Courses

ARCH 150 - Discovering Architecture (3 Credits)
Introduction to architecture and design studio education. The course examines fundamental design principles and skills related to architecture. The design studio projects apply ideas and concepts introduced in lectures, readings and onsite visits. The design studio projects are both analytic and synthetic in nature. The explicit goals of the course are: To explore the discipline of architecture; To promote visual thinking and representational skills; To develop analytic design thinking skills; To learn some of the conventions of architectural representation; To enhance cultural awareness of architecture and design.

 

ARCH 170 - Design Thinking and Architecture (3 Credits)
Examines conceptual, perceptual, behavioral, and technical aspects of the built environment, and methods of analysis, problem-solving, and design implementation.

 

ARCH 171 - Design Thinking and Making (3 Credits)
Examines iterative design processes and critical thinking skills through active learning and design thinking methodologies to solve problems and apply design as a lens of inquiry and exploration. Students will understand Design Thinking through interactive and experiential learning.

 

ARCH 200- Design Media and Representation I (3 Credits)
Study of architectural representation in physical and digital design media. Examine visual literacy and visual communications through applied drawing, modeling and visual making to explore the role of design media and representation in design and design thinking.

 

ARCH 201 - Elements and Principles of Architecture (1 Credits)
Survey of fundamental elements and principles of architecture and architectural education. Frames study of architecture as a profession, discipline and critical practice.

 

ARCH 223 - History of Non-Western Architecture (3 Credits)
Survey of non-western architectural history, including prehistoric and vernacular; ancient civilizations and the Indus valley; the Islamic world; Hindu and Buddhist traditions of Asia; and pre-European Africa and the Americas.

 

ARCH 225 - History of World Architecture I (3 Credits)
Pre-1500 World Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visual literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of design thinking and cultural production through architecture.

 

ARCH 226- History of World Architecture II (3 Credits)
Post-1500 - World Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visual literacy with regard to the legacy of design thinking and cultural production through architecture.

 

ARCH242 Basic Architectural Drawing (3 Credits)
Study of drawing as a learned skill with emphasis on observation, documentation, analysis, and synthesis. This introductory course immerses students in visual thinking and learning how to see through drawing. The course explores the traditional conventions of architectural drawing (orthographics, isometrics, axonometrics, and linear perspective) as well as abstract and pictorial visualization techniques primarily through freehand drawing and sketching.

 

ARCH 270- Design in Practice (3 Credits)
Case studies and hands-on design projects ranging in scale from a product to a building to give students insight into the process by which architects work both individually and collaboratively to put disciplinary knowledge and expertise into practice to shape our built environment.

A Fearless Ideas Course from the Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (AIE): http://ter.ps/iamFEARLESS Click here for more information on the Fearless Ideas Courses.

A General Education I-Series (SCIS) and Scholarship in Practice (DSSP) course. 

 

ARCH 271 - People, Planet, and Profit: Building Sustainable Places (3 Credits)
An introduction to the four disciplines represented in the School: architecture and urban design, community planning, historic preservation, and real estate development, that work to create a more sustainable environment for the future to create a more sustainable environment for the future using our interpretation of the quadruple bottom line: socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and design sustainability. Students will be provided with an understanding of the fundamental scholarship and processes of each of these disciplines and examine the intersections between them. Additionally, they will learn by applying the approaches of the four disciplines through a series of field studies.

 

ARCH272 Sustainability at College Park (3 Credits)
Explore the ways and the degrees to which University of Maryland, College Park campus master planning and operations incorporate principles of sustainability including smart growth, LEED and other building rating systems, higher education rating systems, sustainable agriculture and transportation planning. Among other subjects, students will learn about the Campus and the City of College Park and survey the relationship between local, national and global sustainability concerns. Students will learn about the University's Climate Action Plan and the roles, and extent to which, the UMD Office of Sustainability and other campus units are helping develop a carbon-neutral and resource-efficient campus infrastructure.

 

ARCH288 Selected Topics in Sustainability (3 Credits)
Selected Topics in Architectural Sustainability

 

ARCH289 Independent Studies in Architectural Sustainability (1-4 Credits)
Independent Studies in Architectural Sustainability. Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 289I - Sustainability at College Park (3 Credits)
Explore the ways and the degrees to which UMCP campus master planning and operations incorporate principles of sustainability including smart growth, LEED and other building rating systems, higher education rating systems, sustainable agriculture and transportation planning. Among other subjects, students will learn about the Campus and the City of College Park and survey the relationship between local, national and global sustainability concerns. Students will learn about the University's Climate Action Plan and the roles, and extent to which, the campus Office of Sustainability and other campus units are helping develop a carbon-neutral and resource-efficient campus infrastructure and will tour selected facilities on campus.

 

ARCH 300 - Design Media and Representation II (3 Credits)
Study of architectural representation in physical and digital design media. Examine visual communications and speculative visual studies through applied drawing, modeling and making to explore expanded roles of representation in design and design thinking.

 

ARCH343 Intermediate Architectural Drawing (3 Credits)
Development of media technique (including color pencil, pastel, graphite, ink, and watercolor) as vehicles for investigating color, composition, and abstraction. Exploration of historical and contemporary issues of representation in architectural visual communication.

 

ARCH 386 - Experiential Learning (1 - 6 Credits)
Learning experience tied to internship of specified duration with targeted learning outcomes.

 

ARCH 400 - Architecture Design Studio I (6 Credits)
Introduction to architectural design with particular emphasis on conventions and principles of architecture, visual and verbal communication skills, formal analysis, design process, spatial composition, architectural promenade, basic program distribution, and elementary constructional and environmental responses.

 

ARCH 401 - Architecture Design Studio II (6 Credits)
Continuation of ARCH 400 with introduction to building typology, urban and contextual issues, design of the vertical surface, and architectural interiors.

 

ARCH 402 - Architecture Design Studio III (6 Credits)
Architectural design studio with emphasis on building and facade typologies, the development of architectural promenade and sequence, public and/or civic infill buildings dependent upon the architectural promenade, and urban housing types of varying densities. The architect's obligations to urban context are explored in many dimensions including historical, typological, and physical.

 

ARCH 403 - Architecture Design Studio IV (6 Credits)
Investigations into the relationship between the man-made and the natural world including introductory issues of assembly and material value. Design of the site and the building are combined into an integral process delimiting and probing the boundaries of each and exploring their reciprocal relationship. The architect's obligations to the natural and urban contexts are explored in many dimensions including historical, typological, environmental, and physical.

 

ARCH 404 - Graduate Architecture Design Studio I (6 Credits)
Introduction to architectural design with particular emphasis on conventions and principles of architecture , visual and verbal communication skills, formal analysis, design process, spatial composition, architectural promenade, basic program distribution, and elementary constructional and environmental responses.

