The Ph.D. Program in Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee focuses on
the development of environmental design researchers who are skilled in the study of complex relationships between people and their physical, social, and cultural environments, and on the application of such research to create experientially rich, culturally responsive, sustainable, and beautifully crafted settings.

          Established in 1982, the Ph.D. program represents one of the few internationally recognized centers for producing high quality research and doctoral graduates in the field. Students share a common core of theories and methods rooted in the environmental design professions, social and physical sciences, and the humanities in order to pursue individually tailored, integrative programs of study. Examples of areas of interest shared by faculty and students alike include, but are not limited to, Culture (Vernacular and Urban Settings, Culturally Responsive Design, Cultural Landscapes), Sustainability (Sustainable Architecture, Integrative Building Performance, Sustainable Community Development) and Environment-Behavior (Environment and Aging, Architecture and Organizations, Race, Gender and Ethnicity).
          Our over three-dozen graduates have a strong track record of employment, and they have landed positions at top universities in the U.S. and around the world.  Other graduates are employed in building research centers and private industry.
 
        From their various positions and sites around the world, alumni from our program continue to develop and strengthen new avenues of research, as well as disseminate critical knowledge to a large academic and professional constituency.


Faculty
       Our faculty include some of the best-known names in environmental design research, and together with our students and alumni, they have spawned a proliferation of research and projects that has substantially contributed to the field. A number of faculty have been recognized for their achievements in research, teaching and service, including prestigious career awards by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Environmental Design Research Association, and Vernacular Architecture Forum. With a critical mass of reflective practitioners, social scientists, cultural historians, and environmentalists, the Ph.D. Program represents one of the few internationally recognized academic centers for producing high quality research and doctoral graduates.

Students
        The Ph.D. Program attracts students from around world, including from the nations of Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, India, Nepal, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States.  Student dissertation research topics are integrative in their orientation, encompassing and combining perspectives and research approaches to address a wide range of substantive areas within the discipline of architecture. Recent examples include: urban cognition and historic preservation in a world heritage city, organizational and architectural change in an adult day service center, immigrant choice in housing and real estate strategies, the social construction of standards and guidelines for environmentally sustainable buildings, the working bodies of nurses and the design of nurse stations, culture and aging in relation to thermal comfort in Korean vernacular building technology, and concomitant changes in architecture and institutional culture in long-term care settings for the elderly.


Who Should Apply
          The Ph.D. is a research degree that requires general proficiency in one’s field, distinctive accomplishment in a specialized area of expertise, and the conduct of significant independent research. Thus, the Ph.D. Program is appropriate for persons who wish to pursue environmental design research from a multi-disciplinary perspective and who seek careers in research, consulting, government, and/or teaching in architecture and the environmental design professions.
         
          The Program seeks to maintain a rich and diverse mix of students and thus encourages applicants with backgrounds in architecture, allied design fields, or the social sciences.  The Program is open to applicants holding undergraduate as well as graduate degrees.


Program Brochure