Pre-College Programs
Summer Session
Program Directors

Pre-College Programs

Pre-College Vision Statement

The Brown University Pre-College Programs provide students intellectually and socially formative and challenging experiences in and out of the classroom with a diverse group of peers, instructors, and staff in an academically rigorous environment aligned with Brown’s commitment to independent thinking, critical engagement, and personal and community responsibility. Students leave their pre-college programs intellectually changed through a deeper awareness of their own abilities and interests, a broadening of their knowledge of the great diversity of perspectives and experiences, and an appreciation of how much more there is to learn.

Pre-College Mission Statement

Brown University’s Pre-College Program students’ educational journey mirrors what they can expect to experience as they apply to and attend college. Through a thoughtful application process, selection of courses from curricula representative of the best of liberal arts study, and engagement with fellow students, instructors, and staff who hail from varied backgrounds, students leave their programs with new knowledge, capacities, friends, and a broader understanding of their world.

Overview

• Much like Brown’s undergraduate open curriculum, the Pre-College Programs aim to create student-centered learning experiences and shift student focus away from formal grades and credits towards the learning itself.
• Over 300 courses are offered, ranging in length from one to four weeks, and are designed and taught at a first-year college level.
• The Pre-College Programs at Brown attracts roughly 6,000 exceptionally engaged and motivated high school students.

Pre-College Programs

Summer@Brown is the largest of Brown’s campus-based Pre-College Programs, featuring  well over 200 non-credit courses offered in intensive sessions – both on campus and online – ranging from one to six weeks  long, and scheduled in multiple terms across the summer. Courses offered span the broad range of academic disciplines at Brown, intentionally reflecting the breadth and depth of Brown’s undergraduate, liberal arts curriculum. Courses are designed to expose high school students to first year undergraduate content, with the  attendant academic rigor, and are non-credit in order to encourage students to take risks and to explore unfamiliar subjects. Online courses take advantage of the benefits of online learning and technology to bring together the best aspects of seminar-style learning in an asynchronous learning environment. A robust extra-curricular program – offered to both on campus and online students – supplements the academic core of the program, providing students with broad exposure to the experience of living and learning on a college campus. Students enrolling in these courses must have completed the 9th grade, and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.

Summer@Brown for English Language Learning offers courses similar to the above, taught by instructors proficient in teaching non-native speakers of English. Instructors teaching these courses are familiar with the linguistic challenges their students face, and develop their syllabi to include substantial opportunities for students to exercise their listening, public speaking, reading and academic writing skills.

Brown Environmental Leadership Lab (BELL) combines concepts in environmental studies, ecology, and leadership, with a mission of developing socially responsible leaders. At BELL, students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to create positive change on environmental issues facing their local communities and the planet as a whole. Students at BELL engage with a wide variety of content, including work in environmental science, social science, and leadership development. Lessons focus on experiential and place-based learning, drawing on the environment surrounding the student as a living laboratory where they can explore the concepts introduced and discussed in the course. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 9th grade, and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.

The Leadership Institute believes that all students have the capacity to effect positive change for their communities. This innovative program integrates three foundational components: study of a compelling academic topic, exploration of socially responsible leadership, and development of a meaningful action plan. Courses- on campus and online- utilize an interdisciplinary approach to explore complex, contemporary social issues of pressing global interest. Brown faculty and graduate student instructors work closely with the program director to develop a course syllabus that effectively integrates and supports programmatic goals, including the development of an Action Plan. Students enrolling in these non-credit courses must have completed the 9th grade, and are drawn from all 50 United States and some 70 countries worldwide.

Location-Based Programs are immersive and rigorous academic experiences. Program sites are carefully selected to enhance course content. The connection between site and course content offers students a rich experiential learning experience. The programs’ interdisciplinary approach help prepare students for the increasingly complex challenges of the 21st century by exploring the interconnectedness of the global community and exposing students to varied perspectives.

STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders participate in an immersive academic experience that allows them to explore the STEM disciplines. Students can indulge their passion for learning as they dive into content in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics focused courses. The courses provide students with some understanding of the foundational material for that discipline from which they can springboard to areas for exploration such as more advanced content or current areas of research. In addition to the academic experience, the students participate in supplemental programming that promotes and supports social and academic growth as they prepare for success in their future academic experiences.. The students spend time working on a comprehensive academic project and the program culminates in a final presentation for their peers, instructor and families.

Pre-Baccalaureate Program for rising or recently-graduated High School Seniors. Pre-Baccalaureate students enroll in credit courses alongside Brown and visiting undergraduates in the University’s Summer Session.

Undergraduate Summer Session
Summer Session extends the undergraduate curriculum into a seven-week session in the summer. Offering a wide range of courses across the disciplines, Summer Session provides students an intensive learning experience.

Pre-College and Summer Session Staff

	Adrienne Marcus, Dean, Pre-College Programs and Summer Undergraduate Programs
	Yolanda Davis, Assistant Dean of Pre-College Programs Summer@Brown, Pre-College Online
	Abbey L. Aevazelis, Associate Director of Pre-College Programs and Director of STEM Programs STEM for Rising 9th and 10th Graders, Summer@Brown
	Jane B. Diener, Assistant Director, Environmental and Location-Based Programs BELL: Alaska, Florida Keys, and Rhode Island
	Karen Haberstroh, Associate Director of Pre-College Engineering Programs Summer@Brown
	Rosario Navarro, Director, Location-Based Programs Language Studies, Location-Based Programs: Rome, Segovia, and Washington, D.C.
	Kisa Takesue, Director, Pre-College and Leadership Programs Leadership Institute, Summer@Brown