yale university architecture phd

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Yale offers advanced degrees through its Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and 13 professional schools. Browse the organizations below for information on programs of study, academic requirements, and faculty research.

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Please consult the YSOA Bulletin for information about the PhD Curriculum. The Bulletin

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Master of Architecture I Professional Degree Program

Course of study, program requirements.

The Master of Architecture I curriculum provides a disciplined approach to the fundamentals of architecture in a setting that ensures the flexibility and latitude necessary for students to develop their individual talents and skills.

The School believes that the educational experience of its program is enriched by students who have diverse educational backgrounds and, therefore, embraces students who in their undergraduate education have majored in a wide spectrum of disciplines, from architecture to any of the arts, sciences, or humanities. This program, leading to a degree of Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), is for students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees, such as a B.A. or B.S., who seek their first professional architectural degree. It typically requires three years of full-time residency to complete the degree requirements.

Entering students, with a sound liberal arts background assumed, are required to follow a curriculum in which their creative powers are stimulated through a sequence of problem-solving exercises involving basic and architectural design, building technology, freehand and computer-assisted drawing, and an introduction to design methodologies, as well as courses in architectural theory and the planning, design, and development of the urban landscape. Architectural design problems in the first year start in the fall term at limited scale and by the spring term progress to an investigation of dwelling. During the spring term of first year and until mid-June, a community building project is undertaken, which provides an opportunity for the design of an affordable house as well as the experience of carrying the design through the building process when the class builds a final design. The fall term of second year undertakes the design of a public building, and the spring term of second year is devoted to urbanism. During the fall and spring terms of third year, students, through a lottery system, are at liberty to choose from a variety of advanced design studios, many of which are led by the profession’s leading practitioners and theoreticians. A number of support courses are required during the three-year curriculum. Required courses in design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, urban studies, and visual studies support the studios.

Within the limits of certain required credit distributions, students are encouraged to explore elective course options. Courses—falling into the broad categories of design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, and urbanism and landscape—support and augment the pivotal studio offerings. Courses offered by other schools and departments within the University may be taken for credit. mphasis throughout the program is on architectural design, critical thinking, and decision-making.

Virtual Open House for Prospective Students

In course titles, a designates fall term, b designates spring term, and c designates summer. The School reserves the right to change the prescribed course of study as necessary.

M.Arch I total requirement: 114 credits

Pre-First Year (Mid-Summer)

First Year (Fall)

First Year (Spring)

First Year (Early Summer)

Second Year (Fall)

Second Year (Spring)

Third Year (Fall)

Third Year (Spring)

If an entering student can demonstrate competence and passing grades, from an accredited school, in the material covered in any of the program’s required support courses (except for 2031a), that student may request a waiver of those courses. A waiver of any required course, however, does not reduce the number of course credits required to fulfill the program’s degree requirements. Support course waivers are granted by the Curriculum and Rules Committees based upon the recommendations of the course’s study area coordinators. Requests for a waiver must be submitted to one of the course’s study area coordinators within one week of the start of the first term of the student’s enrollment . A transcript, course syllabus, and a notebook or examples of work accomplished must be presented to the study area coordinators.

*This course is required for those students so designated by the Admissions Committee. Typically, this course will be required for students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This five-week course begins mid-July and concludes mid-August.

†This course concludes in late June.

††Students are offered a selection of course options in the fall term of their first year that satisfy the first-term visualization requirement. Selection is made through a student-run lottery.

‡One elective must be a qualified Visualization elective (in addition to the required Visualization elective taken during the first year of study), one elective must be in the History and Theory study area and must require one or more research papers totaling at least 5,000 words, one elective must be in the Urbanism and Landscape study area, and one elective must be in the Technology and Practice study area. These required electives must be taken within the School of Architecture and may be taken in any term. Students may not substitute independent elective course work to fulfill these requirements.

• Summer Preparation Courses for Incoming M.Arch. I Students

In the six weeks before the beginning of the fall term, the School offers four summer preparation courses that are required for incoming M.Arch. I students. In fall 2020, these courses will be offered online and/or during the fall semester.

