Learning in Context

Design gains relevance when practiced in relation to people, places, and the issues that shape them. As a Taubman College initiative, U-M Public Design Corps invites students from architecture, planning, urbanism, and across campus to approach design as a civic practice: collaborative, situated, and open to the uncertainties of working in public. Public Design Corps courses expand learning beyond the classroom and provide opportunities to work with community and organizational partners on situated projects.

M.Arch students are required to take two rigorous design studios in their final year: Propositions (6 credits) and Thesis (6 credits). Our Open Studio Model introduces the option to complete the Propositions studio as an international travel studio in the Spring of students’ penultimate year. Led by distinguished global faculty, the Spring Propositions studios grant unique access to professionals, institutions, and projects typically beyond reach, providing an immersive experience that is unparalleled in intensity.

International Electives are available to all Taubman College undergraduate and graduate students during the spring or summer half term. These travel courses are an essential part of Taubman College's offerings, granting students the opportunity to visit other countries while gaining access to facilities, groups, and individuals that might otherwise be closed to them. The college has established partnerships and faculty exchanges with other architecture programs around the world in order to promote a global cross-cultural exchange. Courses are selected, organized, and directed by individual faculty members who have an interest in a particular country, region, or city. This diversity of interests leads courses not just to the traditional locations of Europe, but to the villages and global cities of the developing world--and provides each group of students with exciting and unique educational, research, and service opportunities.