| students may study for a phd degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning. these three degrees are administered by a committee of the faculty of arts and sciences in cooperation with the faculty of design. the program is intended for persons who wish to enter teaching and advanced research careers in the history and theory of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban form from antiquity to the present; or the analysis and development of cities, landscapes, and regions with emphasis on social, economic, ecological, transportation, and infrastructural systems. (the phd program does not prepare students for licensing as design practitioners in any of these fields. for information on professional masters’ programs, contact the harvard design school, admissions office, 48 quincy street, cambridge, ma 02138, (617) 495-5453.) requirements for admission applicants must have completed a four-year bachelor of arts or bachelor of science degree, or a professional degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning, or the foreign equivalent of the foregoing. students from other countries must provide proof of their command of english. to be eligible for admission, individuals must also show evidence of distinguished academic work in the field or closely related fields, or distinguished work in the intended area of concentration. applications from minorities are particularly welcome.
all applicants are required to indicate a proposed major subject of study at the time of initial application. these proposed areas of study should be congruent with the interests and expertise of at least one member of the faculties of design or arts and sciences.
the results of the graduate record examination (gre) and other supporting documents specified in the prospective students page are also required parts of the application. academic residence two years of full-time study while registered in the graduate school of arts and sciences are required. program of study course information may be found in courses of instruction offered by the faculty of arts and sciences as well as in the course catalogues published by harvard’s other professional schools, including the official register of the harvard design school. these publications are also available online.
students are expected to prepare in each of the following areas:
(1) general knowledge of the field: the phd is an academic degree, but phd holders in our fields may be interacting with professionals as well as with other scholars. in fact, many may elect to teach in professional schools. therefore, in addition to academic requirements, it is required that every phd student be generally knowledgeable of the basic skills of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.
(2) main subject: the interfaculty structure and purposes of the program require that students cross disciplinary boundaries. all students must master a major area of their respective field, including the historic development and current state of research on the subject. in addition, every student must demonstrate competence in the methods of inquiry used for research in his or her major subject.
(3) all students must also achieve a thorough grounding in the theory and methods of one of the arts or sciences related to their major subject, such as history of art, cultural history, economics, philosophy, government, sociology, or history of science equivalent to at least one year of full-time graduate study.
(4) languages: candidates for the degree in architecture must normally have a reading knowledge of at least two languages other than english in which there is broad and important literature related to their field or major subject; those in urban planning must have one other language. every student must have a level of mathematical skills appropriate for research in the major subject. master of arts (am) the department does not admit candidates for a terminal am degree. phd candidates may, however, apply for a master’s degree after having completed with satisfactory grades, eight half-courses. the degree may also be offered to students unable to complete the doctorate. grades the graduate school of arts and sciences requires that all students maintain an average of b or better in each year of graduate study. all incomplete grades must be removed before the end of the next regular term.
if students are cross-registered in schools where the grading system does not use letter grades, they should ask the course instructor to issue letter grades. faculty advisor and student’s graduate committee the chair of the phd committee will assign a faculty member as the student’s advisor at the time of registration in the program. this advisor will assist in planning the student’s academic program. in addition, not fewer than three faculty members, appointed by the chair in consultation with the student, will be made available for consultation regarding the general examination and the dissertation. general examination and dissertation students are expected to take the general examination in the fifth term of residence, and no later than one year after completion of the required coursework. the examination is given only during the fall and spring terms of the academic year. the examination tests the student’s mastery of their general field of scholarship, specific interpretive problems within that field, and their ability to research and write a dissertation.
at least two months prior to the date of the examination, the student should meet regularly with the examination committee (see “advising”) and, with its help, should formulate a proposal describing the general and specific fields to be covered in the examination and possible examination questions.
the examination comprises a major and minor field. the general field is ordinarily a broad area of history and theory of architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning (for example, “modern architecture from 1750 to the present”). the specific field is a narrower area of study chosen by the student and subject to faculty review; in principle it should comprise a coherent and clearly defined area of scholarly inquiry which may be interdisciplinary in nature.
the examination will normally consist of two or three written essays, one in the general field (eight hours) and one or two in the specific field (total eight hours). within one week of the written examination, the student and the examination committee will meet to evaluate the entire examination and discuss plans for the dissertation. students whose performance on the examination is not satisfactory will be given one opportunity to repeat all or part of it. dissertation the dissertation will be directed by a dissertation committee consisting of one primary advisor and at least two secondary advisors or readers.
two readers must be from the faculty of arts and sciences or the committee on architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning; one reader will normally be from the area of the student’s disciplinary minor and one reader must be from the harvard design school.
no later than five months (within the academic calendar) after the successful completion of the general examination, students will submit to the chair a written dissertation proposal and the names of the faculty persons who will supervise it. the student will confer with the examination committee to discuss and develop the proposal. the committee will conduct an oral examination of the dissertation proposal, whose purpose is to provide for the student a formal occasion to discuss and gain approval of the dissertation topic.
students are normally expected to complete their program (including approval of the dissertation) within seven years of entering the program. students who require more than five years to complete the dissertation after passing the general examination must petition the committee on the phd program in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning to extend their time.
after the approval of the dissertation by the faculty members who are its director and reader(s), three copies must be presented to the committee on the phd not less than six weeks before the degree recommendations of that committee are due at the registrar’s office. the committee will receive the recommendations of the advisor and reader(s), and must formally vote on the recommendation for the degree. the final copy of the dissertation must conform to the requirements described in the form of the phd dissertation. financial aid financial aid is administered under the direction of the graduate school of arts and sciences. harvard grants are awarded to first and second-year graduate students primarily on the basis of financial need as determined by documents submitted to the graduate school of arts and sciences at the time of application.
after the first two years, financial assistance and employment opportunities as teaching and research assistants will be allocated on the basis of financial need, the capability of the student concerned, and the funds and employment opportunities available.
students expecting to need financial aid at any time in their program should submit this documentation at the time of their first application to the program. to apply application forms for admission and financial aid may be obtained from the admissions office, harvard graduate school of arts and sciences, holyoke center 350, 1350 massachusetts avenue, cambridge, ma 02138, or at the website. on the application’s first page, applicants should indicate “architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning” as the “program,” and only one of these three fields as the “subject.”
further information regarding courses and programs of study leading to the phd in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning may be obtained by writing to the phd program, gund hall 334b, harvard university, cambridge, ma 02138; by calling (617) 495-2337; or by visiting the website.
please note that completed materials for application and financial aid are due december 31 for the following september. the program does not guarantee consideration of application materials received after this deadline. all applicants should arrange to take the graduate record examination (gre) not later than october of the year before they intend to begin studies. applicants for whom english is not a native language should also schedule their examinations in english (the toefl examination) not later than october in order that the results will be available by the first week in january. doctor of design program the harvard design school also offers a separate three-year program leading to the doctor of design degree, which is oriented to the practice and teaching of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. an applicant normally must hold either a professional master’s degree in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, or urban design, or the gsd degree master in design studies (mdess). this program requires different application forms. to obtain information and application forms for this program, see the website, or write to: harvard graduate school of design, 48 quincy street, room 334b, cambridge, ma 02138; or call (617) 495-2337. |
