Academic Programs
PLA is home to undergraduate and graduate academic programs.
Introducing students to the field of landscape studies and provides specialties in restoration ecology, environmental planning, or cultural and historic landscapes.
Training students to become licensed landscape architects. This is a professional degree program accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects.
This Master of Science degree emphasizes conducting original research in the form of a thesis or creating evidence-based design solutions to complex landscape problems.
This Master of Science degree prepares students for professional positions in government, non-profit and community organizations, and the private sector, to be leaders in shaping communities.
This Doctor of Philosophy degree is a research degree and is intended to appeal to individuals from diverse planning backgrounds.
The Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture is committed to establishing and maintaining a supportive climate of inclusion, diversity, and collegiality among our interactions and through our actions and policies. We envision a department in which all individuals are engaged in a vibrant learning community, where ideas, experiences, and perspectives are supported, nurtured, and developed to their highest levels.
Get to Know PLA
Professor
The causes and consequences of land use dynamics and landscape change – especially within the built environment –…
MS Student
Daniel is passionate about restoring prairies and other native landscapes of the Great Plains. He plans on restoring…
Featured
Never in the university's history had its' Campus Master Plan been approved by the City of Madison Common Council. That was until a Tuesday in July, during 2017. The major feat for the university, as well as the city of Madison, resulted from countless hours of hard work…
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Landscape Architecture Professors, Kristin Thorleifsdóttir and Samuel Dennis, spoke on the positive effects Madison's lakes have for its' surrounding community. To read the Wisconsin State Journal's piece on "Madison's Lakes Feed Our Need to Be Near Water",…
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Last Monday. the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) held their Prospective Graduate Student Resource Fair above Gordon's Dining Hall. The Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture was represented at the event by two current graduate students (WSPA's new…
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On May 11th, thirteen master's students in the Urban and Regional Planning Program presented their semester long projects at the Municipal Building in downtown Madison. The afternoon was filled with poster viewing on a variety of topics, from addressing the affordable… READ MORE
Professor Alfonso Morales, with the Urban and Regional Planning Department at UW-Madison, was invited by the Union of Concerned Scientists to Washington D.C in early June. There he met with House and Senate staffers on his USDA-funded research, "Agroecology on the Hill…
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Ongoing PhD student in the Urban and Regional Planning Program at UW-Madison, Christopher Spahr, shares an insight into the inclusive development principles that led to the successful creation of active public spaces in Philadelphia. To read his article "Activating and…
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