The Department of History is excited to welcome its 2026–27 cohort of first-year graduate students to Brown. From monsters and witchcraft to environmental consciousness and Indigenous relationships with the land, these incoming students bring a wide range of exciting research interests to College Hill.

Barnett is a staff reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. In this spotlight, she reflects on the first year of her journalism career, how her Brown history education continues to shape her reporting, and the advice she would offer to current students in the department.

Rovinsky is a rising second-year student at New York University School of Law. In this spotlight, he reflects on how his experiences in Brown’s Department of History prepared him for the first year of law school and discusses his goals for the future.