Teach Wintersession Travel

Every January during Wintersession, RISD faculty offer multi-disciplinary, off-campus travel courses. Wintersession Travel Courses are 4 to 5 week long courses led by RISD faculty that bring together RISD students from across disciplines in the exploration of a wide spectrum of topics related to art, design and global thinking.

Proposals for Global Summer Studies 2025 and Wintersession Travel Courses 2026 must be submitted by faculty via Coursedog by September 25th 2024 at 11:59PM. Interested parties can submit a course for one term or both terms. Applicants will be given Coursedog credentials for submission by the Registrar’s Office only after confirming their intent to propose with RISD Global via email: global@risd.edu.

Wintersession Travel Courses are an opportunity for faculty to propose and teach on topics of special interest, and to engage geography as a key piece of the curriculum. Each course is distinct, shaped by the interests of the faculty member, their specific expertise, and network of relationships. The intensive timeframe creates an experimental space for faculty to test ideas and explore new modes of teaching, and to deepen connections between their pedagogy and practice.

Supported by academic departments, Wintersession Travel Courses are central to RISD’s internationalization and global engagement.

How to propose a Wintersession Travel Course

RISD faculty, upon approval from their Department Head and Dean, and TU confirmation, can propose a Wintersession Travel Course for the following academic year, and submit a course proposal by the established course table process and deadline.

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Recent Wintersession Travel Courses

Recent Wintersession Travel Courses have led students to particular sites in the world to study: contemporary applications of traditional heritages of making in specific cultures and locations of the world, sustainability and biodiversity in global art and design, sustainable materials for the built environment. As such, these courses support RISD’s strategic vision to contribute to the creation of just societies, a sustainable planet, and new ways of making and knowing that equip humans to live in mutually enhancing ways with each other and with the earth.