With the unravelling of the Covid-19 global crisis, new and innovative ways of teaching and studying have been both devised and implemented. Amid this difficult situation, VIU once again proves its ambitious nature and its excellence-driven choices. In 2018 the Academic Council began a thorough review of the Globalization Program, taking into account both the students’ feedback and consultations with the member universities. The outcome is the introduction in 2021 of four new specialization tracks, alongside the Cultural Heritage, and Sustainable Development tracks.
'VIU demonstrates once more its capabilities for anticipating trends and the needs of the member universities and more broadly of our societies, and for adapting to the evolving situations, with innovative contents. Moreover, we are now experimenting with new modes of teaching developed on the foundation of our tradition of enjoying campus life in San Servolo, while also exploiting the opportunities offered by technological solutions online, whose development was pushed by the emergence COVID-19.'
-Prof. Carlo Giupponi, Chair of the Academic Council and VIU Dean, commenting on the curriculum development and launch of the new Specialization Tracks
Each track will comprise several courses, provided by professors from our prestigious member universities. The soon-to-be-offered teachings clearly reflect the Globalization Program’s defining characteristics: Multicultural, International & Interdisciplinary – spanning from topics such as “Anthropocentrism and environment: the human body and the external world” to others like “Memory and Media: between Pyramids and the Internet”, giving students the chance to be immersed in an inspiring academic context while still engaging with the local culture through weekly activities around Venice.
Cities and Global Change
The track will examine cities as places where human activities are concentrated, as the chief causes of, and solutions to, anthropogenic global change, providing students with a critical view on the nature of cities and social, economic, political, cultural global change,
Environmental Humanities
The track will capture existing conjunctions across environmental philosophy, environmental history, ecocriticism, cultural geography, cultural anthropology, and political ecology, while also seeking to integrate debates thus far largely shaped by different disciplinary contexts.
Science and Society
The track will explore critically the role and impact of science, technology and innovation within society, and conversely how society, politics and culture affect scientific research and innovation.
History and Memory
The Track will provide the opportunity to develop a renewed understanding of history, historical research and consciousness, collective and individual memory and forgettin, with their ethical and political implications, in their micro and macro dimensions.
The courses within the new Tracks were approved after careful evaluation of the Academic Council through the call for applications for lectureships.
Tracks added to the Second Semester (Spring 2021):
- Cities and Global Change
- Environmental Humanities
Tracks added to the First Semester (Fall 2021):
- Science and Society
- History and Memory
Visit the Globalization Program page here.
