Landscape Architecture (Graduate Program)

For information regarding the UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM, click here.  

Program Overview

With a tradition of more than 60 years of preparing students for careers in landscape architecture through both undergraduate and graduate studies, the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture is one of the oldest and strongest programs in the nation. The challenging field of landscape architecture incorporates studies in art and design, natural sciences, and social and cultural disciplines, together with technological advances in resource analysis, computer-aided representation, and modeling to address issues at scales ranging from intimate to global. At the profession’s heart are issues relating to environmental sustainability, human stewardship of natural resources, and the quality of life in both urban and rural surroundings.

At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the curriculum uses natural and man-made conditions in the Lower Mississippi River Valley region as laboratories to study the roles of nature, culture, and humans in shaping the built environment and providing invaluable resources and educational opportunities within the larger context of the southern United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Investigations include how and why landscapes evolve and endeavor to define the designer’s role in combining natural systems, environments, physical interventions, and human uses. Course formats include design studios, seminars, lectures, field studies, and independent work.

Administration

Admission

Applications and supporting materials for all graduate study must be submitted through the online application site for the LSU Graduate School. Official transcripts, official test scores, and other materials that come from third-party sources must be mailed to: LSU Office of Graduate Admissions, 114 West David Boyd Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. These paper documents are stored electronically and departments have access to all materials submitted by and/or on behalf of a student applying to graduate study.

Students are admitted to the program based on evaluation of the following:

• Academic qualifications
• Portfolio of creative work (a single digital PDF file; up to 24 pages; maximum size 8 1/2” x 11”) including drawings, sketches, photography, past academic/professional design work; portfolio required of students with design degrees; highly recommended for others, international students are strongly advised to include their “graduation project” in their portfolio of work;
• Statement of interest (one-page maximum) that discusses your motivation for application;
• Video essay (three minute) that further states your motivation and reflects your creative interest in the field of landscape architecture;
• Letters of reference – three – addressing your capacity to succeed in a rigorous studio-oriented design curriculum; letters should be brief and reflect the writer’s specific experience with regard to your capacity for graduate school;
• Resumé (up to two pages) of academic and work experiences;
• GRE or GMAT scores (Graduate School standard) and college transcripts (not required to send to RRSLA, but required for the Graduate School) ;
• TOEFL scores for international students (Graduate School standard) and college transcripts (not required to send to RRSLA, but required for the Graduate School) ;
• Furthur information is available for International applicants.

Prospective students are encouraged to visit the school and its facilities, meet students, and discuss the program with faculty. An open house is held in late fall and mid-spring during studio reviews, but those interested in the program may make arrangements for a visit at any other time. Students are admitted only for the fall semester. The school accepts applications through January 16 for admission the following fall semester. Admissions decisions will be made in March. Prospective students should first complete admissions requirements through LSU’s Graduate School; official transcripts and test scores should be sent to the Graduate School. Portfolio materials, resumé and any questions about application procedures should be addressed to the graduate coordinator.

Financial Assistance

Graduate fellowships and teaching and research assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis based on the student’s application materials. There is no application form for the School’s fellowships and assistantships, but interested applicants should indicate such interest in their application and statement of interest. Graduate students are also eligible for school scholarships and financial assistance after their first year.

Graduate Faculty

(check current faculty listings by department here)

Kevin Benham (M) • Landscape phenomena and temporal and ephemeral installations
Mark E. Boyer (M) • Construction technologies, Low Impact Development, green roofs, bioretention
Max Z. Conrad (M) • Urban design, regional planning, planting design, travel
Van L. Cox (EM) • Site design; graphics; professional practice and other legal aspects of landscape architecture
Lake Douglas (M) • Garden history; arts administration and public art planning; nonprofit management and public administration; freelance writing
Charles F. Fryling Jr (M) • Environmental planning, ecology
Brendan Harmon (M) • Geospatial modeling, tangible interaction, digital fabrication, and virtual reality
Kevin Risk (M) • Cultural Landscapes, history and site design
Nicholas Serrano (M) • History of landscape architecture and urban development of the American South, contemporary planting design and horticultural technologies in landscape architecture
Bruce G. Sharky (M) • Professional practice, site grading and design, Latin American design studies
Suzanne L. Turner (EM) • History, historic preservation, site design

Programs

• Landscape Architecture, M.L.A.