Two adults in a studio discussing some work while looking at drawings on a desk

Curriculum

Conway’s Master of Science program is a focused, integrated, and applied curriculum.

Each of its trimesters includes classroom, studio, and field time spent on a near-professional-level project for residential clients, municipal agencies, and non-profit organizations. Students are able to immediately practice what they have learned in the classroom, and each project builds on the knowledge and skills learned in previous terms.

To receive the degree, a student must demonstrate an understanding of design theory, natural and built environments, design communication, and professional practice.

Take a look at the Curriculum Overview

Real Projects for Real Clients.

Project work requires the student to inventory and analyze site conditions, work with clients, integrate information, apply concepts, communicate to various audiences, and synthesize, condense, articulate, and illustrate designs for a particular site and client.

Learn more about Student Projects

The Conway Difference

The Conway program teaches students an ethical, iterative, and ecologically-informed design process through the collaborative production of three near-professional-level projects for actual clients under the guidance of experienced mentors.

Ecological design.

We seek to design landscapes that improve ecological health, resilience, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and social justice.

Whole and complex understanding of natural and cultural systems.

Interrelationships across scales are examined, no matter the project scope.

A humanities perspective.

We acknowledge the role of values, ethics, and culture in design and planning. We teach oral and written communication skills, which are integrated throughout the year.

Real-world Projects.

By applying classroom concepts to real projects for real clients, Conway students rapidly develop the skills and knowledge to be responsible designers and planners.

Carefully integrated learning.

Classes are coordinated among all faculty members, and studio blocks provide time for individual faculty engagement and collaboration with peers.

Low-ratio, innovative teaching format.

Much instruction is one-on-one or through small-group interaction, and our teaching reflects an appreciation of individual learning styles. Meet our faculty >

Use of the New England landscape as a laboratory.

Activities take advantage of our setting, using nearby urban and rural locations as analogs for landscapes elsewhere.

Collaboration, not competition.

Each student or team of students has an individual project, and everyone shares the goal of learning about design that is ecologically and socially sensitive.

[Conway] was perfect for me: small class size, integrated and holistic curriculum, and doing real projects for real clients under the supervision and guidance of knowledgeable and supportive faculty. Some of the most impactful aspects of the curriculum for me at Conway were learning how to do things that I had never done before: public presentations, communicating concepts graphically, running public meetings for my client, learning design and layout, and editing and editing again late into the night.

Jamie Pottern ’12, New England Program Manager, American Farmland Trust

Take the next steps

2027-28 Deadlines

Early Action: November 9, 2026
Regular Application: January 20, 2027

Begin the Process