• Architectural Fundamentals (1000c). This five-week course is offered at no charge for those newly admitted students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This course is required only for those students who have been informed in their acceptance letter that they must take this course. Students required to take the summer session must satisfactorily pass this course before being admitted to the School’s first-year M.Arch I program in the fall. Classes are held each day, Monday through Friday. The average day is broken into morning and afternoon sessions. Students are expected to complete assignments outside of class.
• Summer Shops Techniques Course. This one-week course introduces incoming students to the School’s fabrication equipment and shops. The course stresses good and safe shop techniques. Students are not allowed to use the School’s shops unless they have satisfactorily completed this course.
• Summer Digital Media Orientation Course. This two-part course, which occurs during the same week as the Summer Shops Techniques Course, covers accessing the School’s servers, the use of the School’s equipment, and the School’s digital media policies and procedures. This course is required only for those M.Arch. I students who did not take Architectural Fundamentals (1000c); see paragraph 1 above.
• Arts Library Research Methods Session. This ninety-minute session covers various strategies to answer research questions pertaining to course curricula and topics by using tools such as the Yale University online catalog, architecture databases, image resources, print resources, and archival resources.

School Portfolio

In addition to the 114 satisfactorily completed course credits, a student must satisfactorily complete the portfolio requirement in order to receive an M.Arch. degree. The portfolio requirement is administered and periodically reviewed by the Design Committee.

Academic Rules and Regulations

Procedures and restrictions for the M.Arch. I program can be found in the School’s Academic Rules and Regulations section of the School of Architecture Handbook .

Following is information from the National Architectural Accrediting Board:

In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a two-year term of continuing accreditation, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established education standards. Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree. Yale University, School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs: M.Arch. (pre-professional degree + 114 credits) M.Arch. (non-pre-professional degree + 114 credits)

Next accreditation visit: 2029

• NAAB Accreditation Information

Design and Visualization 15

Technology and practice 11, history and theory 11, urbanism and landscape 9.

School of Architecture 2020 – 2021

Master of architecture i degree program, first professional degree.

The Master of Architecture I curriculum provides a disciplined approach to the fundamentals of architecture in a setting that ensures the flexibility and latitude necessary for students to develop their individual talents and skills.

The School believes that the educational experience of its program is enriched by students who have diverse educational backgrounds and, therefore, embraces students who in their undergraduate education have majored in a wide spectrum of disciplines, from architecture to any of the arts, sciences, or humanities. This program, leading to a degree of Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), is for students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees, such as a B.A. or B.S., who seek their first professional architectural degree. It typically requires three years of full-time residency to complete the degree requirements.

Entering students, with a sound liberal arts background assumed, are required to follow a curriculum in which their creative powers are stimulated through a sequence of problem-solving exercises involving basic and architectural design, building technology, freehand and computer-assisted drawing, and an introduction to design methodologies, as well as courses in architectural theory and the planning, design, and development of the urban landscape. Architectural design problems in the first year start in the fall term at limited scale and by the spring term progress to an investigation of dwelling. During the spring term of first year and until mid-June, a community building project is undertaken, which provides an opportunity for the design of an affordable house as well as the experience of carrying the design through the building process when the class builds a final design. The fall term of second year undertakes the design of a public building, and the spring term of second year is devoted to urbanism. During the fall and spring terms of third year, students, through a lottery system, are at liberty to choose from a variety of advanced design studios, many of which are led by the profession’s leading practitioners and theoreticians. Students may, if they wish, continue their work for an additional term by taking an advanced studio and/or elective courses. A number of support courses are required during the three-year curriculum. Required courses in design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, urban studies, and visual studies support the studios.

Within the limits of certain required credit distributions, students are encouraged to explore elective course options. Courses—falling into the broad categories of design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, and urbanism and landscape—support and augment the pivotal studio offerings. Courses offered by other schools and departments within the University may be taken for credit. Emphasis throughout the program is on architectural design and decision-making.

Course of Study

In course titles, a designates fall term, b designates spring term, and c designates summer. The School reserves the right to change the prescribed course of study as necessary.

M.Arch. I: Total Requirement: 114 credits

First Year (Fall)

First year (spring), first year (early summer), second year (fall), second year (spring), third year (fall), third year (spring).

*This course is required for those students so designated by the Admissions Committee. Typically, this course will be required for students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This five-week course ordinarily begins in mid-July and concludes in mid-August. In 2020–2021, this course is being taught during the fall term and replaces the required visualization elective. The first-term visualization elective is required for those not enrolled in 1221a/1000c.

†This course concludes in late June.

