Architecture Curriculum

Architecture at USD provides foundational knowledge on the global history of architecture and contemporary theoretical issues while preparing the next generation of architects. All courses, whether they are studios, lectures or seminars, teach our undergraduate students the skills of critical thinking and argumentative reasoning based on evidence, and encourage curiosity and free inquiry.

The program's primary goal is to introduce students to architecture as a cultural practice that structures both the physical and social environment. Our students learn:

• Spatial and formal design
• Graphic and material representation
• History, theory and criticism
• Architecture in context

Major

The architecture major's course of study is the product of two interrelated sequences: design studios, which introduce students to the graphic conventions and analysis of architecture from small-scale installations to large-scale buildings, and history and theory lectures and seminars that provide foundational knowledge for upper-division critical studies seminars. The major culminates in a year-long thesis project that combines design and history/theory.

Minor

The architecture minor provides foundational offerings in the global history of architecture, contemporary theoretical issues and a range of elective courses.

Explore Architecture Courses

Learn more about what current architecture courses are available here on our Courses page! Not all courses highlighted will be available every semester. Make sure to check course offerings on the registration portal for each upcoming semester.