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
Kane Funmaker Named the Graduate Student Employee of the Year
Huge congratulations to second-year SoHE MS student, Kane Funmaker, for being named the Graduate Student Employee of the Year by the Student Employment team here at UW-Madison!
Emily Schkeryantz Wins Cooperatives Scholarship
Recently, third-year CSCR PhD student, Emily Schkeryantz, won the Graduate Student Scholarships for Research, Outreach, and training on Cooperatives scholarship!
Jenny Luo Presents as First Author at NCFR Annual Conference
In November of 2025, Jenny Luo, presented her research at the 2025 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference. She served as first author, and this was her first time completing a poster and manuscript that she was first author on!
Inés Botto Interviewed About Factors That Influence Parental Burnout
HDFS PhD student, Inés Botto, was recently interviewed by the SoHE Communications Department for a Q&A about the research results of a study she helped conduct on parental burnout.
Alison Berube Wins Saturday Poster Session Contest at APPAM
Fourth-year PhD student, Alison Berube, won first place in the Saturday Poster Session Contest at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management’s (APPAM) 47th Annual Fall Research Conference in Seattle, Washington!!
Kaina Martinez Selected as Human Ecology Flag Bearer
Time to give our congratulations to second-year SoHE MS student, Kaina Martinez! Kaina recently served as the flag bearer for SoHE at Winter 2025 Commencement and was featured as one of Winter 2025 Commencement's notable grads.
School of Human Ecology Events
- May
- May 8
- May 8
- May 9
- May 9
- May 9
Graduate Program Events
- May
- May 9