 

ARCH 405 - Graduate Architecture Design Studio II (6)
Architectural design studio with emphasis on building and facade typologies, the development of architectural promenade and sequence, public and/or civic infill buildings dependent upon the architectural promenade, and urban housing types of varying densities. The architect's obligations to urban context are explored in many dimensions including historical, typological, and physical. 

 

ARCH 406 - Graduate Architectural Design Studio III (6 Credits)
Investigations into the relationship between the man-made and the natural world including introductory issues of assembly and material value. Design of the site and the building are combined into an integral process delimiting and probing the boundaries of each and exploring their reciprocal relationship. The architect's obligations to the natural and urban contexts are explored in many dimensions including historical, typological, environmental, and physical.

 

ARCH 407 - Graduate Architecture Design IV (6 Credits)
Studio problems and theories concentrating on urbanism and urban design techniques. Issues and sites range from high-density urban in-fill to suburban and greenfield development in American and other contexts. Studio theories explore such topics as Contextualism, Neo-Traditional design, Transit Oriented Development, density, sustainable development, building typology, and street design.

 

ARCH 408 - Special Topics - Architecture Design Studio (6 Credits)
Design Studio course to examine topical problems in architecture and urban design.

 

ARCH 410 Architecture Technology I (4 Credits)
First course in a four course sequence which develops the knowledge and skills of architectural technology. Addresses climate, human responses to climate, available materials, topography and impact on culture. Principles of assembly, basic structural principles and philosophies of construction.

 

ARCH 413 Architecture Technology IV (4 Credits)
Final course in a four course sequence. Theory, quantification, and architectural design applications for HVAC, water systems, fire protection electrical systems, illumination, signal equipment, and transportation systems.

 

ARCH 418 Selected Topics in Architectural Technology (3 Credits)
Selected Topics in Architectural Technology

 

ARCH 419 Independent Studies in Architectural Technology (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 420 - History of American Architecture (3 Credits)
American architecture from the late 17th to the 21st century.

 

ARCH 422 - History of Greek Architecture (3 Credits)
Survey of Greek architecture from 750-100 B.C.

 

ARCH 423 - History of Roman Architecture (3 Credits)
Survey of Roman architecture from 500 B.C. To A.D. 325.

 

ARCH 425 - History of Architecture I (3 Credits)
Pre-1500 World Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of design thinking and cultural production through architecture. Structured to nurture critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of architecture. The work in the course will involve the evaluation of sources and arguments in reading architectural history. Architecture will be framed relative to ways of thinking, religious beliefs, cultural heritage, and cultural values.

 

ARCH 426 - Fundamentals of Architecture (3 Credits)
Post-1500 - History of Architecture survey course - History of Architecture structured to develop critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of design thinking and building innovation in architecture. Structured to nurture critical thinking and visually literacy with regard to the worldwide legacy of architecture. The work in the course will involve the evaluation of sources and arguments in reading architectural history. Architecture will be framed relative to ways of thinking, religious beliefs, cultural heritage, and cultural values.

 

ARCH 427 - Theories of Architecture (3 Credits)
Survey of architectural theories - theories of architectural design, representation and urban design from antiquity to the present day.

 

ARCH 428C - Selected Topics in Architectural History; City Beautiful Architecture and Urbanism in USA (3 Credits)
This course covers the period following the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893 up to WW II.  The architecture and urbanism of this period represented a zenith of the Beaux Arts philosophy of design represented most cogently by the McMillan Plan for Washington, DC (1902) and its many antecedents across the United States. 

 

ARCH428/628 - Cities of the Modern Mediterranean: a Comparative Perspective (3 Credits)
This course explores architecture and cities in the modern Mediterranean (1750-present) – a crucial period for understanding the contemporary city and relations between Europe and the Islamic world today.  In the 19th century, technological and social revolutions had a huge impact on city form; at the same time, much of the eastern and southern shores of the sea came under European control. Ideas about the modern city and the historic city emerged in exchanges between Rome and Tripoli, Marseilles and Algiers.  The course follows this story through the post-colonial era, as cities continue to evolve under regimes of development assistance and global finance.

 

ARCH 428/628K - Cities of the Early Modern Mediterranean: a Comparative Perspective (3 Credits)
In this course, the Mediterranean Sea serves as a framework for exploring architecture and cities in the early modern period (1450-1750).  Key cities examined are Rome, Istanbul, Aleppo, Venice, Granada, and Algiers, with the aim of discovering parallels and contrasts between urban form, society, and building cultures under Christian and Islamic rule. Prerequisite: ARCH 225/226 or equivalent.

 

ARCH 428/628L - Selected Topics in Architectural History; Archaeology of Slavery: Classical, Caribbean and North American Contexts (1 - 4 Credits)
Has slavery always existed? Does it come and go? North American plantation archaeology has become one of the foundations for understanding African American culture from the 1960s. Slavery in Antiquity existed in Greece and Rome on large scales and was essential to making commercial agriculture profitable work. Slavery in the Caribbean showed Europeans how to make a profit from African bodies. Trafficking in human persons today is recorded by the U.S. State Department annually and is regarded as modern slavery. These varying contexts of slavery will be compared in an attempt to understand slavery scientifically.

 

ARCH 428/628W - Selected Topics in Architectural History; Writing Architecture in Practice (3 Credits)
This course parses the specificities that come with communicating architectural ideas through writing. At all levels, architecture is fundamentally tied to the communication of ideas across media. Through weekly class meetings, homework assignments, peer reviews, and guest lectures, this course builds expertise in writing, editing, and visually presenting text as it relates to the academic and professional practice of architecture.

 

ARCH 429 - Independent Studies in Architectural History (1 - 4 Credits)
Content varies, students work with faculty advisor to create coursework.

 

ARCH 430 - Measuring Sustainability in Architecture (3 Credits)
Studies metrics of sustainability as included in rating standards, including LEED. All students will take the LEED GA test.

 

ARCH 433 - History of Renaissance Architecture (3 Credits)
Renaissance architectural principles and trends in the 15th and 16th centuries and their modifications in the Baroque period.

 

ARCH 434 - History of Modern Architecture (3 Credits)
Architectural trends and principles from 1750 to the present, with emphasis on developments since the mid-19th century.

 

ARCH 435 - History of Contemporary Architecture (3 Credits)
Architectural history from World War II to the present.

 

ARCH 436 - History of Islamic Architecture (3 Credits)
No Catalog description available.

 

ARCH 442 - Studies In The Vertical Surface (3 Credits)
Theories of analysis and design related to vertical surface. Exercises include documentation, analysis, and design of facades.

 

ARCH 443 - Visual Communication For Architects (3 Credits)
Investigation of the relationship between drawing from life and architectural drawing, the conventions of architectural drawing and the role of architectural drawing as a means to develop, communicate, and generate architectural ideas.

