Planners are involved in a variety of activities that shape the future of communities, the quality of the environment, and the character of daily life. In their work for government, planners engage and motivate the public, help to develop a wide range of policies affecting the character and potential of communities, and act as guardians of the environment and of our built heritage. Working as consultants in the private sector, planners undertake a wide variety of tasks ranging from physical design and transportation planning, to creating strategies for sustainable or smart development. Planners work throughout the world, from the heart of Canada's towns and cities to the fields and villages of the Third World.
The School of Planning encourages initiative, resourcefulness, and creative questioning of received doctrine. The curriculum of the School emphasizes: (a) specialized knowledge of theory and practice of planning including a sound appreciation of the environmental, social and economic processes that shape the form and character of communities; (b) up-to-date skills; (c) a sound appreciation of the environmental, social, and economic processes that shape the form and character of communities; (d) the active contribution of students in confronting and resolving contemporary planning problems in local communities; and (e) the development of personal capabilities suited to the leadership roles that planners assume.
Through environmental and community-centered learning, teaching, research and practice, faculty members and students in the School engage in the planning and design of settlements in a variety of scales and contexts. Central to the graduate planning program are studio courses (where learning is gained through real projects based in the community). Studio course content is delivered in a way that meets academic objectives within the practice of dealing with community planning issues. Thus the studio integrates theory and practice. Students also have opportunities to participate in field trips within the region and to international cities to learn about planning outside of Halifax.
The Planning School also offers professional planners the opportunity to extend their education through focused research in the Master of Planning Studies (MPS) program.
Because of the interactive nature of the core studio and class curriculum, students must be present on campus during the terms they register for required courses, except for the work term.
The required classes provide the fundamental elements of a planning education. They cover planning theory, history, practice, law, and methods, and provide community-based project experience that allows students to understand the institutional, social, and environmental contexts within which planners work. Classes allow students to develop planning skills and knowledge and to apply them to real community problems.
In the second year of the MPlan program, all students take on two major research-based projects: one individual and one team project.
The elective classes enable students to pursue individual interests and areas of specialized knowledge relevant to their studies in planning. Classes offered within the School focus on community design, urban design, environmental planning, land use planning, urban and environmental history, economics, housing, and land development. Students must take at least half of their elective credits from offerings within the School of Planning.
Electives may be taken in other Dalhousie departments, or at other universities in Halifax, with the permission of the School. In some cases, elective credit may be given for suitable classes taken at other universities in Canada or abroad. Students wishing to take courses outside the School need permission of the Graduate Coordinator.
The program will appeal to candidates with a solid grounding in the fundamentals of planning who have earned an undergraduate degree and wish to pursue graduate studies. The Master of Planning Studies has research as its focus. It welcomes candidates with questions they want to explore in an academic setting under the supervision of a Dalhousie faculty member.
The curriculum includes mandatory and elective courses and a thesis. Students must demonstrate proficiency in research methods appropriate for the thesis or complete an approved methods course. Two additional mandatory courses provide a context for exploring current ideas, issues and ethics and an opportunity to develop the thesis proposal. Elective courses are based on individual interest and support the thesis research focus.
The School may also consider candidates with three-year undergraduate degrees in related disciplines who present an extraordinary portfolio of work and have at least four years of responsible planning experience that makes them eligible for membership in the professional planners' institute.
Entrance will be limited according to the School's ability to offer appropriate faculty supervision. Only those candidates with research interests compatible with those of faculty members will be eligible for admission. Enrolment may begin in either January or September.
Students begin their courses in September. Only in exceptional circumstances are students permitted to enter the MPlan program at other times.
For MPS, applications may be considered at any time but are expected to take at least two months to process. Enrolment may begin in either January or September.
International applicants must ensure that their complete application has arrived by February 1, to allow sufficient time for visa processing.