‡One elective must be a qualified Visualization elective (in addition to the required Visualization elective taken during the first year of study), two electives must be in History and Theory study area and must require at least a fifteen-page research paper, and one elective must be in Urbanism and Landscape study area. These required electives may be taken in any term(s). Courses taken outside of the School may fulfill these requirements provided they are listed in the appropriate study areas or they have been approved by the area coordinators. Students not on academic warning or probation may substitute independent elective course work. (See the School’s Academic Rules and Regulations for procedures and restrictions.)

If an entering student can demonstrate competence and passing grades from an accredited school in the material covered in any of the program’s required support courses (except for 2031a), that student may request a waiver of those courses. A waiver of any required course, however, does not reduce the number of course credits required to fulfill the program’s degree requirements. Support course waivers are granted by the Curriculum and Rules Committees based upon the recommendations of the course’s study area coordinators. Requests for a waiver must be submitted to one of the course’s study area coordinators within one week of the start of the first term of the student’s enrollment. A transcript, course syllabus, and a notebook or examples of work accomplished must be presented to the study area coordinators.

Summer Preparation Courses for Incoming M.Arch. I Students

In the six weeks before the beginning of the fall term, the School offers four summer preparation courses that are required of incoming M.Arch. I students. (These courses are offered online during the fall term for 2020–2021.)

• Architectural Foundations (1221a/1000c). This five-week course is offered at no charge for those newly admitted students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This course is required only for those students who have been informed in their acceptance letter that they must take this course. Students required to take the summer session must satisfactorily pass this course before being admitted to the School’s first-year M.Arch I program in the fall. Classes are held each day, Monday through Friday. The average day is broken into morning and afternoon sessions. Students are expected to complete assignments outside of class.
• Summer Shops Techniques Course. This one-week course introduces incoming students to the School’s fabrication equipment and shops. The course stresses good and safe shop techniques. Students are not allowed to use the School’s shops unless they have satisfactorily completed this course.
• Summer Digital Media Orientation Course. This two-part course, which occurs during the same week as the Summer Shops Techniques Course, covers accessing the School’s servers, the use of the School’s equipment, and the School’s digital media policies and procedures. This course is required only for those M.Arch. I students who did not take Architectural Foundations (1221a/1000c); see paragraph 1 above.
• Arts Library Research Methods Session. This ninety-minute session covers various strategies to answer research questions pertaining to course curricula and topics by using tools such as the Yale University online catalog, architecture databases, image resources, print resources, and archival resources.

School Portfolio

In addition to the 114 satisfactorily completed course credits, a student must satisfactorily complete the portfolio requirement (as described under Academic Regulations in the chapter Life at the School of Architecture) in order to receive an M.Arch. degree. The portfolio requirement is administered and periodically reviewed by the Design Committee.

Academic Rules and Regulations

Procedures and restrictions for the M.Arch. I program can be found in the School’s Academic Rules and Regulations section of the School of Architecture Handbook . This handbook is available online at http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook .

National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)

Following is information from the National Architectural Accrediting Board:

“In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

Yale University, School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree program:

M. Arch. (pre-professional degree + 114 credits)

M. Arch. (non-pre-professional degree + 114 credits)

Next accreditation visit: 2022”

Urban Studies at Yale

Urban Studies

Urban studies in the city of new haven.

Yale has a long intellectual tradition of grappling with the nature of urban growth and decline, the social and cultural life of cities, and the politics of urban change. In recent years, the University has made a renewed commitment to New Haven, its home for three centuries. Many students deepen their understanding of cities by becoming involved in the life of New Haven.

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School of Architecture 2023–2024

• Yale University Publications /
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Master of Architecture I Degree Program

First professional degree.

Sunil Bald, Director of the Professional Master of Architecture program

The Master of Architecture I curriculum provides a disciplined approach to the fundamentals of architecture in a setting that ensures the flexibility and latitude necessary for students to develop their individual talents and skills.

The School believes that the educational experience of its program is enriched by students who have diverse educational backgrounds and, therefore, embraces students who in their undergraduate education have majored in a wide spectrum of disciplines, from architecture to any of the arts, sciences, or humanities. This program, leading to a degree of Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), is for students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees, such as a B.A. or B.S., who seek their first professional architectural degree. It typically requires three years of full-time residency to complete the degree requirements.