 

ARCH 444 - Advanced Architectural Drawing (3 Credit)
Advanced development of media/representational technique (including hybrid media, digital/physical explorations) as vehicles for investigating color, composition, and abstraction. Exploration of historical and contemporary issues of representation in architectural visual communication.

 

ARCH 445 - Visual Analysis of Architecture (3)
Study of visual principles of architectural and urban precedents through graphic analysis. Exercises include on-site observation, documentation and analysis. Focuses on the development of an architect's sketchbook as a tool for life-long learning.

 

ARCH 448 Selected Topics in Visual Studies in Architecture (3 Credits)
Selected Topics in Visual Studies in Architecture

 

ARCH 449 Independent Studies in Visual Studies in Architecture (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 456 - Great Cities (3 Credits)
Case studies from a selection of the great cities of the world.

 

ARCH 458 Selected Topics in Urban Design (3 Credits)
Selected Topics in Urban Design

 

ARCH 460 - Site Analysis and Design (3 Credits)
Principles and methods of site analysis; the influence of natural and man-made site factors on site design and architectural form.

 

ARCH 459 Independent Studies in Urban Design (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 460 Site Analysis and Design (3 Credits)
Principles and methods of site analysis; the influence of natural and man-made site factors on site design and architectural form.

 

ARCH 461 - Sustainability in Architecture (3 Credits)
Strategies of sustainability as related to the broader context of architectural problem solving.

 

ARCH 462 - Methods & Materials of Building Construction (3 Credits)
Building Construction methods and materials are examined through case studies to explore the means and techniques applied to the material execution of buildings and BIM. Focus on an understanding of the organization of the design and construction process and awareness of building and zoning codes, material systems and types.

 

ARCH 463 - Sustainable Systems in Architecture (3 Credits)
Sustainable systems in architecture examines the nature of the global problem, environmental economics, understanding the local environment, bioclimatic design, solar control and shading, solar access zoning, residential scale energy design issues, commercial scale energy design issues and urban scale energy design issues.

 

ARCH 464 - Architectural Structures I (3 Credits)
This course covers the basic principles of architectural structures, including the influence of geometric, sectional, and material properties related to flexure and shear in beam and framed systems; vector mechanics with application to analysis of trusses, catenaries, and arches; diagrammatic analysis of beams for bending moment, shear, and deflection as well as the study of structural framing systems for vertical and lateral loads.

 

ARCH 465 - Architectural Structures II (3 Credits)
The basic principles of elastic behavior for different materials such as wood, steel, concrete, and composite materials and compares the properties and applications of materials generally will be covered. It investigates cross sectional stress and strain behavior in flexure and in shear, and torsion as well as the stability of beams and columns. The qualitative behavior of combined stresses and fracture in materials is also covered.

 

ARCH 466 - Environmental Systems in Architecture (3 Credits)
Environmental systems in architecture presents the theory, quantification, and architectural design implications for heating ventilating and air conditioning, water and waste, fire protection, electricity, illumination, acoustics, and vertical transportation.

 

ARCH 467 - Integrated Project Delivery (3 Credits)
Integrated Project Delivery is examined from design to implementation through an exploration of building construction, architectural design and construction management perspectives.

 

ARCH 470 - Computer Applications in Architecture (3 Credits)
Introduction to computer utilization, with emphasis on architectural applications.

 

ARCH 471 - Digital Fabrication in Architecture (3 Credits)
Introduction to digital fabrication techniques, methods, concepts and principles. Examine emerging technologies and explore empirical making to explore digital/physical and hybridized work flows in architecture.

 

ARCH 472 - Building Information Modeling Communication and Collaboration (3 Credits)
Building Information Modeling is explored as pertains to collaboration and communication in the design and construction of buildings and building systems. Practical and empirical learning using BIM software and case studies of real world projects and construction scenarios.

 

ARCH 474 - Integrated Education in Architecture NAAB/IDP (1 Credit)
Examine National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) student performance criteria in the context of architectural education. Contextualize NAAB accredited curricula and examine the relationship to graduate study and professional practice, including the Intern Development Program (IDP) of the National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB). 

 

ARCH478J/678J - Adaptation (3 Credits)
This course considers the process of adaptation as both philosophy and practice.  Coursework included case studies and theoretical writings, as well as the practical aspects of engaging in adaptive reuse and renovation.   The adaptive processes is considered at various scales (materials, buildings, cities, landscapes) and of various types (reuse, reframing, addition/subtraction, infill, preservation, recovery, erasure).  Topics include memory and the artifact; building as palimpsest; obsolescence and renewal; adaptation and sustainability; new architecture in historic contexts; urban/suburban retrofits; and recovered landscapes. An important aspect of this course is examining the formal relationships between existing fabric and new intervention – what Rodolfo Machado calls “form/form” considerations, as opposed to “form/function”.

 

ARCH479 Independent Studies in Architecture (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 481 - The Architect in Archaeology (3 Credits)
The role of the architect in field archaeology and the analysis of excavating, recording, and publishing selected archaeological expeditions.

 

ARCH 482 - The Archaeology of Roman and Byzantine Palestine (3 Credits)
Archaeological sites in Palestine (Israel and Jordan) from the reign of Herod the Great to the Muslim conquest.

 

ARCH 483 - Field Archaeology (3 Credits)
Participation in field archaeology with an excavation officially recognized by proper authorities of local government.

 

ARCH488 Selected Topics in Architectural Preservation (1-4 Credits)
Selected Topics in Architectural Preservation.

 

ARCH 489 - Independent Studies in Architectural Preservation (1 - 4 Credits)
Content varies, students work with faculty advisor to create coursework.

 

ARCH 578 - Architecture Internship & Practice (3-6 Credits)
Experiential learning tied to unpaid architectural internship of specified duration with targeted learning outcomes.

 

ARCH 600- Integrated Design Studio V (6 Credits)
Integrated and comprehensive building and site design. Course content bridges the gap between design and technology, between practice and education, in a studio setting. Explorations include the integration of conceptual and technical aspects of architectural form and assembly, highlighting the ways in which multiple layers of a building design are developed, coordinated and resolved.

 

ARCH 601 - Topical Design Studio VI (6 Credits)
Topical architectural design studio with concentration on advanced topical inquiry addressing but not limited to: architectural competitions, sustainable design, theoretical/conceptual issues, programmatic, contextual, and/or technical issues.

 

ARCH 608- Graduate Special Topics Design Studio (6 Credits)
Topical architectural design studio with concentration on advanced theoretical, conceptual, technological, cultural, urban design or professional issue.

 

ARCH 611 - Advanced Architecture Technology Seminar (3 Credits)
Technology in design of buildings. Application of technological issues in building design; integration of technology in architecture; technology as a form determinant in architecture; other conceptual and philosophical issues related to the application of technology in the design, construction, and use of buildings.

