Chair and Founding Director of the School of Design:
| Al-Harithy, Howayda
|
| Graduate Programs Coordinator: | Harb, Mona |
| Architecture Program Coordinator: | Aramouny, Carla |
| Graphic Design Program Coordinator: | Gharbieh, Ahmad |
| Binladen Chair for Architecture in the Islamic World: | Damluji, Salma-Samar |
| Professors: | Al-Harithy, Howayda; Damluji, Salma-Samar; Fawaz, Mona; Harb, Mona; Musfy, Leila |
| Associate Professors: | Abedini, Reza; Ghaibeh, Lina; Najjar, Karim |
| Assistant Professors: | Abbasy, Ghazal; Acikgoz, Umit; Aramouny, Carla; Gharbieh, Ahmad; Haddad, Rana; Khoury, Yara; Mismar, Omar; Yeretzian, Aram |
| Visiting Assistant Professors: | Fayad, Nicolas; Traboulsi, Jana |
| Adjunct Professors: | Farhat, Ramzi; Makhzoumi, Jala; Saliba, Robert; Yazigi, Serge |
| Senior Lecturers: | Al-Kadi, Makram; Azar, Mia; Berro, Maher; Boyadjian, Rafi; El-Imam, Hatem; Freiji, Mayda; Frem, Sandra; Genz, Bettina; Hassan, Sinan; Hayek, Joanne; Jamal, Sany; Kadi, Salim; Kosermelli, Simone; Mallat, Bernard; Nader, Karim; Nader, Marc; Samara Fouad; Richani, Sandra |
| Lecturers: | Abi Hanna, Ghita; Bacho, Omar; Basbous, Monica; Baz, Joan; Apelian, Khajag; Bastormagi, Etienne; Bou Nasr, Roland; El Rouss, Anastasia; Hachem, Pascal; Kanaan, Joy; Khouja, Ahmad; Khoury, Greta; Majzoub, Raafat; Moussawer, Karim; Muhsen, Dana; Sukkarieh, Rasha; Youssef, Shawki; Zahzah, Abdul-Rahman |
| Instructors: | Mezher, Fouad; Kanaan, Mohamad |
Graduate Programs
Master of Urban Design (MUD)
Master of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP)
General Information
The MUPP and MUD programs offer a first graduate degree to students interested in acquiring the necessary skills to tackle the challenges of contemporary urbanization while upholding the principles of livability, sustainability and equity. The programs prepare students to be highly qualified, well-rounded professionals who are able to address the multi-faceted issues of today’s built environments, focusing on Lebanon and the region. The two-year curriculum combines theoretical and methodological seminar courses designed to secure a command of the tools of intellectual inquiry with hands-on studio courses articulated around real-life exercises. The training is multi- disciplinary and research-based. Through these courses, students learn to analyze urban contexts and formulate interventions in the form of projects and/or policies.
Our graduates work in a wide range of positions within the private, non-profit and, less frequently, public sector. Most occupy leading positions in the region where they have contributed to forwarding innovative and visionary ideas about the practices of planning and design.
Mission Statements
Master of Urban Design
The Master of Urban Design program aims at preparing highly qualified, well-rounded professionals who are able to deal with the multifaceted design challenges in today’s urban environments in Lebanon and the region. The program emphasizes mastery of the design tools necessary for the effective practice of urban design. Students are exposed to a multidisciplinary understanding of contemporary urban challenges that trains them to position the design profession amidst other city professions. They learn to integrate design tools with policy strategies and institutional analysis. The Master of Urban Design has adopted the studio-based approach to professional education as the main context of learning. The program accepts university graduates and practitioners from design fields and prepares them to occupy leading professional roles in design and planning firms and in public and non-profit agencies.
Master of Urban Planning and Policy
The Master of Urban Planning and Policy program aims to prepare highly qualified, well-rounded professionals who are able to address the multifaceted issues of urban planning and policymaking in today’s urban environments in Lebanon and the region. The program is designed to provide a broad professional education in urban planning. Emphasis is placed on the development of multidisciplinary analytical skills necessary to address contemporary urbanization as well as mastery of the tools and approaches adopted in the contemporary practice of urban planning and policymaking. The program guides students in defining a specific area of expertise within the wider practice of urban planning and in locating their expertise in relation to other city professions. The program welcomes university graduates with professional degrees and/or degrees in the social sciences and prepares them to occupy leading professional roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Program Structure and Agenda
Each of the two graduate programs spans two years of full-time enrollment. The MUPP track requires students to take a total of 30 credits of which 9 are to be taken in a sub- discipline of specialization where planning and policymaking skills are applied and 6 in applied studio format. The MUD track requires students to take a total of 33 credits of which 12 are to be taken in applied design studios. The two tracks share a common core of 21 credits consisting of three core courses (Research Methods, Planning Theory and Policy, and Urbanism), one planning/design workshop and a 6-credit final thesis. The thesis is research-based and aims at generating innovative ways of thinking and understanding the context of urban and regional planning and design practice. In addition, all students enrolled in the MUPP/MUD programs are required to register for the 0-credit “City Debates” seminar at least twice during their university enrollment.
