Updates
Following the completion of the fall 2025 Brown 2026 Reads in early October, this month has been packed with events and programming. Former Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan spoke about archives at the John Carter Brown Library. Brown Votes undergraduate fellows spearheaded an event called Voices of Change: The Role of Students in Modern Democracy, which explored the history of student activism in the United States.
Brown 2026 partnered with the John Carter Brown Library, the Hay Library, Rhode Island Historical Society, Ocean State Media, and the Rhode Island State Archives to host teachers from across the state for an all-day workshop on the occasion of Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein’s visit. That day Ken Burns showed clips from his and Botstein’s new documentary, The American Revolution, and he spoke with President Paxson in front of a sold-out crowd during family weekend. October concluded with a panel hosted by the PPE Center called The University and the Republic, with more events and programs coming in November. The new Brown 2026 freshman seminar, American Revolution in Popular Culture, is well underway. Let us know if you want your spring 2026 class to be tagged Brown 2026 and promoted on our website. The Oral History of the Brown Class of 1976 has begun, with a final destination of the University Archives. Please contact brown2026democracy@brown.edu to participate, or with any other questions and ideas. Last, stay tuned for a sign-up to judge National History Day, which will take place at Brown in partnership with Rhode Island Historical Society on Saturday, March 28, 2026.