 

ARCH 628L - Selected Topics in Architectural History; Archaeology of Slavery: Classical, Caribbean and North American Contexts (1 - 4 Credits)
Has slavery always existed? Does it come and go? North American plantation archaeology has become one of the foundations for understanding African American culture from the 1960's. Slavery in Antiquity existed in Greece and Rome on large scales and was essential to making commercial agriculture profitable work. Slavery in the Caribbean showed Europeans how to make a profit from African bodies. Trafficking in human persons today is recorded by the U.S. State Department annually and is regarded as modern slavery. These varying contexts of slavery will be compared in an attempt to understand slavery scientifically.

 

ARCH 628C - Selected Topics in Architectural History; City Beautiful Architecture and Urbanism in USA (3 Credits)
This course covers the period following the World’s Columbian Exhibition of 1893 up to WW II.  The architecture and urbanism of this period represented a zenith of the Beaux Arts philosophy of design represented most cogently by the McMillan Plan for Washington, DC (1902) and its many antecedents across the United States. 

 

ARCH 629 - Graduate Independent Studies in Architectural History (1 - 4 Credits)
Content varies, students work with faculty advisor to create coursework.

 

ARCH 635 - Seminar in the History of Modern Architecture (3 Credits)
Advanced investigation of historical problems in modern architecture.

 

ARCH 654 - Urban Development and Design Theory (3 Credits)
Advanced investigation into the history, and practice of urban design, planning, and development.

 

ARCH 655 - Urban Design Seminar (3 Credits)
Advanced investigation into problems of analysis and evaluation of the design of urban areas, spaces, and complexes with emphasis on physical and social considerations; effects of public policies through case studies. Field observations.

 

ARCH 670 - Advance Comprehensive Computer Technology in Architecture (3 Credits)
Advanced use of computer technology in design. Use of digital design processes and conceptual methodologies to study design alternatives and realization. Methods and techniques of digital design representation, simulation, or fabrication to explore and test concepts and integration of digital technologies into the architectural design process. 

 

ARCH 671 - BIM Technology in Architecture (3 Credits)
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is examined in depth relative to Integrated Project Delivery methods as pertains to collaboration and communication in the design and construction of buildings and building systems. Practical and empirical learning using BIM software and case studies of real world projects and construction scenarios.

 

ARCH 672 - Type and Typology Seminar (3 Credits)
The idea of type and typology, its implications for theory, scholarship, and practice in architecture and urban design.

 

ARCH 673 - Building Culture (3 Credits)
Comprehension of major themes in the development of architectural building techniques and culture value systems in architecture are developed through lecture, discussion and analysis of seminal readings and buildings.

 

ARCH 674 - Seminar in Regionalism (3 Credits)
Regional characteristics of culture, climate, and landscape as determinants world architecture.

 

ARCH 676 - Field Research in Architecture (3 Credits)
Recording and analysis of significant architectural complexes in situ.

 

ARCH 678L - Destruction, Memory, Renewal (3 Credits)
In this course, we'll explore motives for the destruction of historic monuments and sites - and how these objects and places are remembered and renewed, as societies struggle to recover and rebuild.

 

ARCH 678M- Advanced Selected Topics in Architecture; Studies in the Vertical Surface (3 Credits)
This course looks at the history, theory, and design of the architectural facade through a series of analytical and design exercises intended to illuminate reoccuring themes in this genre.

 

ARCH 678T - Advanced Selected Topics in Architecture; Ecological Design Thinking (3 Credits)
Themes and topics of this course draw from the etymology and definition of the word “ecology,” which contains aspects of house, relationships, the living environment, and systems. Design thinking is itself systems thinking—in which many variables and scales, requirements and ideas are interrelated in a coherent whole. We study big-picture concepts and frameworks as well as cutting-edge applications, while exploring ways to be effective change agents.

 

ARCH 678V - Advanced Selected Topics in Architecture; Sensing Architecture (3 Credits)
A graduate level seminar that investigates issues of perception, the human senses, and a phenomenological approach to the built environment. Themes from the readings are centered on a sensuous approach to engaging architecture. The structure of the course consists of seminar discussions of seminal texts, research, presentations, and a series of creative projects that actively engage the themes of the seminar.

 

ARCH 678W - Advanced Selected Topics in Architecture; ULI Seminar (3 Credits)
Course focused on an annual competition organized by the Urban Land Institute and Gerald D. Hines. Competitors only.

 

ARCH 679 - Advanced Independent Studies in Architecture; Independent Study in Architecture (1 - 4 Credits)
Content varies, students work with faculty advisor to create coursework.

 

ARCH688 Advanced Selected Topics in Architectural Technologies (1-4 Credits)
Graduate Selected Topics in Architectural Technologies.

 

ARCH689 Advanced Independent Studies in Architectural Technologies (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH 700 - Urban Design Studio VII (6 Credits)
Studio problems and theories concentrating on urbanism and urban design techniques. Issues and sites range from high density urban in-fill to suburban and greenfield development in American and other contexts. Studio theories explore such topics as Contextualism, Neo-Traditional design, Transit-Oriented Development, density, sustainable development building typology, and street design.

 

ARCH 770 - Professional Practice of Architecture (3 Credits)
Project management, organizational, legal, economic and ethical aspects of architecture.

 

ARCH778 Graduate Selected Topics in Urban Design (1-4 Credits)
Graduate Selected Topics in Urban Design.

 

ARCH 797 - Thesis Proseminar (3 Credits)
Directed research and preparation of thesis program.

 

ARCH779 Advanced Independent Studies in Urban Design (1-4 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval of the Architecture Program Curriculum Committee.

 

ARCH797 Thesis Proseminar (3 Credits)
Directed research and preparation of thesis program.

 

ARCH 798 - Thesis in Architecture (3 Credits)
Complements the research of ARCH 799, with presentation of the design research to student's thesis committee.

 

ARCH 799 - Masters Thesis Research (1 - 6 Credits)
Development of master's thesis.

First-time registrants for ARCH 799 must take 6 credit hours.  Should a thesis extend into an additional term, students must register for 1 credit hour of coursework.

URSP 118 Selected Topics in Urban Planning (3 Credits)
Selected Topic courses address particular issues relating to urban studies and planning. They are focused on specific areas of theory and practice as they relate to the study of urban areas.

 

URSP 250 - Sustainable City: Exploring Opportunities & Challenges (3 Credits)
An exploration, through an interdisciplinary approach, of a number of issues related to making cities more sustainable in terms of environmental protection, economic opportunity, and social justice. The course assists students to develop skills in critical analysis and systems thinking and to use those skills in analyzing sustainability related problems and potential solutions, and to expand students' understanding of the political implications of crafting and moving towards a sustainable urban future.

 

URSP 372 Diversity and the City (3 Credits)
Exploration of the different needs of diverse economic, racial/ethnic, and gender groups that live and work in cities, the historical background of differences, the impact of societal structures and group cultures, and how public and private policies do and can affect different groups.

