Rice University has partnered with a number of institutions to offer students a wide range of studies varying from language studies to ecology and business to human rights.  To read more about the exciting programs offered, click on the program titles.  Students interested in studying abroad should contact the Office of International Programs.

Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa (exchange)

Overview

Insper’s vision is to be a leading center in education and research in the fields of Business and Economics, combining academic rigor and a practical approach so as to forge leaders and professionals who will make a difference.  Since its launch in São Paulo in 1987, the programs offered by Insper combine academic excellence with a pragmatic vision and are among the most highly regarded in the market, based on national and international rankings.

Insper is a non-profit educational institution working closely with renowned universities to exchange educational knowledge, develop teaching programs and offer students the possibility to try an international academic experience.   These partnerships allow not only the exchange of students but also joint research and academic seminars.

In 2009, the institution adopted the new brand name Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa replacing the brand name Ibmec São Paulo.  The name Insper comes from “to inspire” and “to belong” (pertencer in Portuguese) which together with “to transform” were considered to be the three basic pillars of the institution brand.

Undergraduate programs are offered in Business Administration and Economics.  For more information, refer to the website: http://www.insper.edu.br/en/undergraduate

All courses at Insper are taught in Portuguese, with a few elective courses taught in English in every semester: http://www.insper.edu.br/sites/default/files/programas/ENGLISHSYLLABUS_INSPER_2010.pdf

Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (exchange)

Overview

Since its founding in 1966, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) has greatly valued the presence of foreign students and professors in its academic community as a welcome sign of vitality, understanding that university experience and scientific knowledge in today’s world are international realities.  The University has approximately 15,696 undergraduate students and 17,275 graduate students.  The majority of the undergraduate students come from São Paulo state, while the graduate students come from literally all over the nation.  The academic staff includes nearly 1,800 professors.  For more information please see  http://www.unicamp.br ;  http://www.unicamp.br/unicamp/en/international-relations-international-office/student-guide

CIEE Business & Culture Program in São Paulo, Brazil

Overview

The CIEE Business and Culture program in São Paulo is designed for students with a background in business [college-level coursework in college-level micro- or macro-economics, accounting, finance, management, marketing, or statistics] and an interest in learning Portuguese. Students focus on issues relating to business in Brazil and Latin America, while improving their Portuguese or learning it for the first time.  The Business and Culture program at the CIEE Study Center in São Paulo, Brazil aims to help students develop skills and competency in Portuguese, while giving them opportunities to study issues related to the economy and business in Brazil and Latin America.

CIEE Liberal Arts Program in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

Overview

This program is targeted to students who have at least two years of college-level Spanish or one year of Portuguese or the equivalent and want to improve their Portuguese language skills and knowledge of contemporary Brazil, especially the Northeast region with its distinctive cultural patterns.

The Liberal Arts program has three main objectives: to improve students’ oral and written Portuguese language skills; to facilitate students’ knowledge of contemporary Brazil and the northeast region; and to provide students the opportunity to take regular Brazilian university courses. This is achieved through academic work combined with extensive cultural excursions and exposure to different aspects of life in this unique, African-infused region of Brazil.

CIEE Liberal Arts Program in São Paulo, Brazil

Overview

This program is targeted to students with at least two years of college-level Spanish or one year of Portuguese or the equivalent who want to improve their Portuguese language skills and knowledge of contemporary Brazil while at the same time being able to matriculate in a broad range of course offerings in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Participants should be interested in living in a large, cosmopolitan South American city.

The overarching goal of the Liberal Arts program is to provide an opportunity for students to learn about a significant, but sometimes overlooked, country in Latin America. Colonized by the Portuguese, Brazil offers a different linguistic and cultural experience when compared to the Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. Specifically, students will improve their oral and written Portuguese language skills; acquire knowledge of contemporary Brazil and the São Paulo region; and have the opportunity to take a broad range of courses at a Brazilian university.

SIT Study Abroad Brazil: Amazon Resource Management and Human Ecology

Overview

Explore the key issues in natural resource management and human ecology currently affecting the Brazilian Amazon.  Students consider the conflict between finite ecological resources and seemingly infinite human development demands on the Amazon River Basin

Covering an area roughly the size of Australia, this complex and delicately balanced ecosystem contains the world’s largest tropical forest, its second-longest river, and an extraordinary diversity of plant and animal life.

Belém, the program base at the mouth of the Amazon, is a principal center for Amazonian research. Participants gain firsthand insights into resource management and human ecology through excursions to rainforest villages, research laboratories, extractive industry sites, and archaeological sites.

Excursions to southern Pará, an area of extensive logging and land degradation, provide opportunities to focus on current land use strategies and struggles, including a chance to interact with members of the Landless People’s Movement.

SIT Study Abroad Brazil: Public Health, Race, and Human Rights

Overview

Examine Brazil’s health care system and health policies in the state of Bahia.  This program allows students to observe through firsthand experience how health care policies in Brazil are put into practice. Students are deeply immersed in Nordeste, Brazil’s northeast region and home to some of the poorest areas in the southern hemisphere. Through lectures, seminars, and site visits, students discover the complexities of Brazil’s health care system as well as the country’s extraordinarily diverse population.

Particular attention is spent studying traditional Afro Brazilian healing practices, especially those rooted in the Candomblé spiritual belief system, on which many rural and urban communities still rely.

SIT Study Abroad Brazil: Social Justice and Sustainable Development

Overview

How do geography, politics and culture affect whether people can thrive in cities, now home to a majority of the world’s population? How do people create a sense of place, of community, of urban identity? What are the opportunities for political action by individuals, community organizations, social movements or local government to shape city life?

The International Honors Program offers students a unique opportunity to examine major social justice and sustainability issues facing the world today. Students examine a thematic topic in multiple countries in the semester or academic year, exploring how people in different countries create varied solutions to the common problems they face. For over 50 years, IHP has challenged students to ask new and better questions about their lifelong roles in a global community.