Master of Design Studies:
Concentration in Integrated Wood Design

The Master of Design Studies provides a post-professional degree for individuals seeking expanded design expertise and professional advancement. This is a one-year, three-semester program with multiple concentrations. Utilizing strengths across the University of Arkansas campus, each concentration combines course offerings with a professional residency to immerse students in these dynamic fields.

The Integrated Wood Design concentration prepares graduates to pursue leadership roles and to promote diverse applications of this environmentally friendly and renewable material, and to transform the building industry. Tremendous advances have been made in the design, engineering, production, and application of wood products for the construction industry in the last 15 years.  The U.S. is now being tapped for its timber resources, manufacturing capacity, and wood design/engineering expertise, yet there is a dearth of timber design education at universities across the country. Arkansas’ wide availability of timber, existing educational programs in forestry and forest technology, central geographic location, and the University of Arkansas’s history in timber architecture affords crucial resources to these educational and professional prospects essential to the state’s economic expansion.

The IWD curriculum is grounded in cross-disciplinary, design-focused studio courses while cognate courses allow students to build upon existing education and experience to create a program directly informed by their professional goals.

Fall Semester (15 credit hours)
FJAD 6906 Advanced Design Studio 1
FJAD 6723 Methods of Design Inquiry
FJAD 6153 Wood Material Culture
Elective (3 CH)

Spring Semester (15 credit hours)
FJAD 6916 Advanced Design Studio 2
FJAD 6803 Design Leadership
FJAD 6253 Wood Production Processes
Elective (3 CH)

Summer (6 credit hours)
FJAD 6926 Graduate Residency

Elective courses may include selections from sustainability, civil engineering, public health, industrial engineering among others. The graduate residency provides experiential learning integrating knowledge and theory in professional environments. This guided experience will facilitate career development, professional relationships, and provide a critical opportunity to apply new skills and knowledge to real challenges.