 

URSP399 Independent Study in Urban Topics (3 Credits)
Directed research and study of selected aspects of urban affairs.

 

URSP488 Selected Topics in Urban Studies (3 Credits)
Topics of special interest to advanced urban studies students.

 

URSP 600 - Research Design and Application (3 Credits)
Techniques in urban research, policy analysis, and planning. Survey of descriptive and normative models. Objective and subjective measurements. Emphasis on assumptions of research.

 

URSP 601 - Research Methods (3 Credits)
Use of measurement, statistics, quantitative analysis, and micro-computers in urban studies and planning.

 

URSP 603 - Land Use Planning: Concepts & Techniques (3 Credits)
Land use concepts and definitions: legal context for planning; markets and planning; planning for housing; community services, employment, utilities, and transportation; zoning; subdivision regulations; growth management; plan implementation.

 

URSP 604 - Planning Process (3 Credits)
Legal framework for U.S. planning; approaches to the planning process; tools and technology; systems thinking; defining problems and issues; soliciting goals and values; developing and making good presentations; public participation; developing and evaluating alternatives and scenarios; plan evaluation; developing RFPs.

 

URSP 605  - Planning History and Theory (3 Credits)
Examination of key, selected major events and issues in U.S. planning history and the development of the [planning profession; exploration of major themes in planning theory and practical applications of them; and analysis of the relationship of history and theory.

 

URSP 606 - Planning Economics (3 Credits)
Resource allocation in a market economy, the nature of market failures, and the justifications for public sector intervention. The limits and possibilities for planning in a market economy.

 

URSP 631 - Transportation and Land Use (3 Credits)
The interrelationship between transportation and land use. What are the impacts of various transportation modes on land use patterns, and how can land use solutions influence travel demand. The integration of transportation into master planning and site impact analysis. Using quantitative methods to understand the land use and transportation linkage.

 

URSP 640 - Growth Management and Environmental Planning (3 Credits)
Topics associated with growth management, defined as policies and strategies by which governments attempted to control the amount, location, pace, pattern and quality of development within their jurisdictions.

 

URSP 661-  City and Regional Economic Development Planning (3 Credits)
Spatial patterns of employment and populations, and models of urban and regional growth and decline. Focus on application of economic theory and urban planning techniques to issues of local economic development and planning.

 

URSP 673 - Community Development (3 Credits)
Examines and identifies planning approaches and methods that can help communities - particularly low income communities - become stronger, more cohesive, and more capable of serving their interests. Examines urban poverty; urban politics; history, concepts and practice of community development; and community development approaches and methods.

 

URSP 688A - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Community Resilience (3 Credits)
This course will provide introduction to the concept of resilience, particularly as it relates to supporting community resilience through hazard mitigation, adaption, and disaster recovery planning. This course will explore, through a multihazard approach, the necessary connection between recovery and mitigation. This course will highlight the concept of social vulnerability and the insidious ways in which some groups are disadvantaged in their ability to resist, adapt to, respond to, and recover from natural hazards and environmental threats.

 

URSP 688B - Urban Infrastructure Planning and Public Works (3 Credits)
This course aims to introduce the range of infrastructure systems that serve urban development and the basics of how to develop an infrastructure plan, program, or project.

 

URSP 688C - Recent Developments in Urban Studies; International Development Planning (3 Credits)
Explores current issues and trends in urbanization and planning in cities in Japan, China, South Korea and other countries.

 

URSP 688E - Recent Developments in Urban Studies; Zoning and Land Use Plan Implementation (3 Credits)
An introduction to zoning and its relationship to land use planning, placing emphasis on the legal context that shapes zoning practice, particularly in the state of Maryland is provided. Additionally, addresses terminology, legal context, zoning ordinance interpretation, the role of various constituencies in the zoning process, and the relationship between the zoning ordinance and the comprehensive plan. It will also feature exercises and applied projects designed to convey course concepts through experiential learning.

 

URSP 688K - Recent Developments in Urban Studies; Urban Design Software (3 Credits)
Practical training in the use of such urban design software as Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, AutoCAD and SketchUp.

 

URSP 688L - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Planning Technology (3 Credits)
An introduction to technologies that are vital for contemporary planners. With a strong emphasis on practical skills, the course will provide students with fundamental concepts, hands-on experience and real-world applications of such urban planning technologies as web publishing and tools, search engine optimization, blogs, Twitter and social networking, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), data visualization, 3D modeling, mash-ups, digital design tools, web surveys, photo/video sharing (web/video conferencing), and crowdsourcing.

 

URSP 688M - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Intermediate Geographic Information Systems (3 Credits)
GIS and its application to urban planning. Topics include: thematic mapping, GIS data structure, spatial analysis, Internet GIS, using census data to study urban areas, and examples of urban GIS application. Weekly laboratory and project work use ArcGIS software.

 

URSP 688N - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Urban Transportation Planning & Policy (3 Credits)
Introduction to theory and concepts useful in transportation policy making and planning, with emphasis on economics and finance.  Development of  basic understanding of transportation modeling and forecasting.

 

URSP 688O - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; US Housing Policy and Planning (3 Credits)
Critical appraisal of U.S. housing policy in terms of production and allocation of housing services. An historical overview of federal, state, and local policy, followed by analysis of the organizational infrastructure around which housing is produce.

 

URSP 688P- Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Preserving Community Value of Ethnically Diverse Retail Centers (3 Credits)
Building on the previous retail trends study, students enrolled in this course will identify how to preserve and enhance the value of these ethnic retail centers and how to support equitable access to their diverse mix of retail goods and services. Many centers face pressures for change and redevelopment. As such, the study will first provide an overview of the geographic distribution of the County s ethnic retail clusters, a history of their growth and development, the communities they serve, and the social value they contribute. The study will then focus on the well-established ethnic retail clusters in Montgomery County to identify successes and challenges to develop targeted strategies that consider the impact of planned development such as the Purple Line.

 

URSP 688X - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Planning, Policy and Pub. Education (3 Credits)
This course explores the historical and contemporary interrelationships among metropolitan policy, planning practice, and public education. The course engages interdisciplinary scholarship, case studies, and guest speakers. It examines issues such as: school, neighborhood, and metropolitan segregation; schools as centers of community; school siting and land use; school facility planning and management; school transportation; education reform and school choice; school closures.

