Many people email us asking us about educational opportunities in the field of landscape architecture and healthcare design. Here is the beginning of a list:
Certificate Programs
1. Chicago Botanic Garden Healthcare Garden Design Certificate of Merit Program
www.chicagobotanic.org/certificate/hgd
Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe, IL
8 day program, March 26 – April 2, 2008
Potential students may also enroll for the first day only, meant to be a one-day seminar for participants to receive an introduction to Healthcare Garden Design on March 26.
Contact: Amelia Simmons-Hurt Manager, Certificate Programs
Ph: 847.835.8293 Fax: 847.835.6865
email: school@chicagobotanic.org
Chicago Public Radio recently did a program on the course: http://ww.chicagopublicradio.org/content.aspx?audioID=14097 Coming from Public Health/
2. University of Washington Extension Certificate Program in Therapeutic Gardens http://www.extension.washington.edu/ext/certificates/thg/thg_gen.asp
Next program begins Fall 2008
Landscape Architecture Programs (for BLA, MLA, or PhD)
1. Texas A & M University Certificate in Health Systems and Design
http://archone.tamu.edu/chsd/
Texas A & M University, College of Architecture, 3137 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-3137
This is probably the most comprehensive program in the country at this time, with a strong focus on empirical research and evidence-based design.
2. Michigan State University, Department of Landscape Architecture, MLA degree specialty in Therapeutic Site Design
http://www.spdc.msu.edu/la/
The degree is a Masters in Environmental Design with a Specialty in Therapeutic Site Design. It is intended to be a second professional degree program, but second professional degree is widely interpreted to include individuals from the medical arts as well as design/planning.
Faculty member Dr. Joanne Westphal is also offering a 2 credit lecture, 1 credit studio course in Therapeutic Site Design this winter. It is intended that students not on the MSU campus will be able to take the course, on-line.
3. Professor Emeritus Clare Cooper Marcus has been teaching a class at the College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley.
4. Colorado State University has an undergraduate program in Landscape Architecture, and has recently added a degree program in Horticultural Therapy which will begin this fall. This offers an excellent combination for students who may be interested both in design and HT (see below for more on HT).
5. The University of Washington, with Landscape Architecture Professor Daniel Winterbottom as a tireless advocate, often offers studios, including design/build, with a focus on therapeutic gardens. Several projects, including Cancer Lifeline, Incarnation Children’s Center, Pete Gross House, and the University of Washington Medical Center Healing Garden can be viewed on the UW LA program’s website: http://www.caup.washington.edu/larch/Programs/design_build/db_goals.php. Several more projects, including Bedford Hills Prison and Guatemala, will be added soon.
Other avenues:
- The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory (LHHL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign “a multidisciplinary research laboratory dedicated to studying the connection between greenery and human health: http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu/
Horticultural Therapy:
- The American Horticultural Therapy Association has links to numerous universities and institutions that offer training in horticultural therapy, many of which may be useful from a design perspective: http://www.ahta.org/education/colleges.cfm
- Temple University is currently offering three courses on Horticultural Therapy in preparation for the AHTA Certificate Program.
- Rutgers University and the University of Maine also offer undergraduate programs.
- Kansas State offers undergraduate and graduate programs in HT, and possibly a correspondence course.
- Colorado State
