M.S. Design Theory & Pedagogy

The Master of Science in Design Theory & Pedagogy program is a one-year, three-semester postgraduate degree program preparing future design educators to shape contemporary architectural discourse.

About the Program

SCI-Arc’s Design Theory & Pedagogy program empowers students to rethink how architecture is taught, discussed, and shared. Through research, writing, and experimentation, students develop new models for design education that engage the most pressing cultural and technological shifts of our time.

Projects explore everything from AI and machine learning to climate change, material innovation, and the politics of design. Students collaborate with SCI-Arc’s expert faculty and advisors from leading institutions like UCLA and the Getty Research Institute, building networks that connect academia with the broader world of design and culture.

Led by a team of faculty experts, graduates emerge as influential educators, program directors, curators, and researchers—shaping the next generation of architectural thought and practice.

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Skills Acquired

Students gain core competencies through the program including:

• Research and articulate new models for design and architectural education
• Develop curricula, course frameworks, and pedagogical approaches
• Communicate ideas through writing, public speaking, exhibition, and curation
• Integrate emerging technologies such as AI, simulation, and machine learning into design theory
• Create platforms that bridge academia, culture, and public discourse
• Translate complex theoretical concepts into spatial, visual, and digital forms
• Collaborate with leading scholars and institutions to advance architectural discourse

A Team of Expert Faculty and Guest Advisors

Meet the educators shaping the future of design theory.

Marcelyn Gow
Marcelyn Gow is the Undergraduate Program Chair at SCI-Arc and Coordinator of the Design Theory & Pedagogy program.

Graham Harman, P.h.D
Graham Harman is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Liberal Arts Coordinator at SCI-Arc. He is the author of 25 books and more than 300 articles, which have been translated into all major languages.

Gary Riichirō Fox, PhD
Gary Riichirō Fox is an architectural historian, educator, and Assistant Curator of Architecture and Design at Getty Research Institute.

Yara Feghali
Yara is a French-Lebanese designer working at the intersection of architecture, video games, and immersive technologies. She is a continuing Lecturer at UCLA AUD, and the creative director of Folly Feast Lab co-founded with Viviane El Kmati based in LA.

Michael Osman, P.h.D
Michael Osman’s work focuses on the history and theory of architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries. He directs the MA/PhD programs in Critical Studies of Architecture at UCLA.

Matthew Shaw
Matt Shaw is a New York–based author, editor and columnist, whose work focuses on architecture, art and design as instruments of political, social and cultural shifts.

Joe Day
Joe Day is an architect and theorist in Los Angeles, where he leads Deegan-Day Design & Architecture and is Design and History + Theory faculty at SCI-Arc.

Alumni Success

Our graduates are at the forefront of architectural education, teaching and leading research at universities worldwide.

• Majeda Alhinai – Curator of Oman Pavilion – Venice Biennale 2025 / Kent State - Faculty
• Garet Ammerman – UT San Antonio - Assistant Director of School of Architecture + Planning, Associate Professor of Instruction / AIA
• Soledad Chammorro – Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina – Design Faculty
• Jimmy Cheng – Carnegie Mellon University – Special Faculty
• Wendy Cox – Norwich University – Professor Emerita
• Emiliano Espasandin – UI-Boise College of Art and Architecture - Faculty
• Yara Feghali – UCLA – Lecturer / Folly Feast Lab - Founder
• Daniel Horowitz – University of Hartford - Program Director, Master of Architecture Program
• Subin Jameel – CEPT University, Ahmedabad – Assistant Professor
• Esin Karaosman – University of Innsbruck – PhD. Candidate
• Matthew Lopez – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Lecturer
• Valeria Ospital – IAAC Barcelona – Research Collaborator
• Jon Penvose – University of Pennsylvania - Lecturer
• Juan Rincon – Architect – Bogotá, Colombia / Voltaje Festival Organizer
• Viviano Villarreal-Bueron – Universidad De Monterrey – Professor / MASS Operations
• Claudia Wainer – California Polytechnic University, Pomona – Assistant Professor
• Henry Yang – Woodbury University – Adjunct / PhD. Candidate UCLA