M.E.D.

The MED program is intended for qualified applicants with a graduate or undergraduate degree in architecture or a related discipline who exhibit a strong capacity for independent research. The final degree of Master of Environmental Design (M.E.D.) is a nonprofessional degree that does not fulfill prerequisites for licensure.

The main criterion for admission to the program is a well-defined research proposal for independent study that engages one or more of the study areas listed below. The proposal should outline a study plan that the candidate can accomplish in four academic terms with support by faculty available to students in the M.E.D. program. Students are chosen to be one in a collegial cohort that pursues rigorous inquiries with inventive methodologies. Prospective applicants may contact the M.E.D. director and attend a Q and A session held each fall.

In the over fifty-year history of the program, M.E.D. students have generated a diverse inventory of projects that can be viewed in the archive below. Some recurring areas of research include:

Spatial Activism and Advocacy

Developing documents and modes of organizing to support activist partners in the field; crafting an advocate’s voice for opinion and long-form journalism pieces that foreground spatial practices; studying the impacts of cultural persuasions on political climates.

Design Ecologies

Studying contemporary and historical forces shaping climate change, inequality, racial injustice, land tenure, socio-technical infrastructures, and environmental justice; developing and advocating for innovative forms of design to reverse environmental/social abuse.

History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture and Urbanism

Studying the history and theory of architecture, urbanism and landscape and their intersections with broader cultural aesthetics and politics; developing a voice for architectural criticism and public scholarship.

Media Studies and Design

Contributing spatial evidence to studies of media and infrastructure; using digital tools for mapping, visualizing data, and fabricating building components; developing exhibitions and curatorial strategies.

In course titles, a designates fall term, and b designates spring term. The School reserves the right to change the prescribed course of study as necessary.

The program of study is a combination of required classes, electives, and independent research. A total of 72 credits is required for completion of the M.E.D. program, allocated as 18 credits each term. A minimum of 21 credits is assigned to electives and 6 to the required M.E.D. courses. A maximum of 45 credits is assigned to independent research (3092a or b). The electives and course distribution are determined in consultation with the student’s primary adviser and the director of the program.

Course requirements for the M.E.D. Program

M.E.D. students are required to take a course in research methodologies (3091a) in the fall term of their first year and a course in architectural theory (3022b) in the spring term of their first year. All other course work is distributed among electives chosen from School of Architecture and other Yale University courses. (See descriptions of courses in the M.Arch. curriculum as well as in the bulletins of other schools of Yale University and online at Yale Course Search.) All M.E.D. students are required to take 3092a or b each term to develop their independent project.

Note: Design studios offered in the M.Arch. program are closed to M.E.D. students. Exceptions are considered only if the design studio is directly related to a student’s research, and are subject to approval by the M.E.D. chair, the dean, and the studio instructor.

M.E.D.: Total Requirement: 72 credits
First Year (Fall)

First Year (Spring)

Second Year (Fall)

Second Year (Spring)

Summer preparation courses for incoming M.E.D. students

In the week before the beginning of the fall term, the School offers two preparation courses that are required for incoming M.E.D. students.

1. Summer Digital Media Orientation Course. This half-day orientation covers accessing the School’s servers, use of the School’s equipment, and the School’s digital media policies and procedures.
2. Arts Library Research Methodology Course. This course covers research methodologies and tools specific to the M.E.D. curriculum.

Students work closely with one or two advisers on their independent project. Advisers are primarily drawn from the School of Architecture faculty. Additional advisers are drawn from other Schools at Yale. The following faculty members serve on the M.E.D. committee, which reviews all independent work each term.

Keller Easterling, YSoA, Chair
Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, YSoA
Alan Plattus, YSoA
Elihu Rubin, YSoA

Faculty from the following schools and groups at Yale also serve as M.E.D. advisors and readers: Agrarian Studies, American Studies, School of Art, History of Art, Anthropology, Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM), East Asian Studies, Environmental Humanities, English, Film and Media Studies, History, History of Science and Medicine, Latin American Studies, Native American Cultural Center, Yale Group for the Study of Native America, Asian Studies, and Yale School of the Environment (YSE).