Through participatory governance, VIU’s members jointly define the educational programs and design curricula around topics of shared strategic importance.
Globalization Program
The Globalization Program is the core academic offering. Courses are designed around themes that are both globally significant and locally relevant to Venice, its lagoon and hinterland.
Sustainability is a central focus, explored through issues such as climate change, biodiversity, environmental management and restoration, public policy, ethics, economics and law. The theme of Cultural Heritage addresses the preservation and management of historic sites, the fragility of urban centers, and the role of culture as a driver of development.
Courses also investigate the relationship between Science and Society and Global Change investigating how cities, migration, technological and societal change are shaping our interconnected world. The multi- and interdisciplinary fields of Cultural Studies, History and Memory Studies and the Environmental Humanities, integrating perspectives from literature, history, philosophy, and the arts, offer distinctive lenses, shedding light on how societies construct and contest narratives of the past, and how cultural values, histories, and narratives shape our understanding of the world.
Courses are taught by faculty from the member universities, who engage with highly motivated students representing a diversity of cultural, disciplinary, and academic traditions. This creates an enriching teaching environment, fostering collegial exchange and opportunities for collaboration.
Students may participate for a semester, a full academic year, or a summer session, earning credits toward bachelor’s or master’s degrees. Students encounter new educational philosophies and learning styles, challenging their assumptions and encouraging intellectual flexibility and stimulating their critical thinking.
They learn to communicate across cultural and language barriers, and embrace ambiguity with curiosity. This peer-to-peer engagement fosters intercultural awareness and cross-cultural competence, helping students navigate and appreciate diversity in its many forms. Studying at VIU is a transformative experience that prepares students to become thoughtful leaders in an interconnected world.
The summer sessions of the Globalization Program are designed with particular emphasis on engaging students and scholars in the sciences.
Intensive Graduate Activities
The Intensive Graduate Activities at Venice International University reflect a forward-looking academic vision that nurtures innovation and responsiveness to the evolving demands of global scholarship. They encourage participants to experiment with interdisciplinary approaches, tackling complex and transversal topics that cannot be resolved from a single disciplinary perspective.
By bringing together peers from across the world, the programs foster vibrant collaboration and the exchange of ideas, while encouraging young scholars to engage with scientific challenges in creative and innovative ways. Equally important, they serve to build and strengthen scholarly networks within the consortium, creating lasting partnerships in areas of shared interest.
In this way, the Intensive Graduate Activities equip emerging researchers not only with skills for successful careers in academia and beyond, but also with the intellectual agility and collaborative mindset required to contribute meaningfully to global academic and societal debates.
By collaborating with peers from around the world, students explore transversal topics through innovative approaches, enriching their own research and perspectives through a dynamic exchange of disciplinary and cultural viewpoints.
The defining features are their collaborative and interdisciplinary nature: each initiative involves scholars from at least three member institutions, from different disciplines, reinforcing VIU’s networked academic community.
The activities are offered in three formats:
- PhD Academies – to develop transversal skills and promote cooperation among advanced PhDs and junior researchers
- Graduate Seminars – support PhD students and junior researchers as they embark on new research
- Summer Schools – intensive taught programs presenting the latest research in a given field
People
Dean
Prof. Carmelo Marabello - dean@univiu.org
Vice Dean
Prof. Luca Pes - luca.pes@univiu.org
Executive Director
Orla McLaughlin - orla.mclaughlin@univiu.org
Globalization Program
Scientific Director
Prof. Luca Pes - luca.pes@univiu.org
Program Assistant
Diana Mattiello - diana.mattiello@univiu.org
Program Assistant
Miriam Rivas Medina - miriam.rivas@univiu.org
Program Assistant
Francesca Zennaro - francesca.zennaro@univiu.org
Intensive Graduate Activities
Scientific Coordinator
Dr. Ilda Mannino - ilda.mannino@univiu.org
Program Coordinator
Elisa Carlotto - elisa.carlotto@univiu.org
Program Assistant
Diana Mattiello - diana.mattiello@univiu.org
Program Assistant
Rebecca Simonetti - rebecca.simonetti@univiu.org
