PhD in Housing and Human Environments

Doctoral study in this program joins social science with design practice. Students look at how places and objects, across scales from objects to urban areas, shape healthy, safe and productive behavior. The cohort brings together designers, architects, psychologists, ergonomics specialists and facility planners. Fieldwork is common, and students can use the department's design computing, facility management and human factors labs. The curriculum centers on design thinking, human-environment relations, research methods and statistics, followed by dissertation research. Candidates also complete a semester of teaching and pass candidacy and defense examinations.