Partly Cloudy, 64°
“We want students to leave prepared for the outside world, and we think we’ve developed a set of suggestions that should help our undergraduates meet that goal,” said Associate Dean of the College Lucia Peregrin in a Q&A about the new Coding Our Future Initiative. “The general rule of thumb is to take one class in something you’d never consider studying, one concentration requirement, and two or three courses that teach the theory and practice of computer science per semester.” Peregrin also presented a new version of Brown’s Liberal Learning Goals, updated to include robotics, machine learning and database management.
The Office of the Dean of the College recently put out a statement recommending that all undergraduate students complete at least 10 classes in the Computer Science department during their time at Brown, citing the importance of utilizing the Open Curriculum in such a way as to “make the most of the freedom you have, chart the broadest possible intellectual journey, and gain a substantive background in object-oriented, functional and procedural programming.”
Some students have greeted COFI with excitement. “Computer Science is nothing if not an integral piece of liberal arts education,” said Arthur Bellevue ’16, a literary arts concentrator. “I mean, I probably would end up taking 15 or 20 CS courses anyway, but it’s nice to have that structure, you know?”
Kimberly Harmon ’15 is skeptical of the initiative. “I don’t think the administration should be shoving classes down our throats, especially not at Brown. I want my choice to take several programming-heavy courses per semester to be my choice and my choice alone.”
COFI sets out specific suggestions for how students can make the most of their time: taking courses that will be enjoyable, expanding their horizons, and grounding their education in Java, C++, Python, Ruby, HTML, LRX5, and Hotcakes, the latter two of which have not yet been developed.
