
Human Ecology PhD
Human ecology is the study of the complex relationships between human beings and their environments. The school offers a doctorate of philosophy within four named options/specializations:
Civil Society & Community Research
Human Ecology MS
The Master of Science in Human Ecology offers multi-disciplinary course work that focuses on current theories and strategies for creating, managing and evaluating settings that promote human and community development. Students are exposed to current research and practice that integrates: (a) the promotion of human and family development with (b) perspectives on building effective organizations and sustainable communities. Students create their own “master’s specialization” through elective courses and the completion of a real-world capstone project.


Human Ecology MFA
The focus of the MFA degree is on creative performance in design. Its goals are to promote strong and creative conceptual thinking, exploration, interpretation, innovation, and overall excellence in design execution.
Graduate Assistantships
There are three types of graduate assistantships: teaching, project, and research assistantships. All incoming Human Ecology PhD and MFA students are guaranteed funding at the 50% level for 3-5 years, depending on their program and academic background.
Scholarships
The School of Human Ecology offers approximately $200,000 of scholarships to our graduate students annually. These fund student professional and academic development at every stage of a graduate career, from guaranteed funding to attend a conference in the first year to support through the final stages of a dissertation.
Fellowships
Fellowships are administered at the Graduate School level and vary in availability from year to year. These prestigious opportunities create protected time to allow students to focus wholly on their academic progress.
Our Community
Dó-ing the work of heritage preservation: MFA student Veronica Pham spotlights Vietnamese papermaking
"I’m finding these connections between the history of papermaking and then the history of my own culture and heritage."

Persevering through sisterhood: Meet PhD student Prudence Yokonia
Growing up in Zimbabwe, Prudence's journey to joining the School of Human Ecology as a Human Development & Family Studies PhD student has been up and down, and even cosmically aligned at times.

PhD graduate Trisha Chanda makes an impact through her research and mentorship
“The Consumer Behavior & Family Economics program taught me not only how to do research, but how to do it well.”

Four graduate students receive teaching and mentoring scholarship awards
We are grateful for the passion, patience and care that this year’s recipients embody every day in their classrooms, in their graduate programs and departments and through their research. Congratulations to all of the recipients!

School of Human Ecology Events
- November
- November 30
- November 30
- December
- December 1
Graduate Program Events
- December
- December 1School of Human Ecology Quantitative Methods SeminarIntensive longitudinal methods with Dr. Margaret Kerr11:00 AM, 1199 Nancy Nicholas Hall
- December 1Dissertation Grant Overview & Peer Advice PanelHuman Ecology Graduate Student Professional Development Seminar (PDS)1:00 PM, 4235 Nancy Nicholas Hall
- December 8The Hidden Curriculum of Graduate School: Navigating academic jargon and unspoken rulesHuman Ecology Graduate Student Professional Development Seminar (PDS)1:00 PM, 4235 Nancy Nicholas Hall