Explore people, environments, and technology — and get ready to launch your next career move.

The MPS in Human Ecology (MPS-HE) is an accredited, one-year master's program that combines personalized academic training and concentrated study with hands-on experiential learning. The flexible curriculum enables you to meet your specific learning needs under the mentorship of faculty members who are world-renowned researchers, experts in their fields, and exceptional teachers.

You'll collaborate with a faculty member in your area of interest to: 

  • plan an individualized curriculum of at least 30 credits, and 
  • design a meaningful project supervised by an expert in that area. 

Instruction is full-time and in-person.

Who is this degree for?

The MPS-HE with design + environmental analysis focused elective is a flexible, self-directed graduate credential for people interested in areas like:

  • interaction and digital experience design
  • human factors, inclusive design, or universal design
  • sustainable design and the human dimensions of building performance
  • age-friendly design for older adults
  • evidence-based design for hospitals, clinics, and healing environments

You'll tailor your own coursework and lead a real-world project — backed by dedicated studios, fabrication labs, and faculty mentorship.

Design + Environmental Analysis

This program is offered through the graduate field of Design + Environmental Analysis.

Curriculum

The MPS in Human Ecology requires a minimum of 30 credits. The individualized curriculum combines core courses, electives and an experiential project. You will select courses in consultation with a faculty advisor to align with your professional goals and project focus.

See additional program and university requirements
A student in the Architectural Robotics class

Courses you can take

Required courses

  • DEA 6000: Special Problems for Graduate Students (project-based) (6 credits)
  • DEA 7100: DEA Graduate Pro Seminar (1 credit / semester × 2 semesters = 2 credits)

DEA graduate-level coursework

  • DEA 5210: Interaction Design Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5304: Design Accountability: Evaluation of the Physical Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 5305: Health and Healing Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5520: Virtual Experience of Designed Environments (3 credits)
  • DEA 5540: Workplace Strategy Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5560: Health Impact Assessment (3 credits)
  • DEA 5700: Designing Age Friendly Environments (3 credits)
  • DEA 6025: Design for Change: Imagining Decolonial Futures (3 credits)
  • DEA 6040: Future Body Craft (3 credits)
  • DEA 6055: Hospitality, Health and Design Industry Immersion Seminar (1 credit)
  • DEA 6100: Studies in Design Thinking (3 credits)
  • DEA 6200: Studies in Human-Environment Relations (3 credits)
  • DEA 6210: Architectural Robotics (3 credits)
  • DEA 6250: Human Dimensions of Sustainable Building (3 credits)
  • DEA 6400: Al, Embodiment, & Design (3 credits)
  • DEA 6406 Generative Design Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 6500: Problem-Seeking through Programming (3 credits)
  • DEA 6510: Human Factors and Inclusive Design (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6550: Healthcare Innovations (3 credits)
  • DEA 6560: Research Methods in Social Sciences (4 credits)
  • DEA 6610: Environments and Health (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6650: Poverty, Children and the Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6700: Applied Ergonomic Methods (3 credits)
  • DEA 6800: Ethical Design: Engine of Positive Change (3 credits)

Resources to support your project

Students in the DEA-focused elective may draw on a range of departmental, college and university resources as they develop their problem-solving projects. These resources can support:

  • design research
  • material exploration
  • prototyping
  • fabrication
  • exhibition
  • documentation
  • engagement with professional and public audiences

DEA Graduate Student Studio

This shared workspace has flexible workstations for DEA graduate students. It supports individual project work while also creating opportunities for informal conversation, peer exchange, and collaboration within the graduate design community.

dHIVE: Design Hub for Innovation, Visualization and Exploration

This 2,500-square-foot design and digital fabrication space supports brainstorming, critique, collaborative work, human-centered inquiry, and the development of project ideas from early concepts to refined prototypes.

Digital Design and Fabrication Studio

D2FS supports digital design, fabrication and prototyping activities. Depending on project needs, students can use this space to explore modeling, representation, making, and iterative development of design concepts and related materials.

dLib Design Resource Library

This library of current materials and innovative resources for interior designers, product designers, ergonomists and facility planners supports exploration of materials, finishes, furniture systems, product information, manufacturer resources, and design references.

