DCP offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees in five individual disciplines and also makes it possible to combine academic areas. The UF Career Resource Center offers self-assesment activities that can help you to explore and evaluate three of the many aspects of yourself that you want to consider when making a choice about a major or career:
You've already completed the first step in choosing a major by choosing the College of DCP. Does the college offer the types of studies you are most interested in? Read below to learn more about the different majors offered by DCP and to explore the career opportunities available to DCP graduates.
Architecture is approached with an understanding of both its theoretical and practical aspects, the integrated thinking necessary to the solving of problems and the creation of beauty within the real world of everyday life.
The Architecture programs seek to analyze existing and projected examples of built form, to define fundamental principles and knowledge of the discipline, to develop to their highest possible degree the student's skills in the formation and projection of spatial experience, and to relate individual creativity to cultural and physical environment.
Building construction is designed for students interested in professional careers in construction management, techniques, operations and related areas in the construction industry, which draw upon skills in communication and interpersonal relations rather than in architectural and engineering design.
Opportunities for advancement exist in all areas of the construction industry, including land development, home building, public building and industrialized building systems, commercial, industrial, marine and heavy construction, underwater and space-age facilities, materials and equipment sales and installations, and construction product research, development, sales and applications.
Interior design involves the adaptation of natural and human-made environments to the cultural, social, physiological, psychological, economic, historic and behavioral activities of people. This integrates the aesthetic and environmental preferences of individuals or groups within the interior spaces of a building. Designers of enclosed space employ theories derived from fine arts, architecture, and intuition to guide judgments and aesthetic decisions, while scientific theories and guidelines provide knowledge that guide analysis, prediction, and testing the interactions between people and space.
The design process is studied and applied creatively to resolve problems of interior environments. The curriculum equips students with knowledge of design techniques, materials, resources and an awareness of the interrelated professional responsibilities of design. Interior design career opportunities are numerous because businesses, corporations, community organizations and government agencies demand professional design services.
Landscape architecture students study the art of design, planning or management, and the arrangement of natural and man-made elements on the land through application of cultural and scientific knowledge. Resource conservation and the requirements of the built environment are studied. Graduates are employed by professional offices; municipal, state or federal recreation and resource agencies; landscape architectural or planning agencies; and the construction, development or horticultural industries.
Urban and regional planning is a professional practice that seeks to apply systematic thinking, knowledge, ethical and societal principles and innovative technologies to the problems and challenges of the natural environment, regional and urban systems. Planning professionals utilize short and long-range vision, supported by information and analytical systems, as a means to improve the quality of life and to support healthy environments. From its traditional and still central concern with city design, land use and infrastructure, the scope of the planning profession has expanded to include social policy, transportation, housing, economic development, urban design, and the entire environment.
Careers. Graduates will become planners who will work with innovative technologies to create livable cities within sustainable environments. They will move on to assume leadership positions in government, community organizations, development and real estate firms, and private consulting practices. The department enjoys an excellent national and international reputation, employment opportunities are not limited to Florida. Graduates are now employed throughout the United States and in many places abroad.
The Ph.D. Program recognizes a need to develop knowledge that reaches beyond the scope of most professional practices of the built environment. During the first three semesters, an interdisciplinary core is taught by college faculty members to identify commonalities, diversity and trends in the theory, history, methods and scientific traditions of research and teaching among the five disciplines. This core is taught in recognition of the complexity of the built environment and the need for collaboration among the design, construction and planning disciplines.
Careers. This degree is appropriate for those seeking careers in teaching, industry and government as leaders in interdisciplinary design, planning and construction teams aiming to make a better future for local and global communities.
Historic Preservation addresses sites, landscapes, structures, districts, and intangible heritage as a means to safeguard, celebrate, and adapt valuable resources that range from decades to centuries old. While the professionalization of the field occurred during the latter half of the twentieth century, spurred on by passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966, the twenty-first century will witness significant expansion of the field to address smart growth, sustainability, and economic development initiatives.
Careers. Career opportunities include preservation and redevelopment work within architecture, building construction, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, as well as preservation consultant, preservation contractor, preservation researcher, main street program director, site manager, lawyer, archeologist, cultural resource manager, historian, real estate professional and policy administrator among others.
