The Critical Heritage / Urban Design dual degree builds upon these two complimentary programs.
The Urban Design program foregrounds Charlotte’s social, economic, environmental, and ethical design challenges and prioritizes tactical insertions within urban ecosystems through active engagement with community stakeholders.
The Critical Heritage program challenges authorized heritage discourse, diversifies approaches and practices of engaging with the past; and sees preservation and interpretation of the built environment as interconnected with interdisciplinary discourses surrounding other tangible and intangible heritages.
Together, the faculty and students participating in the dual degree engage in a curriculum and research that seeks local solutions while engaging in global conversations and that emphasize hands-on engagement with communities and organizations to create places, save spaces, and share stories that foreground the heritage of underrepresented communities.
This dual degree seeks to diversify the field of heritage and urban design professionals through an exploration of the intersection between the approaches and practices of these fields and through the promotion of experiential learning, community engagement, and social and environmental sustainability.
