The HRC practica program is an experiential course, in which students perform humanities research at local Houston institutions.
HRC faculty work closely with qualified students and cultural and medical institutions in Houston to design guided research projects and produce original scholarship in a one-semester course. Students are paired with institutions on the basis of their academic interests and skills, and over the course of the semester they do real-world archival or other research work, putting their humanistic skills to practical use.
Students work 5-10 hours on-site weekly, under the supervision of their institutional mentor(s). Rice faculty guide student work in biweekly group meetings and evaluate progress in short assignments and midterm progress reports.
Students present their work in an end-of-semester research symposium, modeled on humanistic scholarly conferences. Keynote speakers are brought from major outside institutions, and Rice faculty moderate thematically-organized panels.
Practica courses are run in the Fall and Spring semesters, and in special cases, over the summer term. Contact Paula Platt with questions, or to apply.