Entering students, with a sound liberal arts background assumed, are required to follow a curriculum in which their creative, conceptual, analytical, and representational skills are developed through a rigorous and structured four-term core design studio sequence that embraces and integrates the multifaceted complexities of architectural design. Architectural design problems in the first-year fall term focus on the interrelationship of representation, space, and form. Spatial and form-making skills are further developed in the spring term with the integration of materiality, site, and inquiries into dwelling. The first year is complemented by the Building Project, where students work with an institutional client to undertake the design of an affordable single or mutli-family dwelling that is further developed until mid-June, and then realized over the summer. This provides a unique opportunity for carrying the design through the building process to realization. In the fall term of the second year, students explore the interplay of context, community, and architecture through a single term-long project: the design of a public building. The spring term of the second year is devoted to exploring the multi-layered systems that constitute the built environment through an urban design project, where design thinking can extend beyond a single building. In the fall and spring terms of the third year, students, through a lottery system, choose from a variety of advanced design studios, offered by a diversity of leading practitioners, educators, and theoreticians. 

The design studios are supported, augmented, and expanded on through required and elective courses from the four area studies that compose the curriculum: design and visualization, technology and practice, history and theory, and urbanism and landscape. In addition, students are encouraged to take elective courses offered by other schools and departments. 

Course of Study

In course titles, a designates fall term, b designates spring term, and c designates summer. The School reserves the right to change the prescribed course of study as necessary.

M.Arch. I: Total Requirement: 114 credits

First-Year Required Courses

Second-year required courses, third-year required courses.

If an entering student can demonstrate competence and passing grades from an accredited school in the material covered in any of the  program’s required support courses (except for ARCH 2031 ), that student may request a waiver of those courses. A waiver of any required course, however, does not reduce the number of course credits required to fulfill the program’s degree requirements. Support course waivers are granted by the Curriculum and Rules Committees based upon the recommendations of the course’s study area coordinators. Requests for a waiver must be submitted to one of the course’s study area coordinators within one week of the start of the first term of the student’s enrollment . A transcript, course syllabus, and a notebook or examples of work accomplished must be presented to the study area coordinators.

Summer Preparation Courses for Incoming M.Arch. I Students

In the six weeks before the beginning of the fall term, the School offers four summer preparation courses that are required of incoming M.Arch. I students. 

• Architectural Foundations ( ARCH 1000 ). This five-week course is offered at no charge for those newly admitted students who do not have significant pre-architectural training. This course is required only for those students who have been informed in their acceptance letter that they must take this course. Students required to take the summer session must satisfactorily pass this course before being admitted to the School’s first-year M.Arch I program in the fall. Classes are held each day, Monday through Friday. The average day is broken into morning and afternoon sessions. Students are expected to complete assignments outside of class.
• Summer Shops Techniques Course. This one-week course introduces incoming students to the School’s fabrication equipment and shops. The course stresses good and safe shop techniques. Students are not allowed to use the School’s shops unless they have satisfactorily completed this course.
• Summer Digital Media Orientation Course. This two-part course, which occurs during the same week as the Summer Shops Techniques Course, covers accessing the School’s servers, the use of the School’s equipment, and the School’s digital media policies and procedures. This course is required only for those M.Arch. I students who did not take Architectural Foundations ( ARCH 1000 ); see paragraph 1 above.
• Arts Library Research Methods Session. This ninety-minute session covers various strategies to answer research questions pertaining to course curricula and topics by using tools such as the Yale University online catalog, architecture databases, image resources, print resources, and archival resources.

School Portfolio

In addition to the 114 satisfactorily completed course credits, a student must satisfactorily complete the portfolio requirement (as described under Academic Regulations in the chapter Life at the School of Architecture ) in order to receive an M.Arch. degree. The portfolio requirement is administered and periodically reviewed by the Design Committee.

Academic Rules and Regulations

Procedures and restrictions for the M.Arch. I program can be found in the School’s Academic Rules and Regulations section of the School of Architecture Handbook . This handbook is available online at http://architecture.yale.edu/academics/school-handbook .

National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)

Following is information from the National Architectural Accrediting Board, with the date of the next NAAB accreditation visit to be announced in the formal report on the results of the 2022 accreditation visit:

“ In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established education standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

Yale University, School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

M.Arch. (pre-professional degree + 114 credits) M.Arch. (non-pre-professional degree + 114 credits) ”

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• Academic Programs
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• Joint Degree Programs

Architecture (MArch I or II)

Joint degrees with the Yale School of Architecture

On This Page

Program overview.

