Rice University’s commitment to providing students with enriching educational experiences extends beyond the classroom and across the globe. This summer, the Rice-Madrid Program led by Luis Duno-Gottberg and Fabiola López-Durán showcased the profound impact of study abroad programs in higher education. The six-week program fostered opportunities for students to engage with Spanish academic institutions, cultural landmarks and professional environments, highlighting the value of global education.
“I hope they realized that in order to learn, you need to be humble and open to change,” said López-Durán, associate professor of art history. “Real learning means you are open to the world, that you are porous, that you are vulnerable. In this ongoing process of changing, you become an engaged citizen capable of contributing to build a more diverse and fair world.”
Since its inception in 2018, the Rice-Madrid Program has developed strong relationships with Spanish academic institutions and key players in the professional and cultural world. This network translates into exceptional opportunities for Rice students, who participate in internships and cultural experiences across various fields.
“This is truly unique to our program and really impactful,” said Duno-Gottberg, the Lee Hage Jamail Professor of Latin American Studies and professor of modern and classical literatures and cultures. “We create opportunities for formal and informal learning, inside and outside the classroom. We also open doors to exciting professional experiences. For example, this year we were able to place two students in one of the most important research institutions in Spain, the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, where they conducted sophisticated scientific research in bioengineering.”
Beyond scientific research, Rice students have worked in museums, such as the Academia de San Fernando, art galleries, schools and community organizations, including food banks and projects supporting immigrant communities. These opportunities are a testament to the resources Rice can allocate for its students and their caliber as scholars, researchers and activists.
“Our students need to apply and interview,” Duno-Gottberg said. “Their rivals are often recent graduates from European universities. And much to Rice’s honor, we always get placements.”
Study abroad programs, says Duno-Gottberg, are among the most powerful pedagogical tools to broaden students’ perspectives and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
“Study abroad goes beyond the opportunity to teach diverse topics in context,” he said. “It offers — or forces — the ability to negotiate differences and navigate challenges of all sorts. Every day offers a teaching moment that enriches students’ lives.”
López-Durán echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the transformative power of immersive learning for students.
“Being a historian of modern art and architecture, I am committed to teaching my students to rethink their preconceived maps of the world,” López-Durán said. “I want them to blur the geopolitical hierarchies that omit influential regions such as Africa and Latin America from our understanding of the global project of modernity. I am convinced that it is impossible to fully understand modern and contemporary art without exploring the transnational trajectories of ideas that conceived and shaped it. There is not a better way to do this than by expanding their concept of the world by taking them out of the country, by teaching them how to identify new cultural paradigms beyond the traditional canons of the Western world, how to adopt a global perspective — one that allows them to find their own voices in the plurality of a richer and more diverse world.”
One of the program’s highlights, as López-Durán described, was a trip to Granada. This excursion introduced students to Spain’s multicultural origins and its history as a global empire.
“While walking along the beautiful gardens and spaces of La Alhambra, questions about cross-cultural exchanges, coexistence and colonization were already at the center of our conversations with the students even before classes started in Madrid,” López-Durán said.
“These conversations about the past always circle back to the present,” Duno-Gottberg said. “Students discover continuities, recurrent themes and unresolved conflicts that explain contemporary Spanish and European culture. This year, for example, we incorporated the heated electoral debate to our deconstruction of national symbols and myths, dating back to the Middle Ages. The walls of Madrid with graffiti and political posters became a textbook of sorts, where we read a long, long history, dating back hundreds of years.
Steven Burgess, a sophomore art major with a concentration in photography, said he embraced the experience fully, from capturing over 5,000 photographs to engaging with every person he met.
“I feel like as a student I grew in ways to depend on myself and my thoughts,” Burgess said. “Fabiola and Luis constantly make you think for yourself and analyze things. Being able to travel and have this experience with other people allowed me to grow and connect on a deeper level.”
Burgess said he set a goal for himself to talk to every student involved in the program at least once, which he accomplished, exposing himself to people with a variety of different experiences and perspectives.
“When you’re in a campus environment, those walls don’t come down as easily,” Burgess said. “But because we’re all experiencing these things together, like cooking paella or learning how to make street art, I feel that people are allowed to be themselves a lot faster.”
Camille Neal-Harris, a senior majoring in both bioengineering and art, said she appreciated the opportunity to explore education and research outside of America.
“I know that those opportunities provide just as much value in education, but probably more biocultural enrichment, than staying in one place my entire life,” Neal-Harris said. “It really widens your perspective.”
Both faculty members and students highlighted the importance of study abroad in fostering global citizenship and leadership skills.
“In my dreams, every student would spend time abroad before graduation,” Duno-Gottberg said. “I see study abroad as an integral part of every student’s education at Rice, and in every field. If you want to educate global citizens, you need people to experience and learn beyond the confines of their own culture.”
López-Durán also highlighted the program’s unique structure with both faculty members serving as magisters at Rice’s residential colleges, which the students say enhanced the experience.
“We were able to chat with them and learn about each other beyond the academic aspect of studying abroad,” Neal-Harris said. “Ultimately, the bonds that you form abroad I think will last you a lifetime.”
Learn more about study abroad opportunities at Rice here.
