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
An advocate for improving Madison’s housing climate: Meet Emilee Hendricks
“I’m excited to get to learn and work among people who care so deeply about the world,” Hendricks says.
The journey to a PhD: Four graduates of the Consumer Behavior & Family Economics program reflect on their experiences
"Earning a PhD is a long journey. You will encounter difficulties in both research and life. However, you will also meet smart & fantastic people, and you can learn so much from them. Not everyone has the opportunity to experience this, so enjoy it!"
Improving early childhood classrooms fuels PhD student Rudy Dieudonne
“This research provides...the power to help our government revise classroom design standards across this country, and the power to defend students with autism, as well as their constitutional rights to education.”
Community and art making: Three graduating MFA students examine and celebrate the human experience
“We happen to have personalities and sensibilities that really work well together. We have become a family for sure; heart sisters.”
Meet “Those Media Moms”: Human Ecology alumni Drs. Roxanne Etta and Elizabeth Horgan make their national debut on Good Morning America
“Good Morning America finding our website and social media platforms and reaching out to us, barely four months into our business — it was an incredible proof of concept."
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."
School of Human Ecology Events
- April
- April 29
- April 30
- April 30
Graduate Program Events
- May
- May 2School of Human Ecology Graduate Student Professional Development Seminar Alumni Panel: What you can do with your SoHE degree1:00 PM, 1125 Nancy Nicholas Hall