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A History of the University of Missouri-Columbia
Department of Environmental Design

Note to Researcher: The information about the Department of Environmental Design found on this page was originally compiled in 1999. More current information about the College of Human Environmental Sciences and its departments can be found at the following URL:

History

The Department of Environmental Design has roots in the course "Care of the House and its Furnishings," taught by the University of Missouri-Columbia's first Home Economics leader, Jane Zabriskie, in 1900. The course included instruction in home construction, water supply, ventilation, heating, cleaning, and disinfecting, as well as home decoration. In the early 1950s, Interior Design was established as a major within the Department of Home Economics. In 1960 an Interior Design Section was created with the establishment of the School of Economics. The section was renamed Housing and Interior Design in the late 1960s and was established as a department in the College of Home Economics in the 1970s.

A graduate program in interior design began in the late 1950s and by the late 1980s masters and doctoral programs in design education, environment and behavior, and interdisciplinary historic preservation were well-established. In 1982, Housing and Interior Design was targeted for possible elimination as part of a proposal for sweeping cuts in academic programs at UMC; this proposal was eventually rejected by the Board of Curators. The department's name was changed to the Department of Environmental Design in 1989, and housing design and design management emphases were phased out at this time to refocus the undergraduate emphasis in interior design. Current undergraduate programs lead to a BS in interior design or interior design with a pre-architecture option. Graduate programs offer emphases in environment and behavior studies leading to the MA, MS or PhD degree or in environmental design with digitial media leading to the MA or MS degree. The department's name was changed in 2004 to Department of Architectural Studies.

Leadership

Note to Researcher: Information on current administrators in the Department of Environmental Design can be found at the following URL:

• ca. 1950-1955 Ethel Cutler, Head
• 1955-1984 Kate Ellen Rogers, Head/Chair
• 1984-present Ruth Brent Tofle, Chair

For additional information on the Department of Architectural Studies and its programs, see its website: http://arch.missouri.edu/

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