Please contact the DUG Co-Coordinators at dugs@brown.edu or CRC Director Peggy Chang at peggy_chang@brown.edu with any questions.
Curricular Resource Center
Departmental Undergraduate Groups (DUGs)
Role of DUGs
“DUG” stands for Departmental Undergraduate Group. In the past, Departmental Undergraduate Groups were attached to departments at Brown (hence the name). However, not all concentrations and undergraduate educational offerings are housed in departments; some concentrations exist as standalone programs or are part of divisions, institutes, or centers, and some academic units offer multiple concentrations/certificate programs.
Today, most DUGs are attached to a concentration or certificate program (such as Linguistics or Portuguese and Brazilian Studies), although some DUGs represent multiple related concentrations (for example, the Mathematics DUG has usually also represented the concentrations in Mathematics-Computer Science and Mathematics-Economics). Occasionally, DUGs are attached to tracks within concentrations (such as Ecology and Evolutionary Biology). Finally, some DUGs represent the academic units themselves (such as the Center for Language Studies or Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences).
Find or Become a DUG Leader
DUGs help students build and strengthen connections with other concentrators, professors, and concentrator/certificate program alums; give first- and second-year students a way to explore the concentrations/certificate programs; and enable concentrators/certificate members to explore high-impact learning opportunities as juniors and seniors, as well as career pathways related to their field(s) of study.
- To find a concentration's/certificate's DUG leaders, refer to the applicable concentration on the University's Undergraduate Programs website or this internal list of leaders (to be announced).
- Most DUG leaders are concentrators/certificate members in the corresponding concentration/certificate program. Learn more about becoming a DUG leader or starting a DUG.
Each DUG must have an advisor, usually the DUS of the concentration/certificate program, who advises DUG leaders on engagement options. The advisor helps DUG leaders navigate the academic unit as needed. Perhaps most importantly, the DUG advisor must sponsor the DUG’s funding proposal as a condition of funding approval.
DUG Program Overall Learning Goals
- Facilitate the development of relationships among prospective and current concentrators/certificate members, and faculty within a concentration/certificate program.
- Provide meaningful academic and personal experiences through diverse, innovative, student-centered programming.
- Coordinate opportunities for DUG leaders to meet one another.
DUG Events
DUGs organize events ranging from study breaks for concentrators, meals or teas with faculty members, field trips to relevant sites (such as museums or documentary screenings), panels with guest speakers, workshops with alumni, capstone/thesis celebrations, movie nights, and more.
Some ideas for in-person or virtual events or community-building activities include:
- meet-and-greets with faculty
- guided tours of department-affiliated spaces (e.g., libraries or museums) or research labs
- career events with alums
- events for pre-concentrators/certificate members
- raffle prizes such as journals or books by faculty in the concentration/certificate program
Additionally, most concentrations/certificate programs expect that a member of the DUG will be at their table for the Concentration/Certificate Fair for sophomores.
Concentration Declaration Day
Concentration Declaration Day (CDD) is a ceremonial celebration of an important milestone in every Brown undergraduate's life: declaring a concentration and formally joining an academic community.
Since 2016, dozens of concentrations have hosted a CDD event in April or May. You may want to consider collaborating with other concentrations; for example, the "Watson Concentrations" have hosted a joint event.
CDD events have varied in format (casual drop-in or formal program with speakers). However you choose to run it, your event should focus on bringing together new concentrators, professors, and upperclassmen for one-on-one mingling and mixing, and on giving new concentrators a chance to learn more about pathways for engagement within the concentration (research opportunities, seminars, etc.).
Peer Advising
Although DUGs are not officially expected to serve as subject-specific peer advisors, their role in fostering academic communities and connecting students to academic units/programs of study naturally lends itself to peer advising, and most DUG leaders enjoy it. Moreover, academic advisors, deans, and peer advisors (including us, the CRC!) often mention DUG leaders as a resource for concentrators/certificate members and non-concentrators/certificate members.
Many DUGs hold advising events during pre-registration and/or shopping periods, and DUG leaders will usually join the DUS/faculty at fairs and other events that promote the concentration/certificate program. While DUG leaders are not expected to participate in peer advising, we hope they will consider doing so.
Contact the DUG leaders of the group you are interested in joining. If your concentration does not have a DUG and you are interested in starting one, please contact your Director of Undergraduate Studies, dugs@brown.edu, or feel free to contact CRC Director & Associate Dean of the College Peggy Chang.
To all other students: If you are interested in a subject or an academic unit, feel free to contact a DUG leader. They will likely respond and be happy to help, whether you are a concentrator/certificate member, prospective concentrator/certificate member, or simply interested in taking a few classes in the corresponding discipline.
Related Information
A DUG needs at least one student leader working with a faculty member (DUG sponsor) and the academic department's manager/coordinator.
DUGs that want funding from the College must apply through the Curricular Resource Center; the application process includes a mandatory training/orientation session. DUGs generally receive half of their funding from the College/CRC and the other half from their academic unit (e.g., a one-to-one match).