Seeking to foster interdisciplinary inquiry within the greater context of the humanities, the Cogut Humanities Center will take residence in a renovated Pembroke Hall sometime in 2008, according to Richard Spies, executivevice president for University development and senior advisor to the president.
The University announced the planned renovation after the Corporation approved a lead donation of an undisclosed amount from Deborah Cogut and Craig Cogut '75 at its February meeting.
The renovation to Pembroke Hall, which will cost "in the neighborhood of $10 million," Spies said, will feature a small addition to the north side of the building to accommodate an elevator, handicapped restrooms and a new entrance that will help to unify the buildings of the Pembroke campus.
The remainder of the Coguts' gift will endow the Center and allow it to fund seminars, visiting professors, faculty and student research.
"It's a great building that's just tired now but matches up beautifully with the program (to host the new Center)," Spies said. "It's useful for seminars and informal gatherings and a great resource for the campus."
Dedicated in 1897 and built at a cost of $37,601.06, Pembroke Hall was originally the center of the Women's College at Brown. Currently, it houses the Career Development Center and several classrooms.
Spies said the new entrance would link the building to Smith-Buonanno and Alumnae Hall. Pembroke Hall pre-dates the other Pembroke campus buildings - no rear entrance was necessary when it was first constructed.
Renovating Pembroke was one of many recommendations in New York architect Frances Halsband's "Strategic Framework for Physical Planning." The advising architect to the University conducted a 15-month study to assess the status of University buildings. Approved in October 2003, the document also recommended that the University demolish Perkins Hall, T.F. Green Hall and the Young Orchard Apartments.
The Brown Humanities Center, which was founded in 2003, sponsored "Situating the Humanities" lectures in the fall, bringing scholars from around the country to Brown. Interim Director Carolyn Dean expects that with the guidance of new Director Michael Steinberg, who will leave Cornell University this year, and a new location, "faculty will be energized, able to explore new areas (and) develop new research (that will) impact heavily on undergraduate and graduate teaching."
The renovation of Pembroke Hall and establishment of the Cogut Center is a key element in the University's Plan for Academic Enrichment, which identified 10 areas of strategic focus in February 2004. One of the goals embodied in the plan is to foster multidisciplinary initiatives.
With the opening of the Humanities Center, Brown will "foster interdisciplinary and cross-cultural exchange among humanities faculty at Brown, in the U.S. more generally, and abroad," Dean wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
Another element of the University's master plan is the creation of The Walk, a green-lined pathway from Lincoln Field to the Pembroke campus. Along with the Life Sciences Building and the planned Sidney E. Frank Hall, Pembroke Hall will help to bridge the gap between the Pembroke campus and the rest of the campus, Spies said.
Plans to move the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women from Alumnae Hall to Pembroke Hall have also been discussed extensively, but according to a spokesperson for the Pembroke Center, the Corporation has yet to officially approve these plans.
Plans for the Cogut Humanities Center are malleable and will largely be determined based on what ideas Steinberg brings to the table, University officials said. "At the moment everything is open to consideration," Dean said.