 

URSP  688Y - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Smart Cities and Urban Data Science (3 Credits)
The proliferation of data, technology and new analytical methods are changing cities in rapid and dramatic fashion. These changes have implications for the look and feel of cities, the behavior patterns of the people who inhabit them, and the decisions made by people who govern them. As cities become smarter, our understanding of them must evolve in a similar fashion. This course will introduce students to the concept of Smart Cities and their implications for the current and future development of urban areas. Students will learn about the history of urban development and when cities gained their sentience, how cities learn and grow their intelligence, and how these trends shape the lives of urban and rural dwellers alike. The course begins by introducing the "components" of the smart city: new and novel data sources (embedded sensor networks, crowdsourcing), new methods of (connected devices, machine learning, data science), and new ways of modeling, simulating, and visualizing urban phenomena. The second half of the course discusses how these components are changing the performance and experience of different aspects of urban life inareas like transportation, public health, criminal justice, and social equity.

 

URSP 688Z - Recent Dev. in Urban Studies; Planning & Design in the Multicultural Metropolis (3 Credits)
Explores the changing patterns of immigration and ethno-cultural diversity that are shaping new geographies of race and immigration, and the various forms, meanings, and uses of urban space; explores strategies for improving planning processes, policies, built spaces, and the culture of planning to support an appreciation of and right to difference in the city and the ethical and equitable treatment for all residents.

 

URSP 705 - Summer Community Planning Studio I (4 Credits)
Intensive community planning group field work, typically five days a week for four weeks. Often outside the USA. Application of class work to actual planning and policy challenges. Students seeking to meet the URSP studio requirement must also take URSP 706.

 

URSP 706 - Summer Community Planning Studio II (2 Credits)
Intensive analysis and report-preparation of work completed in URSP 705. Held in College Park. Students seeking to meet the URSP studio requirement must also take URSP 705.

 

URSP 708 - Community Planning Studio (6 Credits)
The Community Planning Studio is a "capstone" course intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to analyze current, pressing planning issues, in a selected community and to produce a report containing recommendations for addressing those issues. In essence, students act as a consulting team for a community client.

 

URSP 709 - Field Instruction (3 Credits)
Students will satisfy a 300-hour internship (20 hours for 15 weeks during the spring, 25 hours a week for 12 weeks during the summer). Suitable internships are approved by the Internship Coordinator or Instructor; they involve a significant amount of planning work (preferably in the student's area of interest) and provide an appropriate on-site supervisor. The Internship Coordinator will assist students in finding a suitable internship, but the ultimate responsibility rests with each student. Whether the internship is paid or not is a matter to be worked out between the student and the organization.

 

URSP 788 - Independent Study in Urban Studies and Planning (1 - 3 Credits) 
An advanced research seminar for M.C.P. students.

 

URSP 798 - Readings in Urban Studies and Planning (1 - 3 Credits) 

 

URSP 799 - Master's Thesis Research (1 - 6 Credits) 
An advanced research seminar for M.C.P. students preparing for their thesis.

 

URSP 804 -  Advanced Planning Theory (3 Credits)
Ph.D. level course on relations between theory and practice in planning. Ways of developing and using knowledge in collective action. Challenges to organizing for planning, finding knowledge useful for planning and balancing social attachments with free inquiry.

 

URSP 805 - Seminar in Research Design (3 Credits)
Addresses fundamental aspects of research design for Ph.D. students in urban planning and policy-related fields. Topics include principles of research design, formulating a feasible hypothesis and identifying appropriate methodology for testing hypotheses eg. qualitative methods, quantitative methods, survey research. Writing of proposals and dissertation. Publication, presentation, and funding.

 

URSP 810  - Contemporary Metropolitan Issues (3 Credits)
Introduces Ph.D. students to current metropolitan issues. Focus is on the historical development of the issue, problem definition, methodological approaches to its study, methodological dilemmas, and the ways that different conclusions are translated into policy. Topics vary from semester to semester but include such topics as the spatial mismatch hypothesis, the impact of urban design and form on travel behavior, the impact of technology on urban form, the justification for historic preservation, and sustainable development.

 

URSP 898 - Pre-Candidacy Research (1 - 8 Credits) 
Selected topics in Urban Studies and Planning. Topics will vary with the instructor.

 

URSP 899 - Doctoral Dissertation Research (6 Credits)​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​This course is a required course for the Ph.D program in Urban and Regional Planning and Design.

HISP 200 - The Everyday and the American Environment (3 Credits)
An introduction into the theories of the everyday with the context of the American built environment. The course focuses primarily on the American experience of underrepresented, minority and immigrant communities, both historical and contemporary. The course attempts to challenge what is meant by "American" in describing the American everyday built environment.

Also offered as: HISP615.

 

HISP 319 Special Topics in Historic Preservation (1-6 Credits)
Students will explore technical aspects of preservation taught by practitioners whose expertise are of special benefit to undergraduate students.

 

HISP 600 - History, Theory, and Practice of Historic Preservation (3 Credits)
An introduction to the history, theory and practice of historic preservation covered through readings, discussions, presentations, class projects, and field trips. 

 

HISP 611 - Historical Research Methods (3 Credits)
An overview of common research methods and documentation tools used in historic preservation.  Introductions to graphic documentation, building investigation, historical research, socioeconomic data collection and analysis. 

 

HISP 615 The Everyday and the "American" Environment (3 Credits)
An introduction into the theories of the everyday with the context of the American built environment. The course focuses primarily on the American experience of underrepresented, minority, and immigrant communities; both historical and contemporary. The course attempts to challenge what is meant by American in describing the American every day built environment.

 

HISP 619O - Special topics in Historic Preservation; Three-Dimensional Documentation Using Laser-Based Measurement (1-6 Credits)
This course covers the fundamentals of documenting components of the built environment and the landscapes in which they are located.  It focuses on the use of lasers to calculate 3-D measurements at various scales, from objects to buildings, and landscapes.

 

 

HISP 628 Selected Topics in Historic Preservation (3 Credits)
Critical issues in contemporary preservation practice will be examined. Topics will change each year, according to the professor's interests and the relevance of the course topic, and will include such themes as: preservation of the everyday built environment, social and ethnic dimensions of historic preservation practice, and preservation of Modern architecture and landscapes. The course will consist of readings, class, discussions, and a substantial individual research project.

 

HISP 629 - Independent Study in Historic Preservation (1-3 Credits)
Proposed work must have a faculty sponsor and receive approval from the student’s advisor.

 

HISP 630 - Preservation Policy and Planning (3 Credits)
This course provides an opportunity to look in depth at the national historic preservation program—that is the federal, tribal, state, and local (city and county) public sector preservation activities being undertaken in accordance with public policy set by laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines. 

 

HISP 635 - Social and Ethnic Issues in Historic Preservation Practice (3 Credits)
This seminar course examines the broader social and ethnic dimensions of historic preservation practice that have impacted the field since the “culture wars” of the 1990’s. Through weekly case studies of local, national, and international sites, students will explore these issues and apply newly emerging methodologies to their final case study project. 

 

HISP 640 - Historic Preservation Law (3 Credits)
Introduces students to legal issues in the field of historic preservation. Student activities will be designed to teach basic working knowledge of relevant legal subjects, including historic preservation ordinances, state and federal preservation statutes, and important constitutional issues.

