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Simon '16: Open curriculum for whom?

President Christina Paxson P’19 was not shy about encouraging first-years to avail themselves of everything Brown’s widely trumpeted open curriculum has to offer at Convocation. But she delivered her speech with such reckless abandon in regard to today’s career landscape that it would be a moral ...


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Sundlee '16: The borders of gay marriage

Who can forget the iconic image of the White House on June 26? Bathed in polychrome splendor, the building sent an unmistakable message to the rest of the country and the global community: “America is now officially gay-friendly, and you should be too.” The Supreme Court victory was a milestone ...


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Asker '17: Don’t blame black culture

One night late in August, my brother and I were flipping through the channels on TV — an activity that speaks to how contentedly bored we were, too lazy to even turn on Netflix. We flipped to Fox News to see Bill O’Reilly lecturing about the insolence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and how it ...


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Mitra '18: Where have all the bookshops gone?

Yet again, I am forced to mourn the passing of a beloved bookshop. I remember when there was a bookseller of some sort in every mall or square — they were as ubiquitous as the Starbucks on each corner. Now I find myself struggling to find a single new bookshop, even as my old favorites close down ...


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Esemplare '18: Sense and sensitivity

Last week, a Duke University student made national news for refusing to read an assigned summer book, the graphic novel Fun Home, saying its theme of gay sexuality and risque illustrations may compromise his moral beliefs. This stance is the latest in what has been a stream of conflicts about political ...


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Doyle '18: In defense of simpler summers

I distinctly remember posing for my mother in my new suit at the end of May, looking like a little girl playing dress up in business attire. Her smartphone camera flashed a few times, and within moments the picture of her high-achieving daughter awaiting the first day of her summer internship was on ...


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Kenyon GS: What's Chafee's endgame?

His announcement packed a punch. Few saw it coming. Now, two weeks after former R.I. Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 P’17 declared that he was forming an exploratory committee to examine a run for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination and then announced his candidacy during an appearance ...


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Okun '15: Requiem for a green

One late night sophomore year, I was up trying to finish a book for my African literature class in the morning when there was a knock at my suite door. I opened it, tentative; we didn’t usually have visitors at 3 a.m. “Are you Eli Okun?” asked one of the Department of Public Safety officers standing ...


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Lanzillo '16: Finding order amidst disorders

Initially, when Andrea Petersen of the Wall Street Journal asked to interview me for her piece on transitioning to college with mental health issues, I was ambivalent. As president of Brown’s chapter of Active Minds, a nonprofit organization that strives to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness, ...


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Powers '15: Why study philosophy?

When I first walked into my first philosophy class, PHIL 1750: “Epistemology,” I didn’t know exactly what to expect. What is the study of knowledge and why should I care about it? I thought philosophy would offer an environment in which I could say and write anything without criticism. I saw philosophy ...


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Al-Salem '17: Brave up and be alone

The first time I went to watch a movie alone, I tried to make it look like I was waiting for a friend during the entire movie. Of course now I realize that probably no one in that cinema even realized I was on my own, and I wasted a lot of mental energy when I could have been enjoying Wreck-It Ralph. ...


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Mitra '18: Thinking out loud on campus

It has been almost 2,000 years since the destruction of Pompeii in 79 A.D. Yet when people wander through the rubble of the city, they can still come across ancient carvings etched onto its walls — age-old graffiti that has withstood the test of time. These markings have survived volcanic eruptions, ...


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Mills '15: What I know now

This will probably be the last column I write — graduation is rapidly approaching and The Herald doesn’t retain its columnists as alums. In preparation for this column, I wanted to think about what I would say to someone, maybe an incoming freshman, who asked for one piece of advice. What do I wish ...


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Corvese '15: The limits of loans

One of the most jarring parts of the senior year career search was learning which jobs I wouldn’t be able to accept — not because I’m unqualified, but because I couldn’t afford them. Like many other Brown students from middle-class backgrounds, I took out a combination of federal and private ...


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Secondo '16: Listen to the Music

As the sun slowly begins to shine and the birds test out their vocal chords, spring becomes more of an everyday reality. Besides shorts-wearing weather and Main Green lounging, spring also signals the beginning of the summer concert season. With big-name festivals, touring artists and our very own Spring ...


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Ha '18: The blame lies with all of us

As we are all aware, Hyoun Ju Sohn GS killed himself on campus March 31. It was a tragic loss for our community and has affected many of its members. Yes, this has been discussed often both in print and elsewhere. Some may believe that we must move past this. But there are two reasons preventing me ...


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Isman '15: We shouldn’t succumb to senioritis

As graduation day inches closer, I increasingly feel waves of uncontrollable emotions ebbing and flowing through me. While sometimes I’m excited to be done with classes or sad to think of saying goodbye to Brown, I mostly feeling no sense of urgency anymore. Throughout the last four years at Brown, ...


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