Recently I have been finding myself having desire to find a teaching position at one of the local architectural schools. Most of the teaching openings that I come across require a M.Arch diploma. I have B.Arch from pretty respected school. I am curious if anyone in this forum has had experience or know of people that have taught at a university or college without a masters degree. Did you get a teaching position through a contact, sat on multiple juries and got to know the faculty or did you apply for the position with a really solid letter of interest and great references. I appreciate any insight you folks would share.
accesskb
Dec 13, 17 2:07 am
I also doubt any respected schools in North America or Europe would hire someone with only a B.Arch to teach core courses... Perhaps for electives like photography course or to teach an Intro to CAD course but not for a core course.. You often need a Phd to teach a university level course or have an MArch with an extensive CV - awards, experience in the profession, registered architect etc. Perhaps you could be hired someone in the third world.
I'm sure you or many are capable but an MArch or even a Phd isn't asking too much from someone who wants to teach others.
placebeyondthesplines
Dec 13, 17 10:44 am
what the hell are you on about? architecture faculty in the US overwhelmingly have M.Arch degrees and very few have PhDs unless they are historians.
randomised
Dec 13, 17 10:19 pm
None of my studio teachers had a PhD, and that's at one of the best architecture faculties in the world.
Flatfish
Dec 13, 17 11:12 pm
Yeah, few of mine did either. History and theory professors sometimes had PhDs. In other subjects, including studios, doctorates were few and far between. A PhD is a rare degree in architecture - there are few schools that offer it, and very few graduates per year from those (one program with which I'm very familiar graduates an average of 1 PhD in architecture every three years.) For most of the architecture professors I've known who have a PhD it's in another field.
randomised
Dec 13, 17 2:33 am
What helps is teaching experience, like e.g. being a teaching assistant to one of the professors during your studies, or work at an office with staff that also teaches so you can request to be their assistant or something.
I diverted to teaching at some point because I was preparing all the course material for my boss for a design studio he taught, while working at an architecture office, and I simply asked if I could join him in studio because I knew all the material and his approach to architecture already and so I did. He ended up showing up less and less in studio and left more and more of the teaching to me. Was great fun and it really helped me to figure out what I wanted to be doing as an architect.
So go work at an office of architects that teach and wiggle your way in.
TED
Dec 13, 17 6:22 am
Question: What do you think you can offer a student through teaching?Are your drawings/making skills distinct?
If you want a long term career in teaching agree with @accesskb, you should pursue a PhD or a specialist post-professional degree.
If your in the city where you did your BArch, good chance to do crits and build relationships as an alum.
Also suggest creating a website of your work and include competition entries and writing. Winning a competition or getting an article published is a great way to get noticed.
In the UK, one needs to have a demonstrable 'research' interest in general to get studio teaching role.
Flatfish
Dec 13, 17 11:05 pm
I found it not too difficult to get teaching positions with an M.Arch and a few years of experience. It got easier once I had a good portfolio of built work, and was also easier because I'd had several teaching assistantships and fellowships while I was a grad student. I've not known anyone to teach studio with just a B.Arch, but some folks with a B.Arch or some other bachelor degree (BFA, BA, etc.) do get adjunct positions teaching things like software courses, materials, and courses that focus on specific technical skills/crafts/trades, even in highly-ranked programs. I have also known a few people with no degrees at all who have taught these types of courses - usually these are people who have become somewhat well-known in one way or another as experts in that area.
A problem you can run into is that without a terminal degree (which is usually considered to be the M.Arch in this field) you probably won't be able to get into a tenure-track position, and some universities have time limits for how long someone can be an adjunct. In some cases the limit is just a few semesters (this is usually a result of university policies that require that adjuncts be eligible for benefits once they've taught for a certain amount of time. It's less expensive for the university to just set that as a time limit and replace them with new adjuncts when their clock runs out).
I had one tenured professor in my M.Arch program who only had a B.Arch - but he was elderly (got his position before that university even had an M.Arch program) and he was also a recognized expert in a specialized area.
Recently I have been finding myself having desire to find a teaching position at one of the local architectural schools. Most of the teaching openings that I come across require a M.Arch diploma. I have B.Arch from pretty respected school. I am curious if anyone in this forum has had experience or know of people that have taught at a university or college without a masters degree. Did you get a teaching position through a contact, sat on multiple juries and got to know the faculty or did you apply for the position with a really solid letter of interest and great references. I appreciate any insight you folks would share.
I also doubt any respected schools in North America or Europe would hire someone with only a B.Arch to teach core courses... Perhaps for electives like photography course or to teach an Intro to CAD course but not for a core course.. You often need a Phd to teach a university level course or have an MArch with an extensive CV - awards, experience in the profession, registered architect etc. Perhaps you could be hired someone in the third world.
I'm sure you or many are capable but an MArch or even a Phd isn't asking too much from someone who wants to teach others.
what the hell are you on about? architecture faculty in the US overwhelmingly have M.Arch degrees and very few have PhDs unless they are historians.
None of my studio teachers had a PhD, and that's at one of the best architecture faculties in the world.
Yeah, few of mine did either. History and theory professors sometimes had PhDs. In other subjects, including studios, doctorates were few and far between. A PhD is a rare degree in architecture - there are few schools that offer it, and very few graduates per year from those (one program with which I'm very familiar graduates an average of 1 PhD in architecture every three years.) For most of the architecture professors I've known who have a PhD it's in another field.
What helps is teaching experience, like e.g. being a teaching assistant to one of the professors during your studies, or work at an office with staff that also teaches so you can request to be their assistant or something.
I diverted to teaching at some point because I was preparing all the course material for my boss for a design studio he taught, while working at an architecture office, and I simply asked if I could join him in studio because I knew all the material and his approach to architecture already and so I did. He ended up showing up less and less in studio and left more and more of the teaching to me. Was great fun and it really helped me to figure out what I wanted to be doing as an architect.
So go work at an office of architects that teach and wiggle your way in.
Question: What do you think you can offer a student through teaching?Are your drawings/making skills distinct?
If you want a long term career in teaching agree with @accesskb, you should pursue a PhD or a specialist post-professional degree.
If your in the city where you did your BArch, good chance to do crits and build relationships as an alum.
Also suggest creating a website of your work and include competition entries and writing. Winning a competition or getting an article published is a great way to get noticed.
In the UK, one needs to have a demonstrable 'research' interest in general to get studio teaching role.
I found it not too difficult to get teaching positions with an M.Arch and a few years of experience. It got easier once I had a good portfolio of built work, and was also easier because I'd had several teaching assistantships and fellowships while I was a grad student. I've not known anyone to teach studio with just a B.Arch, but some folks with a B.Arch or some other bachelor degree (BFA, BA, etc.) do get adjunct positions teaching things like software courses, materials, and courses that focus on specific technical skills/crafts/trades, even in highly-ranked programs. I have also known a few people with no degrees at all who have taught these types of courses - usually these are people who have become somewhat well-known in one way or another as experts in that area.
A problem you can run into is that without a terminal degree (which is usually considered to be the M.Arch in this field) you probably won't be able to get into a tenure-track position, and some universities have time limits for how long someone can be an adjunct. In some cases the limit is just a few semesters (this is usually a result of university policies that require that adjuncts be eligible for benefits once they've taught for a certain amount of time. It's less expensive for the university to just set that as a time limit and replace them with new adjuncts when their clock runs out).
I had one tenured professor in my M.Arch program who only had a B.Arch - but he was elderly (got his position before that university even had an M.Arch program) and he was also a recognized expert in a specialized area.