RISD Global

January 2026 - My firm belief in international travel as education was shared with a group from Rhode Island School of Design. Here are 10 photos from our 2 weeks together, circling the island of Taiwan. We explored tradition, history, craft, tea, spirituality, food, objects, place, identity, and challenged how we foster creativity in our making and daily life.

Study Abroad with Dr Lucy / The Bushveld as Canvas: Art and Symbiotic Relationships in South Africa https://global.risd.edu/apply-to-a-summer-studies-travel-course Course Dates: Jun 16 – Jul 7, 2026 Location: Hoedspruit, South Africa Course description: This study abroad course is for students interested in combining art and science to study symbiotic relationships in the Lowveld bushveld ecosystem of South Africa. Course credit is through RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design, where the lead instructor Dr. Lucy Spelman is Faculty/Senior Lecturer. On location for three weeks in a well-studied biodiversity hotspot that includes Kruger National Park, students will explore the intricate connections among animals, fungi, and plants and their conservation value. The course host in South Africa is Bushwise Field Guides. Eligibility Any student enrolled in any college/university How To Apply All eligible applicants must apply through RISD Global website: global.risd.edu. Enrollment is first come, first serve basis. Application Period February 02 - March 15, 2026 COST $5360 Course fee (includes all in-country costs for 21 days; excludes international airfare) About Bushwise https://www.bushwise.guide/about-us About RISD Global https://global.risd.edu/apply-to-a-summer-studies-travel-course RISD GLOBAL is a hub for global discourse in art and design. We value cross-cultural exchange and experiences that inspire creative agency. #studyabroad #wildlifeconservation

Tropic Future: Material Ecologies of Okinawa + Tokyo
RISD Global Summer Travel Course (open to RISD, Brown, and non-RISD students across disciplines) We’ll study Okinawa as a living laboratory for designing on a warming planet - through materials, craft, architecture, and contemporary innovation. Site visits include traditional and contemporary works, workshops (e.g., indigo dyeing / glassmaking), and conversations with designers/makers and material developers. Throughout the trip, we’ll treat materiality as climate adaptation, cultural exchange, and design intelligence. From red clay roof tiles and hana-block screens to ceramics, lacquer, textiles, and emerging material innovations (including fibers made from agricultural by-products), we’ll learn by looking closely: how things are made, why they perform, and what they mean. By placing Okinawa’s material ecologies in dialogue with Tokyo’s contemporary projects (concrete, steel, and wood), we’ll discuss how material applications shift across contexts, and what becomes transferable. 📍Okinawa (Naha → Nago) + Tokyo
🔗 Details: https://global.risd.edu/programs/japan-arch-summer2026
⏳ Deadline: March 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM #RISDGlobal #Okinawa #Tokyo #MaterialEcologies #Architecture Craft Textiles Ceramics

Collaborative Design Research in Ghana - Material intelligence, in the field. In January 2026, Lara Davis @lara.earth (RISD Landscape Architecture) and I (RISD Architecture) co-led a RISD Wintersession travel course in Ghana (Kwaso and Timeabu, Ashanti Region), focused on vernacular material intelligence and the realities of building with locally available resources. Lara brought deep expertise in earth materials and field testing; our hands-on soil and plaster investigations were guided by her expertise. In Timeabu, maternal health and access to care were not abstract: villagers demonstrated how a pregnant woman may be carried for miles to a clinic. It sharpened our focus on rural resilience, and on how material choices influence thermal comfort and long-term opportunities for communities working to grow sustainably. Press links are in my bio (iVY News, Brown Daily Herald, RISD News). This is practice-based research: learning how material intelligence, labor realities, climate, and cultural construction knowledge inform architecture, and translating that learning into design methods we can apply ethically across contexts. With gratitude to our collaborators in Ghana and institutional support from RISD Global, RISD Architecture, and RISD Landscape Architecture. (Full credits in the iVY News post.) @risdglobal @risdarch @risdlandscape @ivydesignassociates #designresearch #earthenarchitecture #materialintelligence #vernaculararchitecture #architectureeducation ghana ashanti

Our three weeks with the Rhode Island School of Design’s « Perception en Provence » program have come to an end! What a wonderful time together! Bon voyage à tout le monde! @risdglobal

Olivier painting in the Albertas atelier today, working on his final project with RISD’s beautiful "Perception en Provence" program. @risdglobal

A few scenes from a beautiful morning painting with RISD at Les Carrières de Bibémus! @risdglobal

Comment if this is the first time you've seen a homunculus man 👁️👃👄🫳🧠 @carneyinstitute @tolleynic

Follow us on the second day of Perception en Provence,a French art/science course hosted by @marchutz and @risdglobal in the @risdillustration department! Beautiful mimosa flowers kudos to @andrieufleurs 🌼💛

First day of Perception en Provence, a neuroscience/art study abroad Wintersession course hosted by @marchutz and @risdglobal in the @risdillustration department!

We’re preparing to travel to Ghana this winter with a group of art and design students from @risd1877 . Co-taught by Lara Davis @lara.earth (faculty from Landscape Architecture) and Junko Yamamoto @junkoyamamoto_ (faculty from Architecture), this 6-credit Wintersession course is open school-wide and to Brown University students. This year’s cohort includes students from Architecture, Interior Architecture, Furniture Design, Printmaking, Painting, and Brown, forming a truly interdisciplinary design research team. . We will stay in Kwaso Village and work in the remote community of Timeabu, one of many rural areas lacking basic infrastructure, including educational and medical facilities, even as the population continues to grow. Timeabu is in urgent need of a maternal health clinic. . Across many growing communities in Africa, environmentally suitable vernacular buildings are increasingly replaced by cinderblocks and corrugated metal. Could modern bioclimatic construction using local resources gain momentum? . How can we contribute to the world by design? This course creates a space for exchanging “their and our” intellectual and creative resources. . We’ll be in conversation with professors and students at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), a conservator from the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, and our local partner, the Rural Africa Development Foundation (RADeF). . Environmentally responsible construction, resilient communities, energy inequality, gender equality, and access to health care and education are universal concerns central to our discussions. . As we prepare to work in a remote village, we are collecting unused art/design materials & tools for children ages 3–14. If you have supplies to donate, please DM me. . Photos are from my 2018 visit. Program Info: https://global.risd.edu/programs/ws26-ghana-winter2026 Truly grateful for the support from @risdglobal , @risdarch , @risdlandscape . . . #RISD #DesigninAfrica #SocialImpactDesign

⚓️ 🐬Together with @thelinotypedaily and his students from @risd1877 @risdglobal , we explored 2,500 years of letters in the streets and archives of Rome — from stone, paper and lead. A journey through the history of typography and letterpress printing, balancing personal experimentation with reflections on the social power of printed words. At Betterpress Lab & Betterpress Studio, we host study abroad programs, workshops and summer schools for universities and art schools, offering hands-on experiences in letterpress, typography and visual culture in the heart of Rome — building bridges between past traditions and future visions. ⚓️ 🐬 #letterpressprinting #movabletype #handprinting #artprinting #typographylovers #printmakersofinstagram #letterpresslove #printculture #typographicart #designhistory #printisnotdead #studyabroad #summerschool #Rome #RISD #RISDGlobal #studyinrome #internationalstudents #studyabroaditaly #globaleducation #studyprogram #romeabroad #italystudyabroad #typography #betterpress #LetterpressInTheLetterscapeOfRome