This program is directed to individuals who wish to become leaders in sustainable architecture and ecological design, with a focus on the integration of ecological science, energy systems, and global urbanization patterns with architecture and urbanism. Capitalizing on the breadth and depth of expertise at the School of the Environment in ecosystem ecology, land change science, environmental economics, industrial ecology, and ecological anthropology, this program fosters students who can innovatively merge ecological science with architecture at the site, city, and regional scales.

Students earn one of four degrees — the Master of Environmental Management (MEM), the Master of Environmental Science (MESc), the Master of Forestry (MF), or the Master of Forest Science (MFS) — at the School of the Environment, and one of two degrees at the School of Architecture —  Master of Architecture I or Master of Architecture II .  MArch I is a program designed for students with undergraduate liberal arts degrees who seek their first architecture degree; the program is certified by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, which identifies programs that fulfill requirements for state licensure in the United States.  MArch II is designed for professional architects.   Pursuing a joint program reduces the term of study by one year.  The MEM/MArch I program requires four years instead of five. The MEM/MArch II requires three years instead of four.

Course of Study

Each environment degree program requires a completion of 36 credits as well as a summer internship and a thesis or a capstone project.  In addition, all joint-degree students are required to attend three weeks of technical skills training before beginning their studies at YSE.  These are hands-on workshops, offered every August, that teach plant identification, ecosystems management, land measurement, and urban ecosystem analysis. Please see Degree Programs at YSE for more information.   At the School of Architecture , MArch I is composed of core courses and electives, three summer courses, and a first year building project. Students must complete five terms of design studio plus a final advanced design studio, with the first four terms taken sequentially.  MArch II students take three terms of design studio plus a final advanced design studio, with the first two terms taken consecutively. Please see Academic Programs at the School of Architecture for more information.

Each school individually admits students in accordance with its own criteria. Prospective students may apply to the program prior to matriculation by submitting a separate application to each school during a single admissions cycle. For more information on admission, please visit YSE Masters Admissions and the School of Architecture Admissions .

Students pay tuition for three semesters at YSE, and three semesters at the School of Architecture for MArch II and five semesters for MArch I. For more information on applying for financial aid at YSE, please see the YSE financial aid website . For information on financial aid at Architecture, please see the School of Architecture financial aid website . Students must apply for financial aid at each school, and any aid awarded will apply to the semesters in which a student is enrolled at that particular school.

Contact Info

School of the Environment 195 Prospect Street New Haven, CT 06511 Phone: 800 825-0330 [email protected]

School of Architecture 180 York Street New Haven, CT 06511 Phone: 203 432-2288 [email protected]

Degree Awarded

Master of Architecture (Joint Degree) — MArch (I or II)

Program Duration

Required credit hours.

36 Credits at each school

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Architecture Research @ Yale: Dissertations & Theses

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WHAT EXPERT RESEARCHERS KNOW

A thesis is typically the culminating project for a master's degree, while a dissertation completes a doctoral degree and represents a scholar's main area of expertise. However, some undergraduate students write theses that are published online, so it is important to note which degree requirements the thesis meets. While these are not published works like peer-reviewed journal articles, they are typically subjected to a rigorous committee review process before they are considered complete. Additionally, they often provide a large number of citations that can point you to relevant sources. 

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Dissertations & Theses @ Yale University A searchable databases with dissertations and theses in all disciplines written by students at Yale from 1861 to the present.

Yale University Architecture Theses   Included in  Art, architecture, and art history theses and projects, Yale University (1915–2014)

Yale University Master of Fine Arts Theses in Graphic Design​ Finding aid for Arts Library Special Collections holdings of over 600 individual theses from 1951 to the present. The theses are most often in book format, though some have more experimental formats. Individual records for the theses are also available in the library catalog.

Yale University Master of Fine Arts Theses in Photography Finding aid for Arts Library Special Collections holdings of over 300 individual Master of Fine Arts theses from 1971 to the present. The theses are most often in the format of a portfolio of photographic prints, though some theses are also in book form. Individual records for the MFA theses are also available in the library catalog.

