Architectural Studies

The Five College Architectural Studies Program embraces the complexity of the process and practice of architecture and attempts to convey—to students and to the community—the many sides of design.

What is architecture? The objective of the Five College Architectural Studies program is to cultivate concerned architectural designers and thinkers through a flexible yet rigorous interdisciplinary course of study. Our cross-disciplinary approach to architectural education introduces students to a multitude of ways of thinking about design in history, in theory and in the studio. The program encourages students to explore a broad cross-section of courses—both in and beyond the architecture discipline of architecture across the Five Colleges—and introduces students to a diverse collection of faculty members, methodologies and design approaches.

On This Page

Faculty

Gabriel Arboleda - on Sabbatical Fall 2023 - Spring 2024
Associate Professor of Architectural Studies, Art and the History of Art, Amherst College
Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee 
garboleda@amherst.edu

Dwight A. Carey
Assistant Professor of Art and the History of Art, Amherst College
dcarey@amherst.edu

Nicola M. Courtright
Professor of Architectural Studies, Art and the History of Art, and European Studies, Amherst College
nmcourtright@amherst.edu 

Yael Rice 
Associate Professor of Art & the History of Art and of Asian Languages and Civilizations, Amherst College
Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee 
yrice@amherst.edu

Karen Koehler
Professor, Architectural and Art History, Hampshire College
Visiting Professor of the History of Art; Chair of Art and the History of Art, Amherst College
kkHACU@hampshire.edu; krkoehler@amherst.edu 

Thom Long
Associate Professor, Architecture and Design, Hampshire College

Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee 
tlHA@hampshire.edu
 

Naomi Darling
Five College Associate Professor, Sustainable Architecture, Mount Holyoke College      Five College Associate Professor of Architecture, UMass Amherst
Chair of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee
ndarling@mtholyoke.edu

Jessica Maier
Associate Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies, Mount Holyoke College
jmaier@mtholyoke.edu

Ajay Sinha
Professor of Art History and Architectural Studies, Mount Holyoke College
asinha@mtholyoke.edu

Elisa Kim
Assistant Professor of Architectural Studies, Smith College
Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee
emkim@smith.edu

Frazer Ward
Professor of Art, Art Department Chair, Smith College
fward@smith.edu

Caryn Brause
AIA LEED-AP
Associate Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
cjbrause@umass.edu

Carey Clouse
Associate Professor, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, UMass Amherst
clouse@umass.edu

Jordan Kanter
Assistant Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
jkanter@umass.edu   

Joseph Krupczynski
Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
josephk@umass.edu  

Sandy Litchfield
Associate Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
slitchcfi@umass.edu  

Ray Kinoshita Mann
Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
rkmann@umass.edu  

Ann Marshall
Lecturer, Architecture, UMass Amherst
awmarshall@umass.edu 

Patricia McGirr
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, UMass Amherst

Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee
mcgirr@larp.umass.edu  

Pari Riahi
Associate Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst

priahi@umass.edu

Stephen Schreiber
Professor and Chair, Architecture, UMass Amherst
Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee
schreiber@umass.edu  

Eldra-Dominique Walker
Assistant Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
eldrawalker@umass.edu

Robert Williams
Assistant Professor, Architecture, UMass Amherst
roblwilliams@umass.edu

Erika Zekos
Senior Lecturer, Architecture, UMass Amherst
Member of the 5 College Architectural Studies Committee
ezekos@umass.edu 

About the FC Architectural Studies Program

About the Program

The Five College Architectural Studies program encourages a serious commitment to the study and practice of architecture. It also opens students to discovering the ways in which architecture effects change in—and is affected by—its surrounding environment. Students are strongly encouraged to explore, study and analyze elements of the design process, including urban fabrics, social structures, environmental systems and economics of building. While immersed in a diverse cross-section of courses in a multitude of disciplines, students are encouraged to identify and develop their individual role as designers and thinkers. The impact of their actions on an individual, community and national level are probed.

The Five College architecture program embraces the complexity of the process and practice of architecture and attempts to convey—to students and to the community—the many sides of design. We explore architecture through: art, technology, environmental studies, history, theory, psychology, physiology, physics, media design, sociology, semiologylinguistics, politics, science and math; we consider creative modes of operation while we look at creativity, patterns, actions, weight, power, force, light, memory, time, sound, color, language, programming, syntax, form, environment, resources, humanity, struggle, infrastructure, consciousness, perception, networks, materials, transport, commodities, community, marketing, family, public-ness and private-ness. Students will find a personal connection to architecture by investigating the many ways in which the built environment impacts their lives and the ways in which they as students of architectural history, theory and practice might, in turn, change that world.

The Major

Amherst College, Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke College participate in the Five College Architectural Studies (FCAS) major. 

Please contact your advisor for more information about how the major works at your school.

