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'''Brown University''' is an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island.  It is a member of the Ivy League.  Brown was founded in 1764; the University motto is ''In Deo Speramus'', which means "In God We Hope" or "In God is our Hope".  The current President of Brown is Ruth J. Simmons; it has 628 full-time faculty members and 7,595 students.

'''Brown University''' is an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island.  It is a member of the [[Ivy League]].  Brown was founded in 1764; the University motto is ''In Deo Speramus'', which means "In God We Hope" or "In God is our Hope".  The current President of Brown is Ruth J. Simmons; it has 628 full-time faculty members and 7,595 students.

==History==

==History==

Brown was founded by Ezra Stiles, a [[Congregationalism|Congregationalist]] minister, and James Manning, a [[Baptist]] minister; it was originally known as Rhode Island College.  It charter was granted on March 3, 1764; among the sixty-odd signatories were the wealthy brothers John and Nicholas Brown, and the College was located in Warren, Rhode Island.  The charter specified that "into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests, but on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience", and as such was considered liberal and nonsectarian. Brown and Penn both have claims to be considered the first nonsectarian institution of higher learning in the United States

Brown was founded by [[Ezra Stiles]], a [[Congregationalism|Congregationalist]] minister, and [[James Manning]], a [[Baptist]] minister; it was originally known as Rhode Island College.  It charter was granted on March 3, 1764; among the sixty-odd signatories were the wealthy brothers John and Nicholas Brown, and the College was located in Warren, Rhode Island.  The charter specified that "into this liberal and catholic institution shall never be admitted any religious tests, but on the contrary, all the members hereof shall forever enjoy full, free, absolute, and uninterrupted liberty of conscience", and as such was considered liberal and nonsectarian. Brown and Penn both have claims to be considered the first nonsectarian institution of higher learning in the United States

The College moved to Providence in 1770, and in 1804 was renamed Brown University in honor of Nicholas Brown, a nephew of John Brown, who had given a bequest of $5,000. The Brown family, as was typical at the time, participated in the slave trade. According to a Brown University report, "slavery was... an institution that permeated every aspect of social and economic life in Rhode Island, the Americas, and indeed the Atlantic World. There is no question that many of the assets that underwrote the University’s creation and growth derived, directly and indirectly, from slavery and the slave trade.... By the standards of Rhode Island’s mercantile elite, the Browns were not major slave traders, but they were not strangers to the business either."<ref>[http://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/report/index.html Slavery and Justice Report], Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice; "many of the assets," p. 13. "not strangers to the business," p. 15</ref>

The College moved to Providence in 1770, and in 1804 was renamed Brown University in honor of Nicholas Brown, a nephew of John Brown, who had given a bequest of $5,000. The Brown family, as was typical at the time, participated in the slave trade. According to a Brown University report, "slavery was... an institution that permeated every aspect of social and economic life in Rhode Island, the Americas, and indeed the Atlantic World. There is no question that many of the assets that underwrote the University’s creation and growth derived, directly and indirectly, from slavery and the slave trade.... By the standards of Rhode Island’s mercantile elite, the Browns were not major slave traders, but they were not strangers to the business either."<ref>[http://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/report/index.html Slavery and Justice Report], Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice; "many of the assets," p. 13. "not strangers to the business," p. 15</ref>

:To the slumbrous sleepy student<br>

:To the slumbrous sleepy student<br>

:As he bids his rest farewell...<ref>Boone, Ilsley (1904), College Hill Verse: Being Selections from Student Publications of Brown University, 1894-1904, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=0Ov889qyeUnxOVt4ej&id=zufLsuEUEHgC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22brown+university%22&as_brr=1#PPA4,M1 p. 4]</ref><br>

:As he bids his rest farewell...<ref>Boone, Ilsley (1904), College Hill Verse: Being Selections from Student Publications of Brown University, 1894-1904, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=0Ov889qyeUnxOVt4ej&id=zufLsuEUEHgC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22brown+university%22&as_brr=1#PPA4,M1 p. 4]</ref><br>

==Hypertext==

==Hypertext==

Brown University has been a pioneer in the development of [[hypertext]]. This technology was championed by Andries van Dam, who founded Brown's computer science department and chaired it from 1975 to 1989<ref>[http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/avd/ Andries van Dam]]'s home page</ref>. The first hypertext editing system, HES, was developed at Brown in 1967 by Ted Nelson (coiner of the word ''hypertext'') working under van Dam's direction.<ref>[http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/cpace/ht/HTatBrown/BrownHT.html Hypertext at Brown]</ref>, short summary by George P. Landow, professor of English and Art History]. Brown's Iris Intermedia project was important and influential; several significant bodies of hypertext developed in that system have since been ported to the Web, notably [http://www.victorianweb.org/ The Victorian Web], an encyclopedic collection of information and source texts about the Victorian era.

Brown University has been a pioneer in the development of [[hypertext]]. This technology was championed by Andries van Dam, who founded Brown's computer science department and chaired it from 1975 to 1989<ref>[http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/avd/ Andries van Dam]]'s home page</ref>. The first hypertext editing system, HES, was developed at Brown in 1967 by [[Ted Nelson]] (coiner of the word ''hypertext'') working under van Dam's direction.<ref>[http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/cpace/ht/HTatBrown/BrownHT.html Hypertext at Brown]</ref>, short summary by George P. Landow, professor of English and Art History]. Brown's Iris Intermedia project was important and influential; several significant bodies of hypertext developed in that system have since been ported to the Web, notably <ref>[http://www.victorianweb.org/ The Victorian Web]</ref>, an encyclopedic collection of information and source texts about the Victorian era.

==The New Curriculum==

==The New Curriculum==

Brown prides itself on its "New Curriculum," first established in 1969, which allows students to take virtually any course they want, with no general distribution requirements. Any course can be taken pass/fail.  [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adp5xdxUBo78] However, the current undergraduate curriculum is currently under review, with recommendations set to be made in the spring of 2008. [http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2007/03/01/CampusNews/New-Task.Force.Will.Review.College-2751247.shtml]

Brown prides itself on its "New Curriculum," first established in 1969, which allows students to take virtually any course they want, with no general distribution requirements. Any course can be taken pass/fail.  <ref>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adp5xdxUBo78</ref> However, the current undergraduate curriculum is currently under review, with recommendations set to be made in the spring of 2008. <ref>http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2007/03/01/CampusNews/New-Task.Force.Will.Review.College-2751247.shtml</ref>

==Controversies==

==Controversies==

In 2005, Brown University's Queer Alliance threw a raucous party called SexPowerGod in a university building.  Although many students were intoxicated, alcohol was not and has historically not been served at SexPowerGod. The event was covered by disguised reporters for [[The O'Reilly Factor]], causing bad publicity for the university. The Queer Alliance was placed on probation for a year and all student groups were hence prohibited from throwing parties in Sayles Hall.[http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2006/04/27/CampusNews/Chaos.And.Management.Failures.Marred.Sex.Power.God-1880141.shtml?norewrite200605012032&sourcedomain=www.browndailyherald.com]

In 2005, Brown University's Queer Alliance threw a raucous party called SexPowerGod in a university building.  Although many students were intoxicated, alcohol was not and has historically not been served at SexPowerGod. The event was covered by disguised reporters for [[The O'Reilly Factor]], causing bad publicity for the university. The Queer Alliance was placed on probation for a year and all student groups were hence prohibited from throwing parties in Sayles Hall.<ref>http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2006/04/27/CampusNews/Chaos.And.Management.Failures.Marred.Sex.Power.God-1880141.shtml?norewrite200605012032&sourcedomain=www.browndailyherald.com</ref>