Rice Global Paris opens 2024 summer program applications

By Alyssa Hu     1/9/24 10:57pm

Rice Global Paris Center is now accepting applications for summer 2024 courses.  They are open to all undergraduate Rice students with prerequisite requirements for some courses and a Jan. 26 application deadline. 

The program provides nine courses that cover a variety of subjects and topics, including chemistry, sports management, anthropology and earth science. The courses provide three or six credits and last for three weeks, with housing provided. The program costs $1,200 per credit hour excluding travel and living expenses, according to the program website.

Garry White, the administrative director of Rice Global Paris, said the program contains diverse courses to accommodate as many students as possible, regardless of their field of study. He also said course offerings are designed to utilize Paris’s local resources in the curriculum. 

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“The purpose of coming over to Paris for a summer course is to experience the city as fully as possible, and the professors leading these courses very much embrace that,” White said. “They design the courses to have as many site visits as possible and to have assignments that are based in the city.”

Fabiola López-Durán, an associate professor of art history who taught the course “Unlearning Paris” last summer, said a typical day in class would begin with academic discussions in the classroom and end with city exploration.

“Most days … ended with delightful and revelatory moments in the city — strolling its streets and secret passages, visiting its extraordinary museums and monuments, and eating and talking in its parks, markets and bistrots,” López-Durán wrote in an email to Thresher.

This summer, López-Durán will continue to co-teach the same class with few changes. 

“The main challenges we are expecting this year are connected to the fact that our course will take place only days before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games. However, this is a unique opportunity to test our own methodologies and to analyze how the reshaping of the city to accommodate this massive sporting spectacle will alter the life of its citizens,” López-Durán wrote.

Vice president for global strategy Caroline Levander said with experience from last year, this summer the program will be at full capacity. 

“Last summer was our pilot. We did a very small number of courses intentionally to make sure students and faculty thrived,” Levander said. “This summer, we’re at full capacity.”

Levander also said the courses this year will continue to leverage local resources, including top academic institutions, museums, historical sites and the wine industry in France. 

“The course [Climate Change, Economics, and the Wine Industry will include] day trips to the vineyards,” Levander said. 

Hyacinthus Zhang, who took “Unlearning Paris” last year, said earning course credit and learning French motivated her to attend the program.

“For me there were two main reasons,” Zhang, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “I double major in Architecture and Art History, so the schedule is very tight. Also, a personal reason [is that] I am learning French … so I feel learning the history [of Paris] would make me understand the language better.” 

“I was about to do two months of research [in the summer] ... and the three-week schedule in May fit my plan,” Jennifer Liu, a senior from Lovett who attended the program and took the class EcoStudio in Paris last May, said. “I took the class out of interest.”

Zhang said when living in Paris, she experienced the local night life she felt  Houston lacked. 

“I went to ballet and modern dance performances with friends … There was a night we went to experience the local bar culture. The experience was very different [compared to Houston],” Zhang said.

According to Levander, benefits of studying abroad include acquiring essential life skills like navigating international travel, which prepares students for future careers. 

Irene Mendez, a global programs specialist,  said financial aid was available for students through the financial aid office and Rice Global. Eligible students can receive financial aid for up to nine credit hours each summer for two summers, at 50% of the tuition rate. Additionally, there are tuition assistance and travel awards available from Rice Global, which are awarded based on need, even if students don’t receive regular financial aid. 

White said resources that support students with studying abroad and international travel have also been available since last year.

“We have created a Canvas course, [and] we have a lot of tips and resources around safety, security, health, the transportation system and many other aspects of the experience of living in Paris,” White said.

“It was extremely gratifying to see students (many of them traveling for the first time outside the US) becoming every day more comfortable navigating the city, more comfortable in their own shoes, more free, more themselves,” López-Durán wrote.

Rice Global Paris opens 2024 summer program applications

By Alyssa Hu

Rice Global Paris Center is now accepting applications for summer 2024 courses.  They are open to all undergraduate Rice students with prerequisite requirements for some courses and an application deadline of Jan. 26. 

The program provides nine courses that cover a variety of subjects and topics, including chemistry, sports management, anthropology and earth science. The courses provide three or six credits and last for three weeks, with housing provided. The program costs $1,200 per credit hour excluding travel and living expenses, according to the program website.

Garry White, the administrative director of Rice Global Paris, said the program contains diverse courses to accommodate as many students as possible, regardless of their field of study. He also said course offerings are designed to utilize Paris’s local resources in the curriculum. 

“The purpose of coming over to Paris for a summer course is to experience the city as fully as possible, and the professors leading these courses very much embrace that,” White said. “They design the courses to have as many site visits as possible and to have assignments that are based in the city.”

Fabiola López-Durán, an associate professor of art history who taught the course “Unlearning Paris” last summer, said a typical day in class would begin with academic discussions in the classroom and end with city exploration.

“Most days … ended with delightful and revelatory moments in the city — strolling its streets and secret passages, visiting its extraordinary museums and monuments, and eating and talking in its parks, markets and bistrots,” López-Durán wrote in an email to Thresher.

This summer, López-Durán will continue to co-teach the same class with few changes. 

“The main challenges we are expecting this year are connected to the fact that our course will take place only days before the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games. However, this is a unique opportunity to test our own methodologies and to analyze how the reshaping of the city to accommodate this massive sporting spectacle will alter the life of its citizens,” López-Durán wrote.

Vice president for global strategy Caroline Levander said with experience from last year, this summer the program will be at full capacity. 

“Last summer was our pilot. We did a very small number of courses intentionally to make sure students and faculty thrived,” Levander said. “This summer, we’re at full capacity.”

Levander also said the courses this year will continue to leverage local resources, including top academic institutions, museums, historical sites and the wine industry in France. 

“The course [Climate Change, Economics, and the Wine Industry will include] day trips to the vineyards,” Levander said. 

Hyacinthus Zhang, who took “Unlearning Paris” last year, said earning course credit and learning French motivated her to attend the program.

“For me there were two main reasons,” Zhang, a Sid Richardson College junior, said. “I double major in Architecture and Art History, so the schedule is very tight. Also, a personal reason [is that] I am learning French … so I feel learning the history [of Paris] would make me understand the language better.” 

“I was about to do two months of research [in the summer] ... and the three-week schedule in May fit my plan,” Jennifer Liu, a a senior from Lovett who attended the program and took the class EcoStudio in Paris last May, said. “I took the class out of interest.”

Zhang said when living in Paris, she experienced the local night life she felt  Houston lacked. 

“I went to ballet and modern dance performances with friends … There was a night we went to experience the local bar culture. The experience was very different [compared to Houston],” Zhang said.

According to Levander, benefits of studying abroad include acquiring essential life skills like navigating international travel, which prepares students for future careers. 

Mendez said financial aid was available for students through the financial aid office and Rice Global. Eligible students can receive financial aid for up to 9 credit hours each summer for two summers, at 50% of the tuition rate. Additionally, there are tuition assistance and travel awards available from Rice Global, which are awarded based on need, even if students don't receive regular financial aid. 

White said resources that support students with studying abroad and international travel have also been available since last year.

“We have created a Canvas course, [and] we have a lot of tips and resources around safety, security, health, the transportation system and many other aspects of the experience of living in Paris,” White said.

“It was extremely gratifying to see students (many of them traveling for the first time outside the US) becoming every day more comfortable navigating the city, more comfortable in their own shoes, more free, more themselves,” López-Durán wrote.

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