What humanities programs does Brown University offer for undergraduates?

Brown offers a wide range of undergraduate humanities concentrations, and they are generally organized through departments plus several interdisciplinary programs. Core humanities areas include English, history, philosophy, classics, comparative literature, religious studies, and multiple language and culture programs such as French and Francophone studies, German studies, Hispanic studies, Italian studies, and Portuguese and Brazilian studies. Brown’s Open Curriculum also makes the humanities especially flexible, since students can combine fields without general education requirements dictating a fixed path.

On the language, literature, and culture side, undergraduates can study literary arts, modern culture and media, comparative literature, classics, East Asian studies, Middle East studies, Slavic studies, and several specific language concentrations. In history and ideas-based fields, Brown includes history, history of art and architecture, philosophy, religious studies, science, technology, and society, and medieval cultures. The archaeology and the ancient world concentration also fits well for students interested in older civilizations through a humanities lens.

Brown also has strong interdisciplinary options that overlap with the humanities, including American studies, ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, development studies, environmental studies, and international and public affairs. Some students also pursue independent concentrations, which Brown allows if their academic interests are not fully covered by an existing concentration.

In practice, Brown organizes undergraduate study around concentrations rather than the term majors, though they function similarly.