The post-professional Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture, Landscape, and Design is a unique, highly rigorous and interdisciplinary program that trains students in multiple specialties and related disciplines to pursue research of the highest academic standard. It includes advanced exploration of the various methodologies of each discipline ranging from theoretical to applied research and produces graduates that can advance the field of conventional academic scholarship while also creating new models of research-based practice that can be implemented in real world settings.
In addition to the core faculty, affiliated faculty with expertise in addressing design problems from multiple disciplinary perspectives in other faculties, schools, and departments across the University of Toronto will be directly involved in the life of the program.
Through a novel curriculum — one that is unlike other Ph.D. programs in architecture schools in Canada or internationally — the Ph.D. program at Daniels requires students in all disciplines to pursue study independently and to share that research with an interdisciplinary cohort at every stage in the curriculum. At the beginning of the curriculum, coursework — including a colloquium and a methods course in the first year, and a practicum and dissertation preparation course in the second — encourages students to work across disciplines in order to familiarize themselves with the broad fields of knowledge necessary to address contemporary scholarly, political, economic, and policy problems. Graduates will be grounded in a research informed practice that will transcend current disciplinary boundaries and position them to engage and lead the emerging, broader discussion, outside and between the specific design disciplines.
Whether focusing on the displacement of coastal dwellers as a result of project sea level rises, refugee crises produced by political unrest, or cities in need as water becomes an increasingly scarce resource, it is apparent that the engagements of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design with the world are increasingly complex and warrant critical thinking and ethical action guided by innovative advanced research. The Daniels program prepares students to address the challenges facing architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design in the 21st century by going beyond the individual disciplinary lines and exploiting the synergies between these fields through the lenses of history and theory, computation and fabrication, health and society, and technology and environment. The program goes beyond the traditional divide between practice and theory that one broadly finds in Ph.D. studies which exclusively focus on either applied research or text-based scholarship.
Students in the Ph.D. program will have opportunities to work with a wide range of institutions within and beyond the University of Toronto: the Jackman Humanities Institute, the Global Cities Institute, the Munk School of Global Affairs, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the rich array of universities in and near Toronto.
The Ph.D. is intended for students with aspirations in academic research and teaching, research in government and industry, and research within design firms.
The Ph.D. in Architecture, Landscape & Design requirements include:
(Note: Additional courses or examination requirements may be necessary based upon faculty advisement.)
The program includes the following minimum required courses:
The program also requires participation in two doctoral non-credit research colloquia:
The remaining required minimum 3.0 FCE (six half-credit courses) are electives to be selected from advanced (3XXX series) graduate level courses offered at the Daniels or advanced graduate courses in cognate disciplines across the University of Toronto pending the approval of the Faculty. The student’s program of study will be determined in consultation with his or her supervisory committee and approved by the committee.
The required courses listed above ground a student’s core experience in the doctoral program and provide the student cohort with a common learning experience. This pedagogical approach will expose students to methods of research and analysis that will provide intersections between the cultural-historical and the technical-professional knowledge that are not afforded in other academic disciplines with claims upon the built environment.
Electives—whether taken within the Daniels Faculty or in other University of Toronto programs—must be selected in consultation with each student’s assigned faculty advisor. Depending upon a student’s desired area of specialization, faculty advisors may require study in foreign languages, technical skills, historical periods, or research methods.
All graduate students at the University of Toronto must complete all of their course requirements at the graduate level.
Term 1
ALD 4030H: Doctoral Research Colloquium
Elective
Elective
Term 2
ALD 4040H: Theories and Methods
Elective
Elective
Term 3
Comprehensive Examinations
Term 4
ALD 4050H: Research Practicum
Elective
Elective
Term 5
Comprehensive Examinations
Elective
Elective
Term 6
ALD 4060H: Preparation for Thesis
Term 7+
Thesis
Dissertation Proposal
Each student’s dissertation proposal should outline the main argument, rationale for supporting the prospective dissertation, a summary of existing research on the topic, a case for the originality of the research, and a schedule for research activities. The proposal will be circulated among the Ph.D. supervisory committee for commentary and approval, and the student must present the proposal to the committee and potential additional faculty members for comment and advice. No later than the beginning of the third year of study, the student must submit to the director of the Ph.D. program an approved proposal. An approved proposal signed by all members of the supervisory committee and the director must be submitted to the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Ph.D. office.
Doctoral candidacy is achieved when all requirements listed above for the Ph.D. except for the dissertation are met.
The student and supervisor(s) should meet regularly and must meet at least once per year. By the end of the fourth year, the student should complete a dissertation based upon original research that makes a significant contribution to the field. The supervisory committee must approve the completed dissertation before it is submitted to oral examination following School of Graduate Studies standards.
Architectural History and Theory
Christy Anderson, Professor, Renaissance and Baroque Architecture History of Art, Graduate Department of Art, and the Daniels Faculty
John Robinson, Professor Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, School of the Environment, and the Daniels Faculty
Mary Lou Lobsinger, Associate Professor Daniels Faculty
Peter Sealy, Assistant Professor Daniels Faculty
George Baird, Professor Emeritus Daniels Faculty
Landscape History and Theory
Georges Farhat, Associate Professor Daniels Faculty
Mark Laird, Associate Professor Daniels Faculty
Urbanism / Urban Design
Jesse LeCavalier, Associate Professor, Director, Ph.D. Program Daniels Faculty
Patricia L. McCarney, Associate Professor, Director, Global Cities Institute Department of Political Science, the Daniels Faculty, and the Global Cities Institute
John Robinson, Professor Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, School of the Environment, and the Daniels Faculty
Building Science
Ted Kesik, Professor of Building Science Daniels Faculty
Brady Peters, Assistant Professor Daniels Faculty
Bomani Khemet, Assistant Professor Daniels Faculty
Alstan Jakubiec, Assistant Professor Daniels Faculty
Architecture, Health and Society
Stephen Verderber, Professor Daniels Faculty and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Visual Studies
Mitchell Akiyama, Assistant Professor Daniels Faculty
Affiliated Faculty
Joseph Clarke, Assistant Professor, Modern Architecture History of Art, Graduate Department of Art
Jennifer Drake, Assistant Professor Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering
Paul Hess, Associate Professor Department of Geography and Planning
Heba Mostafa, Assistant Professor, Islamic Art and Architecture History of Art, Graduate Department of Art
Matti Siemiatycki, Associate Professor Department of Geography and Planning
Marianne Touchie, Assistant Professor Departments of Civil & Mineral Engineering and Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Chen-Pang Yeang, Associate Professor and Director Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Simon Stern, Associate Professor & Co-Director, Centre for Innovation Law & Policy, Faculty of Law
As a leading research institution, the University of Toronto depends largely on our success in recruiting outstanding graduate students and enabling them to realize their potential. This means providing financial resources so that students can focus on their studies and complete their degrees in a timely manner.
Towards this aim, the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design provides PhD students with a base funding commitment of $17,000 plus tuition and fees. This funding commitment is valid for a maximum of 4 years.
Students receive their funding commitment in annual funding packages. These packages may be composed of a variety of funding sources, including:
International students receive support at a higher level in recognition of the costs associated with the differential in fees (e.g., UHIP). On an annual basis, students will receive a funding letter outlining the composition, timing, and disbursement of their funding package.