The School of Architecture at UNC-Charlotte is pleased to announce the commencement of a new graduate degree program in Urban Design.
Program Overview:
The Master of Urban Design (M.U.D.) program is an applied research and design degree. It is structured to prepare beginning and mid-career design and planning professionals to engage complex issues faced by contemporary towns and cities in America, particularly those post-industrial landscapes that are being reshaped by information technology, global capital movements, rapidly shifting demographics, soaring urban and suburban growth, and new environmental challenges of sustainable development. The program takes the Charlotte metropolitan region as its laboratory while simultaneously examining issues of national and global import.
The premise of the M.U.D. program is that urban design is a fusion of physical design, policy and implementation strategies. It mediates the professional disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, development and engineering that together structure our urban environment, and constructs collaborations between these specialists and the citizens affected by urban development. The program is housed in the School of Architecture’s off-campus satellite urban studio and Design+Society Research Center in Charlotte’s historic SouthEnd, adjacent to the city’s light rail line.
Program Structure:
The M.U.D. program comprises 36 credit hours. The typical curriculum is organized into a three-semester, full-time format of three 12 credit hour blocks, each comprised of one 6-hr studio and two 3-hr seminar courses. The three-semester sequence runs Fall – Spring - Fall. (Applicants with no previous design training will be required to enroll in a short summer preparatory course). However, to accommodate part-time students, these courses will be able to be taken in independent 3 and 6-hr increments across six or eight semesters. Many of the required and elective classes are offered on a late afternoon / evening schedule. (see Curriculum)
For full-time students with a four-year undergraduate degree in architecture, the M.U.D. program also offers dual degrees with the 2-year Master of Architecture professional program at UNC-Charlotte. This dual degree can normally be completed in three academic years. Opportunities also exist for additional dual degree options with other UNC-Charlotte graduate programs in Geography (Community Planning) and in Business Administration (Real Estate).
Admissions Policy:
The program has a broad and inclusive admissions policy to attract a cross-disciplinary group of students pursuing academic opportunities and mid-career enhancement, and to meet a growing need in the planning profession for expertise in urban design. The program is designed to fit the needs of both full-time and part-time students. It is the policy of the School of Architecture and the M.U.D. program to provide equal opportunities to all students regardless of race, creed, color, gender, or national origin.
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