Ethnic Studies

Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary, comparative concentration that examines the construction of race and ethnicity in social, cultural, historical, political, and economic contexts. Concentrators develop individual programs based on areas of focus in consultation with faculty advisors, drawing from courses in the humanities and social sciences. Typical areas of focus are social issues (such as inequality, education, or health), cultural production and the representation of racial groups, processes of racialization, the historical formation of transnational communities and of diaspora, and the history of particular ethnic or racial groups.

The Ethnic Studies concentration at Brown emphasizes the histories of diverse racial groups within and across the borders of the United States, including examining issues of diaspora, migration, social movements, and the political economies of social inequality and racial formation.  Concentrators strive for intellectual fluency in a range of critical approaches to race and ethnicity across disciplines, and demonstrate this fluency through the composition or creation of a significant piece of original research or creative work.

Brown University established an Ethnic Studies concentration in 1996, originally within the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA). In the Fall of 2013, as part of changes to the CSREA and to better support students, Ethnic Studies joined a long established Brown department, American Studies.  Many American Studies faculty memberswork in the areas of race and ethnicity and have held joint appointments in Ethnic and American Studies while American Studies PhD students have done some of the most exciting Ethnic Studies research on campus.  Faculty and students in Ethnic Studies and American Studies are eager to see how the two programs move forward together.

As an academic field, Ethnic Studies is rooted in the protests of the 1960s and 1970s, out which emerged the very first Latino/a Studies, Asian American Studies, African American Studies, and Native American studies programs.  Organized around straightforward political goals – the enrichment through diversification of the curriculum and the systematic, multi-disciplinary, and the often comparative study of racial and ethnic inequality – Ethnic Studies has become an important feature of major research universities.

Faculty, both core and affiliated, create and participate in groundbreaking Ethnic Studies scholarship. Areas of faculty research include borderlands history, Latina/o literary studies, and indigenous movements.  Students can focus in Native American, Asian American, or Latino Studies and choose a thematic interest including such current examples as: "social issues affecting racialized groups" (students have looked at health disparities or educational inequality); "the study of cultural production or cultural representations;" "the history of a particular racial or ethnic group;" and "the study of comparative processes of racialization."

Requirements

• Test Requirements: Applicants can satisfy our testing requirement in one of two ways: (1) Either the SAT and any two SAT Subject Tests, or (2) the ACT.  Applicants who take the redesigned SAT are not required to take the optional writing section.  For applicants who take the ACT, we strongly encourage, but do not require, the writing component.  Brown will accept test results for either the old or the new SAT.
• Official test results must be sent directly to Brown from either the College Board, which administers the SAT, or from the American College Testing Program, which administers the ACT.
• To have scores sent to Brown, you will need to provide our institutional code numbers:
  • For the SAT, Brown's code number is 3094
  • For the ACT, Brown's code number is 3800
• You are welcome to take advantage of the College Board's Score Choice option, but this may delay your scores being received by Brown---a delay may mean we will not read your application until we receive a full set of official test scores.
• Please note: we encourage students to have at least one set of scores in our office by the appropriate application deadline.
• An official transcript of your complete high school academic record must be sent to the Office of College Admission directly from each secondary school you have attended.
• We will accept transcripts submitted by your school(s) through online services, such as Docufide, Naviance, and the Common Application. If you are unable to submit through one of these online services arrange to have your materials sent directly to Brown University, Office of College Admission, Box 1876, Providence, RI 02912 or fax to 401.863.9300.
• Your midyear school report including final grades for fall courses and a list of your spring courses can be submitted online through the Common Application.
• Through the Common Application applicants can request school forms and recommendations via email from their guidance counselor and from two teachers who have taught them in major academic subjects (science, social studies, mathematics, foreign language, English).
• If you are considering a Bachelor of Science degree or the Program in Liberal Medical Education, at least one of your recommendations should come from a math or science teacher. In addition, we highly recommend that applicants to the PLME program submit results for at least one science SAT Subject Test.
• Please note: secondary school personnel do not need to wait until you have submitted your application before making their contributions. The online system will lead you through the process of supplying the name and email address of your counselor and teachers so that a user account can be created for them. They will then be able to submit forms on your behalf either electronically or via regular mail.
• Please note: applicants are neither required nor expected to provide additional materials, but the opportunity to do so is available to any candidate. Applicants are not expected to provide additional materials as part of the admission process.
• We prefer that you upload supplementary materials to your file after you receive your Brown account username. 
• We recommend that you do not send a collection of award certificates or similar materials.
• If you are accomplished in music or visual art, you may include additional supplements along with your application in the Common Application, through SlideRoom. You do not need to wait for your Brown account username to upload music or visual art materials to SlideRoom.
• Please note: SlideRoom only accepts one submission, if submitting two you will need to sign up with a second email account.
• Auditions and portfolio reviews are neither required nor reviewed for students interested in Theatre Arts & Performance Studies.
• If you have a YouTube video we recommend uploading the link via our self-service site once you receive your Brown account username.