An Independent Study Project (ISP) is a course you create in which you are the sole student.
Curricular Resource Center
Understand Types of Independent Study
Main Types of Independent Study
The three main types of Independent Study at Brown are:
Group Independent Study Projects (GISPs) are courses designed and facilitated by students (between two and 20) with guidance from a faculty sponsor.
Departmental Independent Study Projects (DISPs) allow individual students to initiate, design, and complete a credit-bearing course with the guidance of a faculty advisor. DISPs do not require peer review through the CRC/College Curriculum Council.
What's the difference?
An Independent Study Project (ISP) is a course designed and taken by a single student.
A Group Independent Study Project (GISP) is a course designed and taken by two or more students.
Departmental Independent Study Projects (DISPs) are like (G)ISPs within departments. They are usually approved by the department chair, and each department has a different process for “submitting” a proposal. Your first step would be to work with a faculty member who sponsors a DISP.
In a DISP, a specific course title will not appear on the student’s transcript. A student can also sign up for a DISP in a department up to 4 weeks into the semester, the same deadline as the “Add a Course w/ a Fee” deadline. (Note that signing up after the shopping period means you will incur the late registration fee.) However, each faculty member or department has its own guidelines, so please check with them about what they are.
Additional Independent Study Types
And you may consider:
An Academic Internship (AI) is a part-time internship supplemented with coursework on an academic topic related to the internship.