Part of our mission is to expose you to as many places and opportunities as possible to enrich your learning. From the beginning, all students travel to places with exemplary design, often in conjunction with your current projects. First-year students sketch and observe at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas. Travel beyond the first year includes visiting professional environments such as design firms, showrooms, manufacturers and state-of-the-art green infrastructures.

We want you to spend time away from campus augmenting your education through a semester or summer experience of education abroad, professional internship and/or the Kansas City Design Center.

OFF CAMPUS LEARNING

Education Abroad
Students have opportunities to study abroad, usually later in their academic career. The Department of Architecture collaborates with study abroad programs in Italy, Czech Republic, Denmark, Australia, and Germany. Our students usually have these opportunities at the start of the Fall semester of their fourth year, with additional opportunities to internship off campus during the Spring semester of that same year. Studying abroad affords students new and varied opportunities to study design and planning in different venues.

Internship
Internship opportunities at design and planning firms allow students to spend a semester and/or summer experiencing what it might be like to work in the allied design professions. We help students find internships that align with their interests in firms across the nation and around the world. Kansas City Design Center (KCDC) located in the heart of downtown Kansas City, is a nationally recognized partnership of local civic leaders, professional designers, and design/planning students and faculty. KCDC engages students in a learning laboratory that actively explores Kansas City's future development.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

APDPro
APDPro is a professional development program offered to you as an APDesign student. The mission of APDPro is to enhance your experience and provide you with a competitive advantage as you transition to the workplace. The programs offered to you through APDPro will give you the career skills employers are looking for via workshops, lectures, seminars, professional mentoring, and networking opportunities.

For more information, please visit the APDPro page.

DesignExpo
DesignExpo is APDesign's career fair. Firms from across the U.S. send representatives to meet with and provide information for our talented students on job and internship opportunities. DesignExpo is a time for students to showcase their skills and portfolios and get feedback from professionals.

Lectures and Exhibitions
Lecturers from around the world come to APDesign each year to enhance students' educational experiences by providing opportunities to see and hear about the work of skilled professionals. The Chang and Cassias galleries in the Seaton/Regnier Complex display a variety of exhibitions for students' exploration and enhancing knowledge.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS