Month: November 2020

by Anjali Joseph

If I were to turn back time to exactly 20 years ago, I see my younger self trying to make sense of what she wanted to do with her life. In November 2000, I was in my third semester of graduate school at Kansas State University and I had realized that I loved environment and behavior research. Nothing excited me more than studying how Architecture impacted people’s behavior, their interactions with each other and their environment. My master’s work had whetted my appetite for built environment research and I began to explore PhD programs. Thankfully, I had some great mentors at KSU and they pointed me in the direction of schools that might be a good fit with my interests. I was extremely fortunate to end up in the right school with an excellent advisor (Georgia Tech with Dr. Craig Zimring). However, I don’t think I really knew what I was getting into and where this Ph.D. would lead. I don’t think I necessarily asked the right questions when I talked to my potential advisors. I was probably in awe of these incredible educators and just grateful that they would be willing to talk to me!

Twenty years later, I am on the other side. At this point, I have worked with several doctoral students and post-doctoral faculty and I frequently interview prospective students interested in studying at Clemson. Here are some words of advice I would have had for my younger self that I share here:

1. Thoroughly research the work of your future advisor:

Research the work of your future advisor by checking out their website and reading about their interests and ongoing projects. You should find their work interesting and ideally, there should be a good fit between your interests and passion and theirs. Sometimes, you may end up carving out your individual research from within a larger research program they are leading. Your advisor will be most motivated and interested in supporting you through the long Ph.D. journey if there is a strong fit between your interests and theirs.

2.  Make sure your advisor has an active ongoing research program that you will be able to participate in:

As a Ph.D. student, you will likely be hired as a research or teaching assistant. A research assistant primarily works on research projects, assisting the faculty member and other team members on research related tasks. As a teaching assistant, you may assist your advisor or other faculty with teaching in lecture classes or design studio at the graduate or undergraduate level. A PhD student will benefit from obtaining both teaching and research experience. If your goal is to go into academia with a primary focus on teaching, teaching assistantships, especially studio teaching experience, can be invaluable. However, if you aim to build a strong research program of your own (in academia or practice), I would strongly recommend obtaining experiences as a researcher. As a member of an active research team, you will learn a range of skills from conducting literature reviews, to collecting and analyzing data and writing manuscripts that will help you grow in confidence as a researcher. Further, you will learn to work with faculty and other students in a team environment that will help you as you build and lead your own team. Being listed as a first author or co-author on journal articles will certainly help when you start applying for jobs.

3. Consider the connection between research and practice in your school:

Research in built environment and health is often conducted with the goal of understanding how design can help improve health and well-being of occupants. Research in this field is most impactful when we work with architects and other stakeholders to address critical problems in practice. Research programs that are well integrated with undergraduate and graduate programs in Architecture or other design-related fields facilitate a more direct connection between doctoral research and its application in the real world.

4. Talk to other doctoral students in the program you are applying to:

Make the effort to reach out to other doctoral students in the program you are applying to or better still ask your potential advisor to connect you with other students. Ask these current students about their research and their relationship with their advisor. Find out about the types of projects they work on as part of their assistantship. Talking to current students and recent graduates will also give you sense of how involved they are with the industry and what their priorities are, which could give you an invaluable perspective regarding your own future prospects. Current students could also provide valuable insights about working and living conditions in the city you are planning to move to. I was planning to move to Atlanta with my 1-year old and husband, and family housing and daycare were huge concerns for me.

5. Understand where your Ph.D. might lead you:

Talk to your potential advisor as well as your current mentors about the different directions and career options available to you after a Ph.D. in Architecture. Traditionally, a Ph.D. in Architecture led to a career in academia. However, increasingly researchers are being hired by Architecture firms to conduct design research to support integration of research and evidence into design practice. Here is a profile of a Clemson PDBE graduate who leads the HKS healthcare research portfolio.

6. Visit the school and spend time with your future advisor and colleagues:

If at all possible, you should try and visit the school and city where you will likely spend the next 4-5 years of your life. Spend some time observing the interactions between your advisor and other students and faculty. Sit in on a class if you can. Talk to other faculty and students. Try and visit the places where you could potentially live.

7. Make sure you are ready for the hard work and commitment that a PhD involves:

A Ph.D. is a long-term commitment (3-5 years) that requires immense discipline, hard work and perseverance. You have to have an abiding interest in your area of research to sustain your enthusiasm through all the ups and downs. Doctoral work involves a LOT of reading and writing and is a significant departure from the more graphical and visual methods of analysis and communication used extensively in Architecture education. The transition to the extensive reading and writing required in your Ph.D. program can be difficult in the beginning.

This is my perspective based on my experience as a doctoral student and now as a faculty member who works with Ph.D. students. Others who have followed a path similar to mine or a slightly different one may have other advice to offer. Even if you think you know what you want to do in your Ph.D., be open to new experiences and challenges and see where they lead you. The right program will give you many tools to succeed, but in the end, it is up to you to make the most of your journey as a Ph.D. student.