 

HISP 645 - Archaeology and Preservation (3 Credits)
This course will introduce students to issues related to archaeological resources and preservation. Topics will include method and theory in American archaeology, archaeology in support of architectural history, archaeology and the NHPA, archaeological site preservation and conservation, and curation and collections management. Students will have a chance to work at an archaeological site to experience field excavation techniques and challenges, and will visit other archaeological sites and curation facilities in the area (Previously HISP 619A).

 

HISP 650 - Historic Preservation Studio Workshop (6 Credits)
Students carry out a group preservation project in a local community, from inception and problem formulation through completion.  Guided carefully by a faculty team, students will conduct research, interact with communities, perform analyses, and propose solutions for an issue or problem of direct relevance to a local community and client group.

 

HISP 655 - American Vernacular Architecture and Documentation (4 Credits)
This course will explore the history, theory, and practice of vernacular architecture studies. Looking at the "common buildings of particular regions and time periods," the course will prepare students for studying and documenting these buildings in terms of both analysis and documentation, as well as thinking about the patterns and meanings of their use at both the individual and community level. Vernacular architecture studies draws on a broad theoretical perspective that engages many disciplines and critical approaches. The course includes a 1 credit lab that will focus on field work including building analysis/archaeology and building documentation.

 

HISP 660 - Internship in Historic Preservation (1 - 3 Credits)
Students will secure a summer internship with an organization engaged in historic preservation work (this can be a public agency, nonprofit, or private firm). The student will formulate a plan of work and a series of pedagogical goals to satisfy both the practical needs of the project and the academic requirements for the course.

 

HISP 670 - Conservation of Historic Places: Historic Materials, Building Systems, and Conservation (3 Credits)
This course introduces students to the analysis of historic buildings, building systems and materials. The overall emphasis is on assessing the condition of a building and its parts, and formulating a preservation strategy based on it. Conservation methods will be discussed through the introduction of philosophies and specific techniques. 

 

HISP678 Fieldwork in Historic Preservation (3 Credits)
Advanced fieldwork in research and documentation of historic sites and structures including primary local history research, building analysis, survey techniques, field photography, and graphic documentation techniques.

 

HISP 679 - Introduction to Measured Drawings for Historic Preservation (3 Credits)
This course teaches graphic documentation methodologies for historic buildings, including hand measuring, drafting, preparing a sketch plan, analyzing buildings, and producing finished drawings in ink. Students will analyze building in situ. 

 

HISP 680 - Preservation Economics (3 Credits)
This course introduces students to a range of economic theories, methods, and issues that must be considered in the practice of historic preservation. Case studies related to community economic development, adaptive reuse, tax credit programs, project finance, and land use will be presented in this course. 

 

HISP 690 - Preservation Management and Practice (2 Credits)
This course will introduce students to management and practice issues in preservation, covering topics ranging from project management, to budgeting, to personnel, and grantsmanship; these will all be considered in the three main areas of practice – government agencies, non-profits, and for profit companies. Outside speakers from these various practice environments will present on their area(s) of specialization. 

 

HISP 701 - Certificate Portfolio Project (1 Credit)
This course provides students in the Certificate Program with an opportunity to develop a portfolio of their work, to include research and seminar papers from each of their preservation courses. In addition, students will prepare an overview essay articulating how the content they have learned in Certificate courses has helped shape their work and reflect on preservation issues and philosophical approaches related to their work.

 

HISP 710 - Final Project in Historic Preservation I (1 Credit)
An independent, applied research project investigating the preservation of a particular site or a specialized issue in historic preservation. This is part one of a two-semester sequence and involves developing the project proposal and bibliography.

 

HISP 711 - Final Project in Historic Preservation II (2 Credits)
An independent, applied research project investigating the preservation of a particular site or a specialized issue in historic preservation. This is part two of a two semester sequence and involves project research and writing.

 

HISP - Internship in Historic Preservation (Non-credit Requirement)
Students will secure a summer internship with an organization engaged in historic preservation work (this can be a public agency, nonprofit, or private firm).

RDEV 250 People, Planet, and Profit: Building Sustainable Places (3 Credits)
An introduction to the four disciplines represented in the School: architecture and urban design, community planning, historic preservation, and real estate development, that work to create a more sustainable environment for the future using our interpretation of the quadruple bottom line: socio-cultural, economic, environmental, and design sustainability. Students will be provided with an understanding of the fundamental scholarship and processes of each of these disciplines and examine the intersections between them. Additionally, they will learn by applying the approaches of the four disciplines through a series of field studies.

 

RDEV 270 Tax and Accounting for Real Estate Developers (3 Credits)
The purpose of this course is to develop an understanding of key tax and accounting principles and how they impact real estate development for students in the real estate development minor. The course is geared for science, arts and humanities students who otherwise would not take an accounting course as part of their major..

 

RDEV 350 Real Estate Development: Introduction to Principles, Process, and Practice (3 Credits)
An introduction to the basic principles of real estate development: How real estate and communities get built and how value is created. The emphasis is on entrepreneurship and an experiential learning approach to the entrepreneurial real estate development process, principles, and practice.

 

RDEV 450 Foundations of Real Estate Finance and Investment (3 Credits)
An Introduction to the foundational concepts of commercial real estate finance and the measures used in analyzing and evaluating real estate projects. An introduction to the various aspects that come into play when real life decisions are made in the process of investing, acquiring, financing, developing, asset managing, valuing, and leasing commercial real estate. Quantitative analyses and financial modeling using Excel comprise the main focus.  

 

RDEV 478 Special Topics in Real Property Development (1-3 Credits)
RDEV 478 will address one or more current topics in real property with a focus in one or more of the areas of real estate development from planning and entitlements, to design and construction, to market analysis and valuation, to finance and investment, to operations and property management, or social and economic impacts.

 

RDEV 600 Principles and Practice of Real Property Development (3 Credits)
An introduction to the basic principles of real estate development: How real estate and communities get built and how value is created. The emphasis is on entrepreneurship and an experiential learning approach to the entrepreneurial real estate development process, principles, and practice.

 

RDEV 603 Introduction to Real Property Finance (3 Credits)
An Introduction to the foundational concepts of commercial real estate finance and the measures used in analyzing and evaluating real estate projects. An introduction to the various aspects that come into play when real life decisions are made in the process of investing, acquiring, financing, developing, asset managing, valuing, and leasing commercial real estate. Quantitative analyses and financial modeling using Excel comprise the main focus.  

 

RDEV 605 Tax and Accounting for Real Property Developers (3 Credits)
This course is designed to familiarize students with taxation and accounting as it pertains to real estate development. Students acquire a basic understanding of the accounting and tax concepts in the following areas:  Acquisition, forms of ownership, development and construction costs, budgeting for capital and operating costs, sales and profit recognition, real estate leases and the taxation thereof, review of the basic accounting process and the users of information, financial statement review including notes, auditor’s reports.

