Selection of Distributional Electives
In the first year, students are required to take a minimum of 12 units of distributional electives from an approved list of courses.
Distributional electives may be completed in the second year with approval from the Domain Head.

Note that courses may not be offered every academic year.

ECOLOGIES + Environment

VIS 2484 Interdisciplinary Art and Design Practices
DES 3241 Theories of Landscape as Urbanism
DES 3348 The Idea of Environment
HIS 4454 The Project and the Territory: Japan Story
HIS 4455 Cotton Kingdom, Now
HIS 4526 Landscape, Architecture, and/on the Printed Page
HIS 4530 Transition as Condition: Urban Form and Environment
HIS 4534 Environmental Histories: Ancient Practices and Modern Problems
SES 5382 Making Participation Relevant to Design
SES 5409 Climate Justice
SES 5526 Strategic Sustainability: Building Resilient and Responsible Enterprises (Module 1) (Note this is a 2-unit course)
MIT 4.227 Landscapes of Energy

ECOLOGIES + Climate

SCI 6244 Climate by Design
SCI 6380 Working Landscapes: Natural Resiliency and Redesign
SCI 6494 Urban Soil Studies: From Field to Lab to Design
SCI 6497 Ecological Restoration
E-PSCI 105 Confronting Climate Change (FAS)

ECOLOGIES + System

SCI 6372 Circuits, Circles, and Loops: Towards a Regenerative Architecture
MIT 3.560 Industrial Ecology of Materials

ECOLOGIES + Tools

VIS 2234 Digital Media: Algorithmic Problems: Grasshopper as Medium
VIS 2314 Responsive Environments
VIS 2471 Architecture of Time
DES 3479 Philosophy of Technology: From Marx and Heidegger to AI, Genome Editing, and Geoengineering (at HKS)
DES 3537 Eco-Machinae: Environmental Machines and Material Mechanisms
SCI 6509 Mapping the Region: Cartographic Methods for Place-Based Spatial Theory
E-PSCI 210 AI for Earth and Planetary Sciences (FAS)
PS70 Intro to Digital Fabrication (FAS)

ECOLOGIES + Materials

SCI 6317 Digital Material Systems: Ceramics
SCI 6333 Water, Land-Water Linkages, and Aquatic Ecology
SCI 6387 Digital Production: Design, Materials, Fabrication
SCI 6486 Biofabrication
MIT MAS .S61 How to Grow (Almost) Anything

Students contemplating cross-registering for courses at another Harvard school must abide by the dates and policies of the school in which the course is offered. Priority for enrollment may be given to the other school’s students first before cross-registrations are accepted — enrollment is not guaranteed. See our Cross Registration Policies and Procedures.