Courses

Note that if you don't see classes from all campuses currently listed, they will appear as the campuses release their course schedules for the semester. The five campuses release their schedules on different dates. Visit this page for specific dates.

Fall 2023 Architectural Studies Courses

Subject Course # Sect # Course Title Instructor(s) Institution Meeting Times
ARCH 105 01 Space and Design Gretchen Rabinkin Amherst College TU/TH | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
ARCH 152 01 Islamic World Yael Rice Amherst College TU/TH | 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM
ARCH 159 01 Modernity & Avant-Garde Karen Koehler Amherst College M/W | 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM
ARCH 257 01 Building Colonial Cities Dwight Carey Amherst College TU/TH | 1:00 PM - 2:20 PM
ARCH 369 01 TIME Heidi Gilpin Amherst College W | 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM
ARHA 105 01 Space and Design Gretchen Rabinkin Amherst College TU/TH | 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
ARHA 152 01 Islamic World Yael Rice Amherst College TU/TH | 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM
ARHA 159 01 Modernity & Avant-Garde Karen Koehler Amherst College M/W | 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM
ARHA 257 01 Building Colonial Cities Dwight Carey Amherst College TU/TH | 1:00 PM - 2:20 PM
ASLC 142 01 Islamic World Yael Rice Amherst College TU/TH | 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM
BLST 253 01 Building Colonial Cities Dwight Carey Amherst College TU/TH | 1:00 PM - 2:20 PM
EUST 369 01 TIME Heidi Gilpin Amherst College W | 2:00 PM - 4:45 PM
ARCH 203 01 Scene Design for Theater/Film Vanessa James Mount Holyoke College TTH 01:45PM-03:00PM
ARCH 225ED 01 Interm.: Environmental Princ. Naomi Darling Mount Holyoke College MW 08:45AM-11:15AM
ARTH 102 01 Art in the Premodern World Samuel Barber Mount Holyoke College MW 10:00AM-11:15AM
ARTH 105 01 Arts of Asia Ajay Sinha Mount Holyoke College MW 11:30AM-12:45PM
ARTH 232RM 01 Renaissance Cities: Rome Jessica Maier Mount Holyoke College TTH 03:15PM-04:30PM
ARTH 233 01 Italian Renaissance Arch. Jessica Maier Mount Holyoke College MW 11:30AM-12:45PM
ARTH 290RC 01 Medieval Architec. in Motion Samuel Barber Mount Holyoke College TTH 10:30AM-11:45AM
ARTH 300MM 01 The Medieval Mediterranean Samuel Barber Mount Holyoke College W 01:30PM-04:20PM
ARTST 142AT 01 Fndt: Art and Technology Dixon Williams Mount Holyoke College TTH 01:45PM-04:15PM
POLIT 252 01 Urban Politics Preston Smith II Mount Holyoke College TTH 03:15PM-04:30PM
ARCH 211 01 The City Eldra Walker UMass Amherst M W F 9:05AM 9:55AM
ARCH 403 01 Design V Studio Ray Mann UMass Amherst M W 1:00PM 3:45PM
ARCH 403 02 Design V Studio Hellen Awino UMass Amherst M W 1:00PM 3:45PM
LANDARCH 401 01 Studio IX Frank Sleegers UMass Amherst M W F 1:25PM 5:15PM
LANDARCH 402 01 Studio X Frank Sleegers UMass Amherst M W F 1:25PM 5:15PM
REGIONPL 525 01 Housing Policy and Equity Darrel Ramsey-Musolf UMass Amherst M W 4:00PM 5:15PM
REGIONPL 652 01 Tools & Tech In Planning Wayne Feiden UMass Amherst M W 1:10PM 2:30PM
SUSTCOMM 160 01 Lecture Series in LANDARCH Carey Clouse UMass Amherst TU TH 4:00PM 5:15PM
SUSTCOMM 225 01 Race,Gender,Sexuality & Equity Darrel Ramsey-Musolf UMass Amherst M W 11:15AM 1:10PM
SUSTCOMM 352 01 Planning Tools and Techniques Wayne Feiden UMass Amherst M W 1:15PM 2:30PM
SUSTCOMM 543 01 Hist Arch & Ldscp I Elizabeth Brabec UMass Amherst M W 5:30PM 6:45PM
SUSTCOMM 574 01 City Planning Peter Dunn UMass Amherst TU TH 8:30AM 9:45AM

Contact Us

Program Co-Chairs:

Naomi Darling, Five College Associate Professor of Sustainable Architecture, Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst

Erika Zekos, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, UMass Amherst 

Five College Staff Liaison:

April Shandor, Academic Programs Coordinator

Connect with us:

Amherst College Architectural Studies Facebook page

Join our email list! The Five College Architectural Studies email list is open to faculty, staff and students interested in Architectural Studies to share announcements and information.