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James Kolker selected as the University Architect

December 19, 2023

Dear Colleagues,

We are thrilled to welcome James Kolker to Yale as the University Architect. In this new role that reports to the vice president for Facilities, Campus Development, and Sustainability; James will be responsible for maintaining an architectural vision for Yale and shaping the Office of the University Architect. This new organization aligns the university with our Ivy League peers and supports how we manage our key strategic asset—Yale’s signature urban campus.

As the University Architect, James will be the principal steward for Yale’s physical environment. He will oversee campus planning and landscape architecture, establishing a clear design direction, and shepherd the implementation of facilities and sustainability standards and guidelines that inform the design of construction projects. These efforts will help unify the university’s campuses, facilities, places, and spaces. He will also lead the preservation of Yale’s architectural and landscape legacies, while embracing and piloting new technology, including zero carbon-ready preparedness and energy reduction efforts associated with the built environment.

James brings more than thirty-five years of architecture and campus planning experience, balanced between leadership positions at design firms and in higher education. His industry expertise is expansive, having worked on a diverse range of civic and academic projects throughout the United States as well as stewarding the Washington University campus for more than a decade.

As the University Architect at Washington University in St. Louis, James led all campuses and facilities and provided governance for campus planning and development of capital projects, new and renovated facilities, sustainability initiatives, space management, and project programming. During his tenure, he led wide-ranging university developments, including the transformation of the east end of the Danforth Campus, which is an 18-acre project that includes four LEED-Platinum certified projects, and three others, totaling more than $365 million.

Prior to his higher education experience, James worked for Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates where he led a team that provided campus planning and design support for academic and civic projects. Over his 23-year career at the firm he became principal, managing projects ranging from interiors and individual buildings to campus precincts and global contexts.

He received a B.A. in architecture from Columbia University and an M.Arch from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. James is a registered architect, certified via the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, a LEED Accredited Professional, and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Please join us in extending a warm reception to James as he assumes his leadership role in Yale’s Office of Facilities on February 1, 2024. We are excited to collaborate with him in achieving our ambitious capital plan.

J. Mike Bellamy Vice President for Facilities, Campus Development, and Sustainability

Jack F. Callahan, Jr. Senior Vice President for Operations

Yale University

Top image: James Kolker, University Architect at Yale

10 PhD Students Named 2023-24 Prize Teaching Fellows

Ten PhD students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) have been named Prize Teaching Fellows for the 2023-2024 academic year: Camille Angelo (Religious Studies), Carissa Chan (Microbiology), Grayson Hoy (Chemistry), Nghiem Huynh (Economics), Kimberly Lifton (Medieval Studies), Benjamin Schafer (History), Jillian Stallman (Economics), Audrey Tjahjadi (Anthropology), Alexa Williams (Chemistry), and Novak Yang (Immunobiology). 

The Graduate School has awarded the teaching prizes annually since 2000. Recipients are nominated by their undergraduate students and the faculty members they assist while serving as Teaching Fellows.

"Doctoral education is more than just a journey from knowledge acquisition to knowledge creation," said Lynn Cooley, Dean of the Graduate School. "It is fundamentally about equipping scholars with the ability to share their insights broadly—to impact society positively through education. Reviewing the nominations, I am profoundly impressed by the innovative and engaging ways in which our teaching fellows have made complex ideas accessible and exciting to their students."

Biographies of the winners are included below.

Camille Leon Angelo (Religious Studies)

Camille Leon Angelo is a sixth-year PhD student in the Department of Religious Studies in the subfields of Eastern Mediterranean and West Asian Religions and Ancient Christianity. Her work examines materiality, sexuality, and space in late antiquity through new materialist, feminist, and queer lenses. She is a field archaeologist and has excavated in the eastern Mediterranean and the Caucasus. Her current research primarily engages archaeological, papyrological, and epigraphic evidence, related to late antique Egypt. Her past projects have analyzed the archaeological remains of several early Christian sites in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, most notably Dura-Europos, to elucidate sensory experiences in late antiquity.

Carissa Chan (Microbiology)

Carissa Chan is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Microbiology. Her research investigates how bacterial pathogens adapt to infection-relevant stresses, thus promoting survival inside mammalian host cells and disease. She has served as a teaching fellow for Physiological Systems for the past three years, including two as head teaching fellow. Each year, Carissa is inspired by the dedication and level of engagement from students in the class as they cover fascinating topics about the human body from fundamental cellular physiology to complex interactions between organ systems. Working with undergraduate and graduate students in Physiological Systems and sharing her excitement for science with them has been one of the highlights of her time at Yale.