 

RDEV 610 Real Property Development Law and Ethics (3 Credits)
The course is designed to acquaint students with the basic principles of real estate law as they relate to the real estate development industry. The course will also focus on ethics in real estate and how to understand the ethical decisions that should be made when negotiating a real estate development project.

 

RDEV 615 Principles, Process and Politics of Planning for Real Property Development (3 Credits)
Designed to introduce and familiarize students with planning and zoning and the associated processes and requirements that impact the real property development process and products. It will look at the roles the community and politics play in shaping the built environment and the development process.

 

RDEV 620 Market Analysis for Real Property Development (3 Credits)
Evaluating real estate requires an understanding of the fundamental market dynamics. Market analyses provide developers, lenders, architects, planners, investors and often public officials or other interested parties key insight into the potential for a piece of property. The market analysis predicts the ability to absorb specific land uses / products by price and quantity.

 

RDEV 630 Real Property Finance and Investment (3 Credits)
This is an intermediate finance course, designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of Real Estate Development Finance to reinforce work-related practices, pro forma analysis, the concept of time value of money and its many uses, asset valuation on a discounted cash flow (DCF) basis, cost benefit analysis (CBA), and the quantification of the multifaceted relationship between risk and return in property development.

 

RDEV 635 Capital Markets and Real Estate Investments for Developers (3 Credits)
An advanced course in real estate finance focusing on capital markets and complex financing mechanism in the public and private markets for raising capital for development of public, private and public/private projects.

 

RDEV 640 Principles of Urban Design for Real Property Developers (3 Credits)
Introduces students to the design issues associated with development of the basic real property asset classes (office, retail, and residential) and the context driven forces that shape these different development types. Also introduces non-design students to the principles of visual literacy and the capacity of different properties to support development in the effort to enhance a community.

 

RDEV 650 Essentials of Design and Construction Management for Development Professionals (3 Credits)
Essential terminology, process and substantive knowledge needed by development professionals to effectively move a project through the design and construction process; includes environmental and ethical considerations throughout the process. 

 

RDEV 660 Commercial Leasing for Real Property Developers (3 Credits)
Provides students with a hands-on look at commercial and real estate leases, lease provisions, and current market activity, a key factor in determining when and whether to proceed with developing a commercial property.

 

RDEV 670 Negotiating Agreements & Resolving Conflicts when Developing Real Property (3 Credits) 
Designed to develop students' negotiation and leadership skills for managing differences between individuals and groups while in the process of developing and operating real property. Includes a blend of skill-building exercises and theory discussions about the behavior of individuals to understand negotiation dynamics.

 

RDEV 688D Selected Topics in Real Estate Development; Geo-Underwriting: Location-Based Project Feasibility Analysis - From Segregation to Gentrification (3 Credits)
This course overviews fundamentals of project level real estate underwriting and its inextricable relationship to the neighborhood context. The construct of "neighborhood" is explored throughout the course as both a social organizing principle and as an economic marketplace. The course also considers the government and policy landscapes that have helped shape neighborhood form and the real estate types found there. 

 

RDEV 689D Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Affordable Housing Asset Management (3 Credits)
This is a rigorous graduate level course in the fundamentals of property and asset management, and their relation to housing policy in the United States. Students will gain an understanding of different financing options available to affordable housing developers and how properties in service operate within the confines of the regulatory requirements related to their financing. 

 

RDEV 689F Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Advanced Real Estate Development Finance (3 Credits)
This advanced course is designed to introduce and familiarize students with the core financing tools available to affordable and mixed-income housing developers: tax-exempt bonds and Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

 

RDEV 689I Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Design and Development Competition (3 Credits)
This is a NAIOP Capital Challenge competition focusing on a real estate development / redevelopment project in the Washington, DC, Suburban Maryland metropolitan area. Students work on an assigned site to formulate a proposed investment strategy and develop a comprehensive analysis and recommendations to maximize the potential of the property from both a quantitative (financial) and qualitative (feasibility) standpoint. 

 

RDEV 689N Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Construction Methods and Materials: Introduction (3 Credits)
The practice of real estate development within the urban context is driven by investment profiles, demographic shifts, aesthetic theories, design practices & technological innovations. Students will combine both field research and academic research as they address the assignments.

 

RDEV 689P Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Introduction to International Development (3 Credits)
The course will introduce students to urban problems and urban planning in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and will emphasize their relevance to urban planning in the U.S. Best practices will be explained in terms of the legal underpinnings of planning, cultural and historical differences, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, as well as planning and governance issues.

 

RDEV 689R Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Retail Real Estate Development and Asset Management (3 Credits)
The course is designed to introduce and familiarize students with the skills and techniques necessary to successfully execute the development and/or redevelopment and management of retail real estate and shopping center assets in the 21st Century. 

 

RDEV 689Y Current Topics in Real Estate Development; Guided Real Estate Development Project (3 Credits)
Explores a focused aspect in any of the five major phases of real estate development: planning, finance, law, design, construction, or management.

 

RDEV 690 Capstone Project: Real Property Feasibility Study (3 Credits)
The capstone course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to apply acquired classroom knowledge to real world conditions. Each student in the class will work separately to create a development proposal and feasibility study for an assigned property. The study will address at least market analysis, entitlement process, design, construction, and financing for the project.

URSP 804 -  Advanced Planning Theory (3 Credits)
Ph.D. level course on relations between theory and practice in planning. Ways of developing and using knowledge in collective action. Challenges to organizing for planning, finding knowledge useful for planning and balancing social attachments with free inquiry.

 

URSP 805 - Seminar in Research Design (3 Credits)
Addresses fundamental aspects of research design for Ph.D. students in urban planning and policy-related fields. Topics include principles of research design, formulating a feasible hypothesis and identifying appropriate methodology for testing hypotheses eg. qualitative methods, quantitative methods, survey research. Writing of proposals and dissertation. Publication, presentation, and funding.

 

URSP 810  - Contemporary Metropolitan Issues (3 Credits)
Introduces Ph.D. students to current metropolitan issues. Focus is on the historical development of the issue, problem definition, methodological approaches to its study, methodological dilemmas, and the ways that different conclusions are translated into policy. Topics vary from semester to semester but include such topics as the spatial mismatch hypothesis, the impact of urban design and form on travel behavior, the impact of technology on urban form, the justification for historic preservation, and sustainable development.

 

URSP 898 - Pre-Candidacy Research (1 - 8 Credits)
Selected topics in Urban Studies and Planning. Topics will vary with the instructor.

 

URSP 899 - Doctoral Dissertation Research (6 Credits)
This course is a required course for the Ph.D program in Urban and Regional Planning and Design.