Exhibit spaces

The galleries in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall and the Human Ecology Building provide spaces for displaying design work, research outcomes, visual materials, and project documentation. These exhibition spaces can help students communicate their work to broader academic, professional, and public audiences. 

Learn more about the Human Centered Design Department's spaces
Students in a studio course in the dHIVE

Our faculty

woman wearing a black v-neck shirt
Nooshin Ahmadi
Senior Lecturer
Focus areas Architectural Design/Interior Architecture, Research-driven design, Human-centered design
John Elliott
Associate Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Design + Environmental Analysis
Focus areas Material culture in the built environment, Ecological literacy in design, Arborworks sculpture
portrait of a man in a blue button down shirt
Gary Evans
Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor
Focus areas Children's environments (e.g. schools, housing), Environment of childhood poverty, Development of environmental attitudes/behaviors in children
Keith Evan Green headshot
Keith Green
Jean and Douglas McLean Professor
Focus areas Intersection of design + robotics + psychology, Robot “living rooms” interacting/adapting with inhabitants, Robots that improve community, learning and health
woman wearing glasses sitting in a bright blue chair
Ying Hua
Professor
Focus areas Practice + approaches to creating optimal work + learning, Research methodology for post-occupancy evaluation (POE), Sustainable and resilience building practices in US + Asia
portrait of a man wearing glasses and a blue shirt
Saleh Kalantari
Associate Professor
Focus areas Wayfinding + spatial cognition using VR + simulation, Predictive design tools evaluating human responses to design, Human-environment interaction: built and virtual environment
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Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao
Associate Professor
Focus areas Wearable technology and on-skin interfaces, Designing skins across scales, Social perceptions towards on-body technologies
portrait of a man with round glasses wearing a grey t-shirt
Sang Leigh
Assistant Professor
Focus areas Accessible interactive technologies, Human-computer interaction, Design innovation – bridging art, technology and UX
portrait of a woman wearing red glasses
Renata Leitao
Assistant Professor
Focus areas Design for Indigenous empowerment, Transformational design for societal + environmental change, Intercultural design knowledge
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Janet Loebach
Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor in Child Development
Focus areas children's environments, participatory research & design, behavior mapping
Jung-hye Shin
Jung-hye Shin
Chair
Professor
Focus areas Environmental design, Aging in place
portrait of a woman sitting in a red chair
Nancy Wells
Senior Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education
Professor
Focus areas Environmental psychology, Effects of the built and natural environment on human health, Environmental design + policy impacts on consumption + reuse
portrait of a man in glasses
Jay (JungKyoon) Yoon
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies in Design + Environmental Analysis
Focus areas Experience-driven design, Design for emotion, subjective well-being + behavior change, Product design + development
So-Yeon Yoon headshot
So-Yeon Yoon
Professor
Focus areas Human-computer interaction in virtual environments, Large-scale interface/interaction design, Interior design
Rana Zadeh
Rana Zadeh
Associate Professor
Focus areas User-centered design in healthcare, Systems approach, Healthcare entrepreneurship

How to apply

Submit your application for graduate study directly to the Graduate School.

  • A complete application includes:
  • An academic statement of purpose
  • A personal statement
  • Unofficial transcripts
  • Two (preferably three) letters of recommendation
  • Resume or CV

Please do not include copies of certificates, passports or other documents.

We will not review your application until it is fully complete, including TOEFL/IELTS test scores. No individual faculty member can offer you admission. A graduate admissions committee will read your application when it is complete and make the decision. 

If you have questions, please contact deagrad [at] cornell.edu (deagrad[at]cornell[dot]edu).

Application deadlines

The priority deadline for fall admission is January 15. The final deadline is May 1. We do not admit for spring. 

Tuition and fees

Visit the Office of the Bursar for information on tuition and fees.

Contact us

Graduate Field Assistant

Shane Hutchinson (sah49 [at] cornell.edu (sah49[at]cornell[dot]edu))

Director of Graduate Studies

Jay Yoon (jy846 [at] cornell.edu (jy846[at]cornell[dot]edu))