Full-time students normally register for 12 to 18 credit hours per semester. Class credit hours are shown after the decimal place in the class number: e.g., .03 means 3 credit hours; in a one-semester lecture class, the number of credit hours is roughly equal to the weekly contact hours, and there is an expectation of about double that time of work outside class hours. Note that studio classes are 6 credit hours, though only one semester long.
| • | PLAN 5000.06: Planning Studio 1 | ||
| • | PLAN 5101.03: History and Philosophy of Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 5102.03: Planning Practice | ||
| • | PLAN 5104.03: Planning Law | ||
| • | PLAN 5201.00: Work Term (non-credit) | ||
| • | PLAN 5303.03: Planning Methods A | ||
| • | PLAN 5304.03: Planning Methods B | ||
| • | PLAN 5500.06: Planning Studio 2 | ||
| • | PLAN 6000.09: Planning Project and Seminar | ||
| • | PLAN 6500.06: Integrated Team Project | ||
| • | PLAN 6505.03: Seminar on Theories, Ideas, and Debates in Planning | ||
| • | Elective credits: 15 credit hours (five half classes, or equivalent). | ||
Students select 15 credit hours of electives over the course of their studies.
| • | PLAN 5000.06: Planning Studio 1 | ||
| • | PLAN 5101.03: History and Philosophy of Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 5102.03: Planning Practice | ||
| • | PLAN 5303.03: Planning Methods A | ||
| • | electives | ||
| • | PLAN 5104.03: Planning Law | ||
| • | PLAN 5304.03: Planning Methods B | ||
| • | PLAN 5500.06: Planning Studio 2 | ||
| • | electives | ||
| • | PLAN 5201.00: Work Term | ||
| • | PLAN 6000.09: Planning Project and Seminar | ||
| • | electives | ||
| • | PLAN 6500.06: Integrated Team Project | ||
| • | PLAN 6505.03: Seminar: Theories, Ideas, and Debates in Planning | ||
| • | electives | ||
| • | PLAN 5005.03: Cities and the Environment in History | ||
| • | PLAN 5012.03: Reading the City | ||
| • | PLAN 5015.03: Site Infrastructure | ||
| • | PLAN 5020.03: Landscape Design | ||
| • | PLAN 5025.03: Representation in Design | ||
| • | PLAN 5040.03: Reading the Suburbs | ||
| • | PLAN 5050.03: Topics in Community Design | ||
| • | PLAN 6101.03: History and Theory of Urban Design | ||
| • | PLAN 6102.03: Urban Economics | ||
| • | PLAN 6103.03: Urban Ecology | ||
| • | PLAN 6105.03: Land Development Economics | ||
| • | PLAN 6106.03: Transportation Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 6107.03: Regional Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 6108.03: History and Theory of Landscape Architecture | ||
| • | PLAN 6111.03: Housing Theory | ||
| • | PLAN 6150.03: Topics in Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 6201.03: Directed Studies | ||
| • | PLAN 6202.03: Directed Studies 2 | ||
| • | PLAN 6250.015: Field Trip: Maritimes | ||
| • | PLAN 6255.015: Field Trip: International | ||
| • | PLAN 6304.015 (to 6309.015) Mid-term Conference Module | ||
| • | PLAN 6600.06: Special Project Studio | ||
| • | PLAN 6601.06: Special Project Studio: Environmental Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 6602.06: Special Project Studio: Urban Design | ||
| • | PLAN 3001.03: Landscape Ecology | ||
| • | PLAN 3006.03: Reading the Landscape | ||
| • | PLAN 3055.03: Computers in Community Design and Planning | ||
| • | PLAN 3225.03: Plants in the Human Landscape | ||
| • | PLAN 6505.03 Seminar in Theories, Ideas and Debates in Planning. | |||
| • | RESEARCH METHODS COURSE (3 credit hours) appropriate to thesis as approved by thesis committee (e.g. from among | |||
| • | PLAN 5304.03, Planning Methods A B | |||
| • | INTE 7100.03 Research Methods from management, policy and science | |||
| • | OCCU 5030.03 Advanced Research Theory & Methods for Occupational Therapy | |||
| • | ENVI 5001.03 Environmental Assessment) | |||
| • | Elective (3 credit hours) (if the Research Methods requirement has been met through previous course work, the student will take a further 3 credit hours of electives.) | |||
| • | PLAN 8000.06 MPS Thesis Proposal | ||
| • | PLAN 9000.15 Masters of Planning Studies thesis. | ||
Electives outside the School of Planning: up to half of the elective credits may be taken outside the School. All such choices need the approval of the Graduate Coordinator, and if the class is at another university, a Letter of Permission must be completed before enrolling in the class.
Undergraduate courses: up to two senior level (3000, 4000) undergraduate classes may be included in the program if comparable graduate classes are not available. Students need the permission of the Graduate Coordinator.
Directed Studies: no more than two Directed Studies classes may be included in the program.