PhD in Geography, Planning, and Design

Program Information

The College of Architecture and Planning offers one doctoral program: PhD in Geography, Planning, and Design. This research-oriented degree is also the only doctoral program in planning, architecture, or landscape architecture in the state of Colorado. Since 1997, the program has trained students to become high-impact faculty members, professionals, and intellectual leaders in fields that address urgent social and environmental issues.

By integrating the fields of Geography, Planning, and Design, our doctoral students receive an innovative educational experience that enables cutting-edge research and professional contributions. Solving critical urban and environmental problems in the 21st century requires that we move beyond traditional academic silos and modes of knowledge production. Our unique, interdisciplinary degree prepares students to be critical thinkers, engaged scholars, and innovative researchers capable of addressing complex and emergent issues. Our students explore interactions between society and the built and natural environment and engage in research aimed at promoting sustainable, healthy, and socially just communities at local, regional, and global scales. (See below our four Areas of Emphasis.)

Students can take advantage of resources in all departments and fields in the university system, with more than 35 acclaimed faculty members from 11 departments able to supervise and advise dissertation research. Interdisciplinary study and cross-disciplinary inquiry occur in a congenial work environment in one of the most dynamic and fast-growing urban regions in the United States. Students also have the benefit of pursuing their studies only minutes from the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

Students and faculty also have extensive access to cutting edge resources including: the Geospatial and Mapping Laboratory (GAMLab), The Facility for Advanced Spatial Technologies (FASTLab), The 13 Acre GES Urban Farm Field Research Station (Five Fridges Farm), Numerous Environmental Sciences Faculty Labs and Centers, CityCenter, the Colorado Center for Sustainable Urbanism, and many more. The region is also home to a broad and diverse community of professional planners and designers, hundreds of public, private, and non-profit planning and design organizations and firms, and national and regional labs and headquarters including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Parks Service (NPS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

PhD Program Contacts

Areas of Emphasis

The PhD program provides four interdisciplinary areas of emphasis that leverage diverse yet complementary faculty strengths. Collectively, they encompass the social, environmental, and spatial sciences and reflect our commitment to collaboration and integration across traditional academic disciplines.

Curriculum

Students choose their coursework and design original research in consultation with a faculty advisor and dissertation committee. Most students complete the program in four to five years, and all degree requirements must be completed within eight years of matriculation. The minimum residency requirement is four semesters, not including summer semesters.

The program requires a minimum of 66 hours of graduate work, 30 of which must be earned while in residence. Prior to advancement to candidacy, students complete a minimum of 36 credit hours in core requirements and elective courses in their area of focus, all of which must be at the Graduate level (5000 and above). All PhD students are required to take 12 credit hours of core courses. After coursework is completed, students pass a comprehensive exam, defend their dissertation proposal, and then write and defend their dissertation.

Learning Outcomes

The program is committed to developing and implementing efficient and effective processes of assessment and evaluation to advance student learning, teaching effectiveness, and program quality. The program’s five student learning outcomes provide the faculty and students with a shared understanding of the goals directing the curriculum. Upon graduation with a PhD in Geography, Planning, and Design, students will be able to:

• exhibit a comprehensive understanding of content area(s) of focus;
• anchor ideas in scholarship and identify novel areas for scholarly pursuit;
• conduct quality research appropriate to the field;
• create written products that are clear and logical in form; and
• present clear and convincing ideas orally that demonstrate a strong understanding of the areas of focus.

Overview

The minimum requirement is 36 credit hours of coursework, all of which must be at the Graduate level (5000 and above) and 30 hours of dissertation credits. All PhD students are required to take 12 credit hours of core courses.

The curriculum is divided into four stages:

2020-2021 Tuition and Fees

Typical Course of Study

Independent Studies

Transfer Credits

Incoming students may request transfer credits from previously-completed graduate-level courses by following the regulations outlined in Section 4 of the Graduate School Policies and Procedures document, with the exception that the PhD program only allows up to nine (9) transfer credits for each student.

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