Proposal(s) Due Dates:

1st Application Due Date: March 12, 2026
VIU Academic Council Decision: April/May 2026

2nd Application Due Date: September 11, 2026
VIU Academic Council Decision: November 2026

Faculty are welcome and encouraged to submit in advance of the due date for feedback and early submission to VIU.

Rice University invites tenured, tenure-track faculty, and full-time teaching faculty to apply for nomination to teach in the Venice International University (VIU) Globalization Program. VIU is a consortium of 20+ leading universities worldwide, including Rice, that offers a unique, interdisciplinary semester program in Venice, Italy.

The Globalization Program (GP) is VIU’s flagship, semester-long academic experience on the island campus of San Servolo in Venice. It brings together about 140 undergraduates and master’s students each term from VIU’s 20+ international member institutions—including Rice University—for intensive, interdisciplinary study of global issues.

Each faculty member teaching at VIU offers two courses per semester. The courses proposed by faculty are unique, but must align with VIU’s existing program of core courses and specialization tracks - see below. Faculty must submit proposals to global@rice.edu, and should inform Rice Global of their intent to submit.

Rice Global staff can provide assistance with full proposal development. Upon final Rice Global approval, the course proposals/application will be submitted to VIU’s Academic Council, which will select instructors and the final two courses each instructor will teach. The Council’s decision may or may not include the proposed Rice faculty.

With dean and department chair approval, teaching two courses at VIU will fulfill your Rice teaching obligations. We strongly recommend securing this approval before developing your proposal.

• Multicultural Cohort: Students and faculty represent ~20 nationalities and a wide range of disciplines.
• Curriculum: English-taught, interdisciplinary courses.
• Format: 15-week semester (12 teaching weeks, 1 orientation week, 1 mid-term break, 1 exam week).
• Course Load: Two courses (40 contact hours each).
• Teaching Style: Small, discussion-driven classes (5–25 students) that emphasize cross-disciplinary analysis, group work, and interactive learning.

For the three proposed courses, faculty may propose no more than two courses in the same core course or specialization track.

See VIU’s existing program of core courses and specialization tracks below ⬇️.

These titles are fixed; proposals must align with them.

1. Italy (These are taught by local faculty only–no partner university faculty teach these)
   • History of Venice
   • Italian Contemporary History (often through film)
   • Art & Architecture of Renaissance Venice
   • Italian Language (beginner to advanced)
     
2. Cultures of the World (all VIU partner university faculty teach these)
   • Intercultural Communication
   • Gender Studies
   • Comparing East and West
     
     
3. Global Challenges ( all VIU partner university faculty teach these)
   • Identity, Heritage, and Globalization
   • Globalization, Ethics, Welfare, and Human Rights
   • Global Governance for Peace and Security
     

Faculty proposing a core course must use these exact titles while shaping the syllabus and focus.

Elective, faculty-designed courses clustered around contemporary themes.
Three tracks run each semester on a rotating basis-- D1-3 are offered in fall semesters, and D4-6 are offered in spring semesters. Please note this when choosing your preferred semester.

• D.1 Economics, Management and Digital Technologies applied to Cultural Heritage – Economics, management, and digital tools for cultural heritage, memory, and preservation.
• D.2 Science & Society – Science communication, ethics, technology regulation, AI, health and society, environmental science.
• D.3 History & Memory – Collective and individual memory and forgetting, with their ethical and political implications.
• D.4 Environmental Management & Sustainable Development – Global sustainability, design thinking, biodiversity, environmental policy.
• D.5 Cities & Global Change – Urbanization, heritage cities, ecological and social transformations.
• D.6 Environmental Humanities – Literature, film, and philosophy perspectives on the Anthropocene and ecological futures.

Each specialization course is proposed and titled by the faculty member; 3–5 courses per track are selected/offered each semester.

Application Components

Your full application will consist of Rice documents and VIU documents, as detailed below. Submit the following to Rice Global (details below) by the listed due dates:

1. (Rice) Statement of Purpose explaining your interest in VIU, and how this opportunity is meaningful for your teaching and research.
2. (Rice) Letters of support from your department chair and your dean. We strongly recommend securing this support before beginning the proposal process.
3. (VIU) Cover Letter noting preferred semester(s) and any home-campus commitments.
4. (VIU) Curriculum Vitae (max 3 pages + up to 4 pages of publications).
5. (VIU) Three Course Proposals, each with:
   
   • A course description of approximately 500-words
   • Learning outcomes
   • Reading list (English)
   • Teaching & evaluation methods, including the percentage of the overall grade assigned to each evaluation
   • Required preliminary knowledge (if any - generally discouraged)
   • Core course or specialization track designation

Key Dates

1st Application Due Date: March 12, 2026
VIU Academic Council Decision: April/May 2026

2nd Application Due Date: September 11, 2026
VIU Academic Council Decision: November 2026

Faculty are welcome and encouraged to submit in advance of the due date for feedback and early submission to VIU.

• VIU Call for Course Proposals, including which core courses and specialization tracks are available for proposal
• General program information and guidelines
• Appendix with Core Course and Specialization Track descriptions, along with guidelines for developing course abstracts/descriptions.
• See which courses (and faculty) have already been approved for Spring 2025, through Spring 2029

Send applications and inquiries to: global@rice.edu.