements for three concentrations were able to graduate with all three on their transcripts, becoming the last Brown class to do so. “Any students who had three concentrations approved in their record were legacied into a triple concentration,” King wrote in an email to The Herald.
One of these students was Gabriella Wrighten ’25, a former Herald senior staff writer, who graduated in May with a triple concentration in modern culture and media, English nonfiction and literary arts. Wrighten said she satisfied the combined total of 31 requirements by taking five classes per semester for much of her time at Brown.
“I’m 100% happy I did it,” Wrighten said. “If I could only do two concentrations, I would have ended up with enough courses to amount to another degree anyway.”
According to King, the CCC has been talking about limiting students to two concentrations for the past couple of years. Over this period, “discussions came up about how the triple concentration really went against what we’d like our students to do here at Brown, which is explore the Open Curriculum,” she said.
Wrighten saw the concentration cap differently, voicing her disagreement with the motion that passed last spring. “It defeats the purpose of having an Open Curriculum, at least to some extent,” she said.
When she was deciding to triple-concentrate, she was advised against it, she said. Even so, simply discouraging students from triple-concentrating is “way better than just saying (students are) not allowed to do it at all,” she said.
Wrighten credited one of her academic advisors with helping her choose enjoyable classes. Of the courses she took that satisfied concentration requirements, she only disliked two of them.
Redlich said she understands the decision to limit students to two concentrations. Instead of pursuing three concentrations in similar fields, Brown would “rather encourage you to use those extra classes on things that are more out of your comfort zone,” she said.
She also pointed out that studying a subject without formally declaring it as a concentration could be more enjoyable for a student, as they can take only the classes they are passionate about.
Matthew Donato, the executive director of the Center for Career Exploration and associate dean of the College, estimated that he advises up to 50 students each year. But in his nearly 11 years working in different advising roles at Brown, Donato said he’s “never worked with a student who was triple-concentrating.”
Throughout King’s tenure at Brown, there have rarely been more than seven triple concentrators in any graduating class, she said.
Both Donato and King mentioned that students who triple-concentrate would likely be doing it to gain an advantage in the job market. But according to King, a third concentration could not only be unhelpful — it could actually hurt.
Graduate schools or recruiters could see triple concentrations as a sign of indecision and lack of specialization, King said. “You assume that three is better than two, but the Open Curriculum is the credential,” she added.
Donato supports the idea of double-concentrating, in certain cases. “I think if you truly want to go deep in two different disciplines, and you have a really strong rationale for how that’s going to be an important part of your educational experience, I think double-concentrating is great,” he said.
