Though the Brown-Rhode Island School of Design dual degree program was signed into being only a few weeks ago, students have been taking classes at both institutions for years, with a few even individually creating their own dual degree programs.
Students studying at the other institution say they often gain insight not only into a new school, but also into themselves. "Liberal arts are sort of considered by everyone, even professors, (as) secondary to studio (classes) at RISD," said Emmie Thelander, an illustration major at RISD who is currently taking Brown's ENGL 0610: "Introductory General Topics in Modern And Contempary Literatures and Cultures"" and ENGL 0180: "Introduction to Creative Nonfiction."
"I was unstimulated last year," Thelander said. "I needed something to keep me motivated and thinking."
Although she spoke highly of her RISD liberal arts professors, Thelander said the classes themselves were less discussion-based than she wanted, and that students would often not do the work for those classes because of their heavy art loads. In liberal arts classes at Brown, however, she said she feels "the kids are more enthused about being there."
The benefits work the other way as well. Andrew Bearnot '09 began as a materials engineering concentrator at Brown and found himself taking advantage of RISD's glass program.
"I was coming to Brown to study math and science in this liberal arts environment, but the intense focus on arts and design at RISD was of interest to me," he said.
Bearnot, who hopes to graduate with degrees from Brown and RISD, said his decision to study at both schools was "very much a discovery," adding, "It's a daily decision."
Bearnot said meeting Sarah Gilbert '06, who studied art semiotics at Brown and glass at RISD, and Gamaal Wilson '06.5, who studied English at Brown and film and animation at RISD, encouraged him to pursue his own dual degree.
Because the official dual degree program does not begin until next fall, Bearnot was required to transfer to RISD for his third and fourth years. He plans to finish his requirements at Brown in his fifth year.
And Brown students aren't the only ones looking to graduate with dual degrees. Alice Costas '09 started college at RISD with a major in textiles but felt she was missing out on something in her education. "I loved art and making textiles but I couldn't only do that. I needed heavier academics," she said.
After looking at dual degree programs around the country, she found that students were already doing it on their own on College Hill and decided to give it a try. After transferring to Brown this fall, she is now also pursuing a concentration in American civilization, though she is cross-registered at RISD and continues to take classes for her textiles major.
Both Costas and Bearnot said creating their own dual degrees wasn't easy, but officials at both schools were helpful. "I ran around and talked to a lot of administrators," Costas said. "The person at Brown I talked to the most was Dean Cornish. He was really the person in charge of forming the program." Associate Dean of the College Steven Cornish MA'70 left Brownover thesummer.
Registering for classes at both schools simultaneously can also be a challenge.
"There's a lot of mismatch," Bearnot said. "There's week-to-week scheduling. There's semester scheduling. There's also this question of if it counts to your degree. I wouldn't say it's easy. I don't know that it ever will be or needs to be, they're two distinct schools. That's part of what makes it so exciting."
Thelander, who is only cross-registered and not pursuing a dual degree, went through a much more expedient process. After e-mailing the professors teaching the classes she wanted to take and figuring out what fit her schedule, she obtained signatures from those professors, the RISD dean of liberal arts and the Brown and RISD registrars.
Though it might seem difficult to combine two social lives at two schools, Costas and Bearnot felt it was not a challenge. "Now that I've transferred to Brown ... I'm meeting tons of people (and) there were people I knew from being in classes over the years," Costas said. "Even last year there were kids at Brown I would hang out with more than RISD friends. A lot of events are open to both students."
Bearnot compared having friends at both schools to having friends in different concentrations. "Potentially (having friends at one school), your friends live closer to you, but I've been living off campus," he said. "For dual degree, that's something that they're working on for next year, to give them the opportunity to meet freshmen at both schools."
Thelander also found her art classes at RISD to be vastly different from her liberal arts classes at Brown. Many RISD classes begin with critiques of student work.
"We spend the first few hours of each class looking at a piece we brought in. You put yourself on display each week," she said. "You can't necessarily tell in a literature class who is the most talented ... whereas in the studio setting it becomes very apparent in a few weeks."
"I think people have the perception that RISD classes are easier," said Zachary Marcus '10, who is one of four Brown students taking RISD's "Art as a Source of Healing." In fact, he said, "they're harder," noting that the workload for his RISD class was about three to four readings a week, plus responses to those readings and activity plans for visits to a group home run by Bradley Hospital for people aged 16 to 22 with disabilities.
"People seem to be at each other's throats a little more at RISD based on the fact that we are put on display each week," Thelander said. "RISD's almost like a trade school, depending on the department you're in. At Brown the emphasis seems to be on more learning for the sake of learning. It's more self-motivated or at least self-guided."
Marcus expressed optimism about the Brown-RISD dual degree program, as did others taking classes at both schools. "Brown has this certain idea of what education is, and RISD has this certain idea of what education is, and they don't have to be mutually exclusive," Marcus said. "I think a B.F.A. and a B.A. create something greater than the sum of its parts."
Costas said she was glad the program was finally being realized after many years of discussion. "I'm not so worried about the specifics," she said. "I'm happy with the way it worked out and helping develop it."
However, Bearnot said he favored the way he formed his dual degree program. "Dual degree should be something you discover," he said. "Right now you pitch it as a graduating high school senior." But he admitted there will be great benefits to the new program. "There are opportunities that didn't exist that will hopefully exist in the future."
