This spring, a group of Taubman College students, led by faculty member Łukasz Stanek, spent nearly two weeks in Belgium and the Netherlands examining post-war housing stock, the role of cultural institutions in the urban economy, and the future of the welfare state.
Some 4,000 miles away, another team of students, guided by Indian architect Ayaz Basrai, were investigating how India’s modern design can interact with age-old crafts practice to achieve new hybrid expressions.
These expeditions are part of Taubman College’s long-running Spring Travel Courses – a truly unique program in architectural education. Open to undergraduate and graduate students, the courses are an intensive, immersive experience providing both academic credit and exposure to architectural history and contemporary issues on a global scale.
Through the program, Taubman College students have traveled to more than 40 countries on six continents – from Austria to Ghana to Ukraine – since 2008. The courses, held in May and June, generally span several weeks to two months. Students receive $1,500 in support for international travel and $1,000 for domestic travel.
“This program introduces students to design methods that extend beyond the conventional confines of studio or capstone courses,” said Anya Sirota, associate dean for academic initiatives and associate professor of architecture. “This year, for example, our students explored archival research in Amsterdam, enhanced their on-site documentation skills in Rome, and honed their interview techniques in Zurich. These competencies are invaluable for any designer, yet they often fall by the wayside in traditional courses due to the constraints of academic scheduling and accreditation requirements.”
Selecting which courses get approved is akin to a casting process, Sirota said. Faculty members at Taubman College who have international research agendas present their course proposals, and students then choose topics and geographies they find inspiring.
The program includes three-credit elective courses open to all undergraduate and graduate students in Taubman College. This year, students journeyed to Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. Another group of students interested in public interest design studied in Brazil as part of the U-M Public Design Corps.
Students in the final year of the Master of Architecture program can take a six-credit travel course. This spring, master’s students traveled to India and France.
As Taubman College’s partnerships with other architecture programs worldwide continue to grow, students are exposed to cross-cultural exchange and global perspectives through collaborations with a network of peer institutions. The students who traveled to Italy this spring, for example, were joined on several excursions by Jan Gadeyne, a Rome-based scholar in medieval urban history for Cornell University.
“The Spring Travel Course to Rome was truly an exceptional learning experience and pivotal in my architectural education,” said Reid Graham, B.S. Arch ‘25. “Each week, we delved into a different historical layer of the city, exploring the urban fabric through site visits and lectures taught by architectural historians and archaeologists.”
Sirota said the insights gained from studying abroad can significantly enhance an architect’s work in the United States. Having led several travel courses herself, she recalls taking students to France to examine the transformation of post-industrial sites into experimental cultural venues. These experiences provided valuable methodologies that could be effectively adapted to the North American context, particularly in Detroit.
“There are myriad interconnected narratives our students encounter internationally, enriching their understanding and sensitivity,” Sirota said. “These firsthand experiences with global practitioners are indispensable, fostering a level of empathy and insight that can’t easily be replicated in the classroom. I consider this an essential component of an architect’s education, especially those who want to make the world better.”
