• Provide exceptional and compelling learning experiences to our students to promote global knowledge exchange and exposure to different cultures and contexts
• Cultivate cohorts of students who represent national and global racial and ethnic diversity, geographic and economic diversity, and diversity of individual identity
• Foster cross-campus collaborations with other schools and academic units
• Provide intellectual support to state agencies to address regional challenges
• Partner with entities to showcase research projects and creative work to a broader community

GLOBAL STUDIES

The USC School of Architecture offers multiple study abroad opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students that were created to coincide with the specific architecture curriculum. Beginning in 2019, the program will be expanded in an effort to provide students with wider exposure to issues in the “global south” and engage in more expansive conversation about architecture history and cultures that are non-Western or Western-influenced. The School is collaborating with educational partners in megacities that are experiencing contemporary challenges in areas such as transportation, housing and water infrastructure.

DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND ACCESS

Through alliances with community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Service Institutions and Native-Serving Institutions, the USC School of Architecture will employ various strategies to engage a student body that is more reflective of national racial and ethnic diversity.

K-12 INITIATIVES

The USC School of Architecture is committed to cultivating a diverse pipeline of students. With support from partners on and off campus, the school will utilize its resources to expose elementary, middle and high school students to architecture and the various career opportunities made possible with an architectural education.

A-LAB ARCHITECTURE ENRICHMENT PROGRAM

Launching in Fall 2020, the USC A-Lab Architecture Enrichment Program is the next iteration of a successful high school architecture program first established by Dean Milton S. F. Curry at the University of Michigan in 2015. The program will partner with public and charter high schools in downtown and South-Central Los Angeles to provide immersive instruction in architecture and design to underrepresented minority students.

EXPLORATION OF ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM

The USC Exploration of Architecture program provides high school sophomore, junior and senior students from across the country and the world with an intensive and in-depth introduction to the world of architecture and the experience of an architectural education. Over the course of two or four weeks, students design and build in a collaborative studio environment, tour famous landmarks, live on campus in a residence hall, and work with the School’s distinguished faculty and upper division students.

RESEARCH

Architecture will play a key role in analyzing the future of sustainability and energy, human health, economic and fiscal policy, and education. Through collaborative research ventures with various state agencies, the school will provide the tools and resources needed to solve some of the nation’s most pressing issues.

SYMPOSIA AND EXHIBITIONS

Together with its strategic partners, the School of Architecture is poised to present a range of exhibitions on research projects, creative work and themes that expand on the School’s core mission.

Title image: Design Miami