Program Overview
The undergraduate degree in environmental design educates students on creating sustainable and equitable communities. Students explore design theories and practices in architecture, environmental product design, landscape architecture, and sustainable planning and urban design. The program emphasizes social justice, economic vitality, and experiential learning, preparing graduates for careers in environmental design, planning, and related fields.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The undergraduate degree in environmental design teaches students how to connect people, nature, and our built world. The interdisciplinary program explores numerous design theories and practices, teaching students to integrate scholarship, evidence-based practice, and experiential learning into their practice of shaping our environment.
Outline:
The curriculum is divided into two parts:
- Core studies: The first part consists of a core lasting one-and-a-half years, providing a balanced introduction to each of the majors offered. By the end of the core studies, students select and confirm their intended major.
- Major of focus: Students begin studies within their specific major of focus, with each specialization having specific requirements for completing the major. Majors include:
- Architecture: Architecture focuses on the design and development of the built environment. Students explore broad topics of sites, programs, materiality, structural systems, modern technologies, human interconnectedness, and social interaction.
- Environmental product design: Environmental product design takes cues and information from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and product design to develop projects that foster a better, sustainable environment for all.
- Landscape architecture: With this major, students learn to design environments in urban, rural, and agricultural contexts at all scales.
- Sustainable planning and urban design: This major examines issues of sustainability and social justice in communities, cities, and regions around the world. Heavily centered around community engagement, this major allows students to focus on a variety of topics, such as housing, environmental planning, transportation planning, and urban design.
Careers:
Be prepared to meet the needs of society by applying your specialized knowledge and skill in environmental design to a variety of career opportunities.
- Work as an environmental designer, architect, urban designer, environmental planner, city planner, landscape architect, or product designer.
- Work for local, state, and federal resource agencies; or in natural resource management and conservation, business, or the nonprofit sector.
Other:
- The program offers students many opportunities to network with peers and faculty, further their studies, and get the most out of their undergraduate experience.
- Some opportunities include:
- Academic Advising Student Leaders
- ENVD Ambassadors
- Environmental Design Student Government
- American Institute of Architecture Students
- American Planning Association for Students
- Student Association of Landscape Architects
- Environmental Design Diverse Scholars
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)
- The program is housed in a 15,000 square feet of creative maker space.
- The program is the most popular environmental design school in the U.S. (collegefactual.com, 2020).
- The program has 10 licensed design professionals on staff.
