Majoring in Architectural Studies
The built environment is created through a complex interaction of history, human cognition, economics and public policy. As an architectural studies major, you learn how to distinguish those forces and understand the interplay between them. You draw on many different academic fields to do this, from art and design to math and environmental studies. In the best tradition of the liberal arts, you are encouraged to take the broadest possible view. Your studies prepare you for professional school in architecture, landscape architecture, historic preservation or urban planning, or to pursue a wide range of other careers.
Personalized learning
You work closely with faculty mentors who lead small courses and seminars. Your final integrative project might be an internship in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning or interior design. Students periodically visit firms and take trips to historic sites. Assignments often involve primary research. Recently, students worked with curator Stephen Fan on an exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum that explored architectural and social issues related to local Chinese immigrant communities.
International opportunities and study abroad
Most architectural studies majors spend time abroad, either in a semester-long program or a paid summer internship through the College’s Hale Center for Career Development. You might take part in an archaeological field project in Greece, visit architectural sites in Italy with classmates, or complete an internship with an architectural firm in Germany, Spain or England.
