Wintersession Travel Courses

Unless stated otherwise, Wintersession travel courses are open to all RISD students. RISD freshman students must provide approval from the Dean of Experimental & Foundation Studies as part of their applications. Please check the specific course section on this website to learn about restricted eligibility.

A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 is required at time of application. Students seeking an exception to this academic policy should contact the Registrars’ Office at registrar@risd.edu with any questions.

Brown University students with a 2.5 GPA or above are also eligible to cross-enroll, but priority in the application selection process will be given to RISD students.

Wintersession Travel courses require students to complete an application. Permission of the instructor is required and is based upon application and selection.

Attendance at an infosession is mandatory to apply.

As per RISD's Off-Campus Programs policy, All Wintersession Travel Course students enrolled at RISD must remain in good standing, in terms of conduct and finances, up until and throughout your time on the travel course. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course.

Course topics, locations, and travel itinerary vary and are based on faculty proposal. Wintersession Travel Courses occur at RISD in Rome as well as destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Explore past RISD Global Wintersession Travel Courses below.

Credits are typically assigned from the leading faculty’s academic department. For co-requisite courses, students must plan and register for both components of the travel course, for a total of 6 credits.

Brown University participants may cross-enroll in RISD Wintersession Travel Courses.

The course application, as well as the scholarship application, will be open from September 18 to October 3, 2019. Students can only apply for one Wintersession travel course.

Attendance at an infosession is mandatory to apply. A general infosession for all courses will be led by RISD Global and all faculty on September 18, 2019 at 5:30pm in The Chase Center Auditorium (RISD Museum). The event will also be live-streamed. Between September 20 – October 2, additional, course-specific infosessions will be led by individual Faculty.

By October 8, students will receive acceptance and scholarship assignments, and registration will open on October 10, 2019. Between October 10 and 17, 2019, selected students are encouraged to pay the course tuition. If the payment is not made by the deadline, waitlisted students are offered remaining spots and will be invited to pay between October 18-25, 2019. By October 25, registration closes and courses are officially confirmed to run.

In November, 2019, all participants will be required to attend mandatory pre-departure orientation meetings.

In addition, to the course tuition, students are responsible for the following out-of-pocket expenses

• Airfare to and from destination (unless the course tuition include a group flight)
• Entry Visa, when applicable
• Local transportation during non-program time and for personal activities unrelated to the course
• Meals, as usually only few group meals may be included in the course tuition.
• Supplies and materials (unless otherwise stated in the course tuition). Students may choose to bring their own art supplies and materials or to purchase them upon arrival. In some locations it may be difficult to source specific supplies and materials. For packing guidelines on art supplies, visit the Transportation Security Authority (TSA).

Please note: to participate in the RISD Wintersession Travel Courses, all students are required to stay in RISD-provided housing for the duration of the course.

SFS Balance Payment Policy: Per Student Financial Services policy, RISD students who plan to travel on school-sponsored trips must first pay their student account in full. If the account has an outstanding balance, students are ineligible for travel until full payment has been made.

All RISD students are encouraged to apply by completing the specific scholarship application within the Wintersession Travel Course online application. Deadline for scholarship applications is October 3, 2019. Awards, as well as acceptance in the course, will be released by October 8, 2019.

Brown University students are not eligible to receive scholarship funding through RISD.

Learn more about scholarship opportunities on the Scholarships page.

All students are responsible for maintaining their own legal status and applying for the visa (if applicable). Upon request, RISD Global will provide you with a registration letter in support of the visa application.

In cases where WS travel courses do not reach minimum capacity, the course may be cancelled after the last day of Wintersession travel course registration. In case of cancellation, all payments will be refunded in full.

Any cost incurred in such situations is the participant’s sole responsibility.

RISD Wintersession Travel Courses follow the RISD withdrawal policy for off-campus global learning programs.