Alexandra Urban '15

Current Roles: Teaching and Learning Specialist at Coursera

IC: Educational Neuroscience

GISP: "Education Success Stories"

Honors Thesis: "Neuroscience in the Classroom: How Mathematics Teaching in New Zealand Reflects the Science of Learning"

Alexandra’s time during and after Brown was shaped by her Independent Concentration. “My IC was both the root and culmination of [my] Brown experience. Through building my own curriculum, I was able to pursue fundamentally interdisciplinary questions, resulting in a unique path none previously have followed at Brown. After graduating, my IC has continued to help me, acting as a clear indicator of my commitment to this new field and of the initiative I am willing to put behind my academic passions.”

As an Independent Concentration Coordinator at the CRC, Alexandra invited IC alumni back to Brown for an event called Degree Days, ‘grew the number of IC applicants and concentrators, and fostered a great sense of community within the IC DUG by hosting both social and academic events.” She fondly remembers the CRC as “a wonderful treasure trove of peer and dean advising.”

Being an IC Coordinator did not come without its difficulties, however. “While IC coordinator, the main recurring difficulty of IC applicants is getting faculty buy-in. Yes, PPE [Philosophy, Politics, and Economics], and a few other recurring IC’s have professors championing these courses of study, but most students face academics who are set in their single disciplinary perspectives. Educating the faculty on the merits of IC’s and helping to bridge the dreams of students with the research of faculty, somehow aligning interests into mutually beneficial relationships, is a role I would love the CRC to tackle more directly.”

Alexandra’s advising network from Brown has lasted long past graduation. “My IC advisor has become an academic mentor, role model, and a friend even past my time at Brown. In fact, we recently met for coffee and discussion on each of our lines of research, now more colleagues than teacher/student. It is these relationships from Brown I am most grateful for.”