Learning Goals
The Architectural Studies Program has been designed to offer students enough of an exposure to the field that they can determine whether they wish to pursue it professionally.
It also helps them develop the skills and credentials necessary for admission to graduate study in architecture. For those who decide this is not something they wish to build upon after Middlebury, it still provides a fine way to acquire a liberal arts education in a synthetic manner.
It combines study in the history of art and architecture (important for developing critical awareness and skills) with art studio work, calculus, physics, and elective work in a range of fields:
- Environmental Studies
- Geography
- Economics
- Sociology
- Theater Design
Students in the major will develop the following skills:
- An understanding of the complex factors that condition the built environment through design analysis, theory, and history.
- Critical and analytical skills through a study of history, theory, and design studios.
- An ability to communicate ideas through written, graphic, and oral means in an organized and articulate fashion through presenting history papers, design critiques, and presentation booklets.
- An ability for creative problem solving in the design studio.
- An ability to visualize in spatial and three-dimensional terms.