It is precisely because Brown University got rid of the shackles of the church earlier that it was able to establish its secular purpose of running a school shortly after its establishment. Generally speaking, the purpose of running Brown University includes two principles: one is to discover and use knowledge, and the other is to introduce students into the knowledge world through education. Specifically, the guiding ideology of Brown University is that the discovery and imparting of knowledge are intrinsically related to the educational process, and they complement each other and merge with each other. The first principle requires schools to attach importance to research, discover knowledge and truth through unremitting and persistent research, and then use these knowledge and truth to benefit mankind. The second principle emphasizes the social mission undertaken by universities, that is, introducing students into the hall of knowledge and truth by imparting knowledge, cultivating their ability to master human knowledge, and using this knowledge to serve the society. If we look at these two principles abstractly, they are research and teaching. In other words, Brown University has laid equal emphasis on scientific research and teaching for its own school-running direction earlier. Under the guidance of this school-running philosophy and direction, Brown University tried to offer postgraduate courses at 1850, and worked out the detailed rules for awarding master's degrees. According to the regulations at that time, after completing their studies, undergraduates can get a master's degree as long as they can successfully complete their postgraduate courses for one year. Due to insufficient preparations, this postgraduate education plan was suspended on 1857. Later, after 30 years of careful preparation, Brown University resumed the postgraduate education program in 1887, and added relevant requirements for studying for a doctorate in this project. In the modern sense, master's and doctoral postgraduate education officially kicked off in Brown University. Under this new plan, master students and doctoral students obtained their degrees at 1888 and 1889 respectively. After entering the 20th century, the graduate education program of Brown University has become increasingly mature and perfect. Facing the increasing postgraduate education, Brown University established graduate department 1902. 1927, this graduate department was renamed as the Graduate School, and Brown University officially established its status as a research university.
As a research university, Brown University has carried out active and innovative research in quite a few fields and won a high reputation in American academic circles. Generally speaking, all the disciplines of Brown University are first-class in American universities, which is why Brown University is often selected into the annual list of the top 20 American universities. But relatively speaking, Brown University's humanities are particularly prominent, and its research in classical literature, English, history, Spanish and art history has always been among the best, which is highly respected by the academic community. Among these disciplines, the faculty and research conditions of Brown University are first-class in the United States. In addition, Brown University is quite good in psychology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, physics, computer science and earth science, and enjoys a high reputation among American universities. Most of the highly educated students who graduated from these disciplines later became elite forces in American academic and scientific circles.
With complete facilities, advanced equipment, advanced technology, rigorous scholarship and pure style of study, Brown University is a famous comprehensive private university in the United States, ranking 199 and 15 respectively in the latest comprehensive ranking of American universities in 2000.
Brown University probably inherited the independent style of Rhode Island. It is not only the most "left" one of the Ivy League schools, but also the most "left" one of all American universities. Some people call it "the last ivy tree that left the 1960s".
In the middle and late 1960s, Brown University abandoned the original teaching plan and implemented the "Brown Teaching Plan" which was quite different from the traditional teaching policy. In short, students can graduate as long as they pass 30 courses in four years and prove their writing ability. At Brown University, "no one tells you what classes to take", and students can develop freely as long as they are interested.
The university building was built in 177 1, which is one of the only seven university teaching buildings in the United States built before the War of Independence.
In contrast, the rules of other Ivy League schools are much stricter. Yale students should earn at least 36 credits and choose three courses in each of the four academic fields. Colombia's "core curriculum" has made very strict requirements for students' compulsory subjects. Other famous universities have regulations on compulsory courses or course distribution, so as to make students develop in an all-round way as much as possible. Brown lacks rules and regulations and has won the love and loyal support of at least two generations of undergraduates.
The academic advantages of Brown University are history, geology, religion, comparative literature, classical literature, modern language and English writing. Popular areas of science include engineering and pre-medicine. However, Brown's sociology, psychology and philosophy are still criticized, and many people complain that his powerful economic department is too conservative and backward to keep up with the times.
Attach importance to undergraduate education. Brown University attaches great importance to undergraduates. If the existing departments of Brown University don't have what they want, students can design their own interdisciplinary professional courses. Brown also has some novel and rare undergraduate majors, such as marine biology, medical ethics, Egyptology, modern culture and media, and even Brazilian studies, which are dazzling. Whether to grant a professor tenure depends not only on his academic achievements, but also on his undergraduate teaching level.
Brown University also provides students with good and thoughtful consulting services. This system matches a professor and a "peer advisor" for the first student. The "accommodation consultant" in the student dormitory will also provide help when students need it. An Asian student said, "I have an Asian consultant, a female consultant of the same age, a residential consultant, a minority consultant, and a consultant leader on the same floor as my dormitory."
A study lasting 12 years shows that Brown's students are quite satisfied with Brown's college education experience. Most people think that Brown's career has made the best preparation for his future, and that "Brown's teaching plan", Brown's academic freedom and educational ideas are excellent. More Browns even said that if they had a choice, they would like to go to college again, and 92% of them would encourage their children to read Browns.