PROVIDENCE, R.I. >> Brown University is offering a new course on conservatism this spring that its supporters say will help bring ideological balance to the school’s offerings.

The course, “Modern Conservatism in America: Conservative Thought in the 20th Century,” was developed as part of a project called Conservatism 101.

The project aims to introduce courses on conservatism at universities to bring balance to what its founders see as a heavy bias against conservative thinking in academia.

In a statement, Brown student and project co-developer Terrence George says students at elite schools are often unable to study views “outside of academia’s leftist mainstream.”

A Brown spokeswoman says the Ivy League university encourages broad intellectual exploration and gives students freedom to design their education.