Grayson Hoy (Chemistry)

Grayson Hoy is a first-year PhD student in the Chemistry Department. His research focuses on using super-resolution infrared microscopy to study metabolism in living cells to better understand metabolic dysregulation. Before Yale, he attended William & Mary, where he learned how transformative professors and mentors can be from a student’s perspective. Inspired by his undergraduate researcher professor, Dr. Kristin Wustholz, and other teachers throughout his life, Grayson aims to create a supportive learning environment where students feel empowered and excited by chemistry. 

Nghiem Huynh (Economics)

Nghiem Huynh is a doctoral candidate in Economics at Yale University, graduating in May 2024. His research evaluates the effects of government policies on regional and gender inequality. Nghiem holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from New York University Abu Dhabi.

Kimberly Lifton (Medieval Studies)

Kimberly Lifton is a PhD candidate in the Medieval Studies program. She studies how Burgundy, England, and France's relationships with the Ottoman Empire materialized in manuscripts during the fifteenth century. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright, FLAS, and the Dhira Mahoney Fellowship. In the classroom, she works to develop compassionate pedagogy for neurodiverse students. 

Benjamin Schafer (History)

Benjamin Schafer is a PhD candidate in American History. He studies urban and social history in the late-twentieth-century United States.  His dissertation, “Life and Death in Rust,” is a study of poverty and inequality in post-industrial Buffalo, NY, his hometown, from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. Prior to Yale, Ben received an AB, magna cum laude with highest honors; Phi Beta Kappa, in History with a secondary in African American Studies from Harvard College, where he was awarded the Thomas T. Hoopes Senior Thesis Prize, the David Herbert Donald Prize in American History, and the Rev. Peter J. Gomes Prize in Religion and Ethnicity. He also holds an MPhil in Economic and Social History from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. He works as a research assistant for Professors Elizabeth Hinton and Vanessa Ogle and has previously worked as a researcher for Professor Fredrik Logevall (Harvard) and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He has been a teaching fellow for Professor David Engerman (Fall 2023, The Origins of U.S. Global Power) and Professor Marco Ramos (Spring 2023, The History of Drugs in America).

Jillian Stallman (Economics)

Jillian Stallman is a PhD student in the Economics Department interested broadly in the intersection of economic development, environmental economics, and political economy. She's writing her dissertation about cooperation over freshwater resources in developing countries using a combination of economic theory, surveys and administrative data, and remote-sensing measurements. Jillian spent her undergraduate years at Williams College, where she worked most semesters as a teaching assistant to her peers in courses ranging from macroeconomic development to multivariable calculus to introductory Chinese. After graduating, she spent several years travelling in, among other places, China, Chile and Senegal, operating under the belief that she would have a difficult time ultimately doing research about places and people she hadn't lived around for a good while.

Audrey Tjahjadi (Anthropology)

Audrey Tjahjadi is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Anthropology focusing on human evolutionary genetics. She is interested in how local environments have shaped the evolution of diet-related adaptations in Southeast Asian and Oceanic populations, particularly in genes involved in fatty acid metabolism. Outside of research, Audrey is also involved in science communication and outreach through Yale graduate student organizations. 

Alexa Kim Williams (Chemistry)

Alexa Williams is a PhD student in Materials Chemistry. She completed her BS in Chemistry in 2021 at Montclair State University in New Jersey. At Yale, her research explores the fundamental reactivity of H-terminated silicon nanoparticles and aims to inform broader studies on silicon-based hybrid materials for CO2 reduction. This work is part of the CHASE solar fuels hub.

Xuan (Novak) Yang (Immunobiology)

Novak Yang is a third-year PhD candidate in Dr. Lieping Chen’s laboratory at the Department of Immunobiology. He received his BS in Biology and MS in Cancer Biology and Translational Oncology degrees at Emory University, and was the first to accomplish this in a “3+1” timeline at Emory. Prior to joining Yale, Novak was trained by Dr. Haian Fu and Dr. Andrey Ivanov at the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, with a primary focus on cancer-associated protein-protein interactions and high-throughput drug discovery. He has multiple first-author and co-author publications, and is the recipient of American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) Travel Award and Program Committee Blue Ribbon Pick, and Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) Tony B. Academic Travel Award. Novak was recruited to Yale Immunobiology in 2021 as a Gruber Science Fellow. His research focuses on the discovery of actionable targets in the tumor microenvironment that drive the resistance to current immunotherapies, and pre-clinical development of innovative therapeutic strategies that normalize anti-tumor immunity for cancer patients.