Common Core MUPP/MUD
MUPP Courses
URPL 630
| Research Methods
| 3 |
| URPL 631 | Introduction to Planning Theory and Policy | 3 |
| URPL 632 | Urbanism | 3 |
URPL 661/
URDS 601 | Planning and Design Workshop | 6 |
| URPL 660 | City Debates Seminar | 0 |
URPL 662/
URDS 603 | Comprehensive Exam in Field | 0 |
URPL 663/
URDS 604 | Thesis in Field | 6 |
| | Total 21
|
MUPP students are required to take three courses (9 credits) in a field of applied social science or engineering (such as sociology, economics, public administration, civil or environmental engineering) leading toward a concentration area such as urban policy, community development, transportation, labor, housing or environmental sustainability. Other options may be agreed upon with the MUPP/MUD academic advisor.
| Three courses in area of concentration | 9
|
| | Total 9 |
MUD Courses
MUD students are required to take one design studio and two approved electives (12 credits).
| URDS 602 | Urban and Landscape Design Studio | 6 |
| Two approved electives | 6 |
| | Total 12
|
Program Agenda
The typical course load for the Urban Planning and Policy and Urban Design tracks is normally distributed over two years as shown below. Course distribution is subject to approval of the academic advisor.
Urban Planning and Policy
First Year
Fall term
| Credits |
| URPL 631 | Introduction to Planning Theory and Policy
| 3 |
| | One Concentration Area Elective | 3 |
| | Total 6
|
| |
Spring term
| Credits |
| URPL 632 | Urbanism
| 3 |
| URPL 630 | Research Methods | 3 |
| | One Concentration Area Elective | 3 |
| URPL 660 | City Debates Seminar | 0 |
Second Year
Fall term
| Credits |
| URPL 661 | Planning and Design Workshop
| 6 |
| | One Concentration Area Elective | 3 |
| URPL 662 | Comprehensive Exam in the Field | 0 |
| | Total 9
|
| |
Spring term
| Credits |
| URPL 663 | Urban Planning Thesis
| 6 |
| URPL 660 | City Debates Seminar | 0 |
| | Total 6
|
Urban Design
First Year
Fall term
| Credits |
| URPL 631 | Introduction to Planning Theory and Policy
| 3 |
| URDS632 | Urban Design to Landscape Urbanism | 3 |
| | Total 6
|
| |
Spring term
| Credits |
| URDS 601 | Urban and Landscape Design Studio
| 6 |
| URPL 632 | Urbanism | 3 |
| URPL 660 | City Debates Seminar | 0 |
| | Total 9
|
Second Year
Fall term
| Credits |
| URDS 602 | Planning and Design Workshop
| 6 |
| | One Approved Elective | 3 |
| | Total 9
|
| |
Spring term
| Credits |
| URPL 660 | City Debates Seminar
| 0 |
| URPL 630 | Research Methods | 3 |
| URDS 603 | Comprehensive Exam in the Field | 0 |
| URDS 604 | Urban Design Thesis | 6 |
| | | Total 9
|
Admission Qualifications
Applicants who meet all the AUB and MSFEA regulations governing admission to graduate study, including acceptable AUB Readiness for University Studies in English (refer to the Readiness for University Studies in English (RUSE) page 41), and who hold the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in architecture, landscape architecture, environmental design, urban or regional planning, engineering, public health, economics, public administration, sociology or other social science degree, may be admitted to the Master of Urban Planning and Policy Program as regular graduate students.
Applicants who meet all the AUB and MSFEA requirements governing admission to graduate study, including acceptable AUB Readiness for University Studies in English (RUSE) (refer to the Readiness for University Studies in English (RUSE) page 41), and who hold the equivalent of a professional Bachelor of Architecture or a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree, may be admitted to the Master of Urban Design Program as graduate students.
The Department of Architecture and Design may recommend waiving up to nine credits of course work for students who have completed a Bachelor of Architecture degree and are applying for admission to the Master of Urban Planning and Policy or the Master of Urban Design programs.
The Department of Architecture and Design may further recommend waiving up to six credits of coursework for students who have completed a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree and are applying for admission to the Master of Urban Planning and Policy or the Master of Urban Design programs. The Department of Architecture and Design may also recommend waiving up to six credits of coursework for students who have completed a Bachelor of Engineering degree and are applying for admission to the Master of Urban Planning and Policy program. Waiving of credits is subject to approval by the program coordinator, chairperson, and the MSFEA Graduate Studies Committee. To apply, the student must have completed the advanced courses with a grade of at least B+ or 80 or equivalent.
Course Descriptions
Mandatory Core Courses
Each of the following courses is required for MUPP/MUD students. Non-majors must secure approval of the program advisor and the instructor concerned to enroll in any of the courses listed below.
Elective Courses
MUPP/MUD elective courses are open to graduates and senior undergraduates from all AUB departments.