January@Brown

Now is the time to make plans to participate in January@Brown – a great way to enjoy a relaxed learning opportunity with small groups of Brown students eager to return to campus before the start of semester II.

January@Brown offers a range of non-credit seminars of 20 students or fewer with supplemental activities and events that give you a chance to explore new subjects, make new friends, and experience more of the wonderful places and events that Brown and Providence have to offer.

To apply, complete the January@Brown online application

Application Deadline: Friday, December 5th at 5pm

Courses

Workshop in Creative Nonfiction

This course will concentrate primarily on two forms of creative nonfiction: memoir and the personal essay. Students will be writing and critiquing each other's work through workshop sessions as well as reading and responding to exemplary samples of the forms. Through memoir, we will gain an in-depth understanding of the mechanics of narrative by examining character and plot. In personal essays, we will apply what we've learned about narrative to crafting a well reasoned text that places personal experience into a larger context. Students will learn powerful tools for engaging readers and gain mastery over presenting experience in satisfying, artful ways.

Instructor: L. Sarat
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Chemistry 33T

This course is a small-group workshop for students who are completing work for Chemistry 330. We will concentrate on the study of Chemical Equilibrium, Acid and Base Equilibrium, Buffers, Titrations, and Solubility Equilibrium. It will include lectures, presentation of problems, and time to work in small groups in problem sets and online homework. Additional $45 per student for required access code to online homework. Mandatory attendance, partially self-paced with scheduled exams.

Instructor: Sandra Russo-Rodriguez, 2 Advanced TA’s
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Storied Neighborhoods: Narrative and Placemaking in the City

Providence is in many ways a city of neighborhoods, each of which is inflected by its economic, cultural, historical and political attributes. The design of these urban neighborhoods shapes the tales that people tell, and these accounts, in turn, influence the design of places; this class examines this reciprocal relationship in the context of story in order to understand how racial and economic differences are written into the stories of our local neighborhoods. We will "read" both the physical narrative of landscape and the more traditional stories found in personal narrative, media stories, and literary and artistic works to better understand how Providence’s storied neighborhoods have been constructed, changed, or maintained. We will use a few other flagship American cities to reflect on the different ways places are made. The class will utilize the tools offered by urban studies, literary studies, and theories of race, class, and environment to understand the influence that a city’s physical and imaginative landscapes and its inhabitants wield on each other. Through our engagement with these texts and the public spaces of Providence, we will work toward developing a theory of urban narrativity - constructing our own stories about how different texts and spaces have created, reshaped, and altered the neighborhoods of Providence. Students will produce a final fictional or critical analysis of a particular city narrative.

Instructor: H. Kaplan
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Workshop on Studio Art

The fundamental question we will be addressing in this course is, "What is art?" Students will be asked to respond to this question through a variety of visual media, establishing an introductory foundation for studio practice. This question will be broken down into two constituent questions addressing the how and the why of making art: We will explore the "how" in terms of form and technique, in both two and three dimensions. Drawing, sculpture, and design will be emphasized. Students will be introduced to these disciplines in order to sharpen their sensitivities and attitudes to the world at large and to develop their own personal creative process. Through these media, we will attempt to establish criteria for the critical engagement of works of art, and address the "why" questions of making art in terms of content and context.

Instructor: C. Gonsher
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Persuasive Communication

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." –Audre Lorde
This course will introduce you to the rhetorical arts of invention, organization, style, and delivery to help make you a more confident and persuasive public speakers. You will deliver both prepared and extemporaneous speeches to your classmates and receive detailed, personalized feedback from both the instructor and one another. Class lectures and discussions on developing outlines, coping with speaker anxiety, and making effective use of visual aids will help you build your skills in public speaking. Although primarily practical in orientation, this course will also examine the psychology of persuasion, especially as it operates through advertising and political campaigns. By improving your understanding of the communication process, Persuasive Communication will make you both a better public speaker and a more astute critic of public discourse.

Instructor: C. DuComb
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Designing Forms

The last decade has seen the emergence of a new architecture. Advances in building technology have resulted in structures with complex geometric forms that would have been feasible less than twenty years ago. Some of the most effective tools and principles employed in such designs have been explicitly mathematical. This course will introduce students to some of these useful concepts. Conducted as a studio, this course will feature weeklong intensive projects organized around a central question. Examples of questions are: How was the British Museum Great Court Roof designed? How can you design and construct a brick facade letting in maximum light? Why did the London Millenium Bridge sway so much inadvertently? Students will gain familiarity to a relevant set of tools and concepts by guided experimentation on an integrated series of problems. Students will work in small groups and present their findings before the class and invited critics. Significant coursework in one or more of the following is strongly encouraged: math, physics, architecture, engineering, computer science.

Instructor:Joy Ko
Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Events, Activities and Fun

We are currently planning our January@Brown events for January, 2009 - stay tuned for more information. Organized events and activities will happen daily (and nightly), and will give you a chance to spend time with old friends, make new friends, and further explore the exciting possibilities that Brown and Providence have to offer.

  • "Path to A Career" Workshop
  • Concentration Advising
  • What You Need to Know Before You Study Abroad
  • Getting Involved in Community Service and Non-Profit Work
  • Roadmap to a Fellowship
  • Writing with Presence
  • Ice Skating
  • Salsa Dancing