Pre-Proposal Due Date: September 26, 2025

Full-Proposal Due Date: September 30, 2025

VIU Academic Council Decision: November 2025

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. For this Rice pre-proposal call, faculty must submit to global@rice.edu:

• A letter of support from their Department Chair or Dean [as appropriate]
• Three short course proposals. For the pre-proposal stage, each proposal should be one and no more than two pages, including three short course descriptions, a short statement explaining how this opportunity is meaningful for your teaching and research, a short statement of how the course leverages VIU’s location in Venice/Italy, and your preferred semester for teaching. This call is for Spring 2026 through Spring 2029.

If a faculty member is selected to submit a full proposal, Rice Global will provide assistance with full proposal development. Upon final approval, Rice Global will submit three course proposals 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.

• 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 [Rice internal deadline—]:

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.
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

• Rice internal deadline (for nomination): September 26, 2025
• VIU submission deadline: September 30, 2025
• VIU Academic Council decisions: November 2025.

• 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.