Interview Highlights with David Allison, Director of Graduate Studies in Architecture + Health and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Architecture

By Anjali Joseph and Lisa Hoskins

How has the Clemson Architecture + Health graduate program changed over time?

The Clemson A+H graduate program was formed in 1968 officially with a 10-year grant from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. The director, George Means, came to academia after working in architectural practice creating buildings associated with the federal Hill-Burton Act. The early years of the program centered around the formation of South Carolina’s community mental health plan after passage of the federal Community Mental Health Act.  The studio supported the design of three community mental health facilities which are still in operation today, one of which was published in Architectural Record.

David Allison started as a student of the Clemson A+H program during a time of transition when the studio started taking on smaller community health initiatives. After graduation, David worked in architectural practice in California for several years, then returned to Clemson in 1990 when Professor Means retired. Over the last 30 years, the A+H program has changed from a one-person shop into a more structured curriculum with five full time architecture faculty and researchers plus a nursing adjunct faculty, and a robust research enterprise, the Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing.

What is the value of architectural education with a focus on health?

As Professor Means used to say, “Everything from a doghouse to a hospital is a health care facility. All buildings support or impact health in one way or another.”

A focus on health is a good focus for architectural practice in general. Workplaces, education spaces, health facilities, etc. all share the same concerns. Whether you go back to Vitruvius or feng shui the built environment is designed to support health and well-being. Life and safety are foundational for the architectural profession and licensure. We just do it more explicitly in the Architecture + Health program.

What is the structure of Clemson’s Architecture + Health graduate program?

The structure of the A+H Graduate program includes over forty hours of coursework dedicated specifically to Architecture and Health, including the following classes:

• History and Theory of Architecture and Health helps students to understand the relationship between history, health care and architecture. From the holistic health of ancient Greece to middle age miasma theory to industrialization and germ theory, the theoretical foundations of health care environments uniquely influence architecture. Research in recent years focuses more on patient centered care and re-examines the role of nature. Students need to learn from history and adapt to current times.
• Health Policy, Planning, and Administration teaches students about the contemporary context of health care and practice. They learn to solve problems related to larger current issues such as evolving demographics, changing technology, reimbursement, policy, a growing body of research, and health-related client expectations.
• Architectural Programming and Pre-design is about problem seeking. Students learn a dialogue-based approach with interdisciplinary and collaborative teams to first define then solve problems.
• Health Facilities Planning and Design tunnels into critical functional areas and foundations of health care building design. This is a large domain of knowledge at an introductory level since it is always evolving and changing. This class is for understanding core issues, asking good questions, learning where to find knowledge and resources, and educating clients on best practices.
• Four A+H specific design studios focus on a variety of health-related problems at different scales (city, street, building, detail) for different populations.

Click here for more detailed curriculum information at Clemson Architecture + Health.

What changes in the profession need to be reflected in the A+H education?

The healthcare architect is no longer accepted as an expert. We must build on our knowledge base, understand its limitations, understand what it tells us, and learn how to translate and apply it. Some people misuse Evidence Based Design (EBD) as only a marketing tool. We work to prepare emerging professionals to use an ever-expanding body of knowledge in collaboration with clients. A+H professionals need to be more than passive recipients of information. They must engage in the intellectual exchange of knowledge.

What skills are essential to cultivate in students?

Students need to seek and apply knowledge to open-ended and complex problems that have no singular answer. There is an increasing need for speed, but the pace of research is slower than pace of design and construction. The industry has made strides in how to deliver the technical part of buildings faster (BIM), but needs to focus on how to integrate research knowledge into the design process in the constraints of time for complex problems that healthcare architecture faces.
A new problem with emerging technology is information overload. Students can find information more easily, but it is hard to select the best knowledge, since both good and bad are available.

What is the vision you have for the Clemson A+H program with regard to integrating research?

Research in architecture in the past has been highly divorced from professional education, physically and culturally, etc. We want to make a deliberate effort to keep the research enterprise and professional enterprise closer together, so research can inform practice more fluidly and practice could influence and direct research, as well as help translate research knowledge for practice.
Time is the limiting factor. Physically co-locating researchers and professional students provides better opportunities for interface.

Where do Clemson A+H students go after graduation?

Clemson A+H graduates enter health care practice at an accelerated level of ability and learning. They typically have greater responsibility and greater opportunities starting out, are compensated accordingly, and recognized in firms. Our graduates tend to rise rapidly in seniority and have an impact in the profession. Not all students go into specialized practice. Some go to smaller firms and do a cross section of work. Most are aggressively recruited and valued at firms of varying sizes that focus on health care.
Clemson A+H has about 260-270 alumni now, one of the largest and most comprehensive in terms of curriculum and course offerings. While the program graduates an average of eight students a year, there is a demand for more than that, but the program at its current size maintains a strong identity and culture.

For more information on the Clemson Architecture + Health Graduate Program, click here.