Exploration of Architecture
Summer Program for High School Students
The School of Architecture offers two and four-week programs for high school students who have no previous experience but are interested in architecture. The program, which began in 1982, is particularly rewarding for students who are contemplating a career in architecture. However, all students find the exposure to the unique problem solving methodologies of architecture a benefit regardless of their final career choice. Living on campus in a USC residence hall, high school students experience what it is like to be a university student. They participate in studio classes with professional critics and present their ideas in reviews attended by parents and friends. The program also exposes them, through case studies, sketching exercises, and field trips to some of the most dramatic and impressive historical and modern architecture of Los Angeles. International students have especially appreciated the opportunity to pursue this summer program of study that is not highly dependent on English language skills. Limited financial assistance is available.  Please visit the Exploration of Architecture web site for application information.

Summer Semester
at the School of Architecture
The School of Architecture has re-organized its curriculum to support a three-semester full-year program of study in the upper division. During the last two years of the undergraduate professional architectural degree program, students may now take a full load of courses in any two of the three semesters, i.e., Fall, Spring, and Summer. This means that the former restrictions on the application of financial aid to the summer courses offerings have been eliminated and foreign studies programs and studios in the summer semester are treated exactly the same as the fall and spring semester courses. This also provides flexibility in the upper division schedule, allowing students to choose the timing of their break in studies to correspond with internship opportunities or to get back on track if their studies have been interrupted. Students can commit to an internship of two semester's duration and still graduate with their class. The switch to a full-year schedule in the upper division also has advantages in terms of choice of offerings during the summer session. It is hoped that there will eventually be a balanced distribution of topic studio offerings in all three semesters, significantly increasing the summer design studio offerings. In addition, the use of School of Architecture facilities over three full terms per year instead of two will provide more efficient use of our valuable design studio space as well as other facilities.

Summer Program in Historic Preservation
Consisting of 15 days of classes over a two-and-a-half-week period, these courses, taken as a whole, are intended to act as a general introduction to the field of historic preservation. Courses are led by noted preservation experts from Southern California and the United States. Designed for students, design professionals, community leaders, established preservationists, planners, and developers seeking to situate their practice within a contemporary context, this series of short courses in historic preservation will be of interest to any individual concerned with the conservation of our cultural heritage. In addition to lectures examining the history and philosophy of the preservation movement, field trips to historic sites throughout the Los Angeles area will introduce students to a broad range of legal, economic, aesthetic and technical issues associated with the documentation, conservation, and interpretation of historic structures, landscapes, and communities. Among sites visited are the Gamble and Freeman Houses, Rancho Los Alamitos, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Courses may be attended individually or in combination and qualify as AIA Continuing Education units. The entire sequence may also be taken as ARCH 450 (Fundamentals of Historic Preservation) for four units of credit towards the Graduate Certificate or Master's Degree in Historic Preservation.  Please visit the Historic Preservation Summer Program web site to download a registration form.