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A House for Essex by Charles Holland, FAT architects and Grayson Perry. © Jack Hobhouse. Image courtesy of Living Architecture

• Ep. 135 – What’s in a Building?

April 30, 2024 | Silverman, Owen | Art & Architecture , Podcast

In this episode, British architect Charles Holland explores the methods and importance of experiencing architecture in our everyday lives, the subject of his new book, How to Enjoy Architecture: A Guide for Everyone.

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Humanitas: a pulitzer for english lecturer; tony nomination for playwright.

Sarah Stillman and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

In the latest edition of Humanitas, a column focused on the arts and humanities at Yale, a lecturer of investigative journalism in Yale’s Department of English wins a Pulitzer Prize for her own public-interest journalism; a professor in the practice in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies earns a Tony nomination for an acclaimed Broadway revival; the director of the Yale Opera explains the fine art of trilling; and the Yale School of Architecture is selected to participate in a national initiative that challenges coastal communities to create solutions to the risks of sea level rise.

For more, visit an archive of all arts and humanities coverage at Yale News.

Pulitzer honors for investigative journalist

As head of the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab, Sarah Stillman has helped student journalists produce and publish deeply reported public-interest journalism on issues critical to a thriving democracy, including coverage of criminal justice, climate change, and migration issues.

This week, Stillman was recognized for her own investigative journalism, winning a Pulitzer Prize for her work as a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Stillman, a lecturer in the Yale English Department, was recognized for her December 2023 article, “ Sentenced to Life for an Accident Miles Away ,” which won the prize for Explanatory Reporting. The article revealed how the excessively harsh legal doctrine called felony murder has resulted in the incarceration of thousands of Americans, a disproportionate number of whom are young and Black.

The judges called Stillman’s work “a searing indictment” of the legal system’s reliance on the felony murder charge and its disparate consequences.

The award is well-deserved, and a testament to Stillman’s powerful voice, said Jessica Brantley, chair of the English Department in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

“ Sarah Stillman is a brilliant writer whose journalism makes a uniquely large impact, and we are lucky that she pursues this inspirational work alongside our students at the Yale Investigative Reporting Lab,” Brantley said. “Just as her reporting works to address the shortcomings of the world, Stillman’s collaborative teaching goes beyond modeling transformative journalism to enable her students to do it themselves.”

Kathryn Lofton, the FAS Dean of Humanities, also lauded Stillman as “a brave, indefatigable investigator of the truths powerful interests work hardest to hide.

“ No work is more important,” she said.

Stillman, who received B.A. and M.A. degrees at Yale, won a National Magazine Award for Public Interest, in 2012, for her reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan on labor abuses and human trafficking on United States military bases. Her reporting on the use of young people as confidential informants in the war on drugs received a George Polk Award and the Molly National Journalism Prize.

At Yale, in addition to her work as a lecturer in investigative reporting, she once co-taught a seminar on the Iraq War.

Rave reviews (and seven Tony nominations) for ‘Appropriate’ revival

Yale’s Theater and Performance Studies community is applauding teacher and colleague Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose play, “Appropriate,” last week received a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play.

Jacobs-Jenkins, a professor in the practice of Theater and Performance Studies, reworked the 2013 play for its Broadway debut, where it has garnered rave reviews. The acting, staging and direction, initially in the Helen Hayes Theater (now at the Belasco), also earned the play an additional seven Tony nominations, as announced April 30.

The play takes place at a dilapidated Arkansas plantation house, where three siblings in the white Lafayette family have gathered to sort out the remains of their late father’s estate. When “horrible relics of the past, both the country’s and the family’s, are discovered in the clutter, they force the Lafayettes to re-examine the legacy of their father, supposedly once in line to be a Supreme Court justice but also, depending on whom you ask, a saint or a psychopath,” said a New York Times review.

In a 2021 interview in The Yale Review, Jacobs-Jenkins said he wrote the play while living in Berlin, a period when he started “wondering more deeply about the power of rhetoric and the limits of what a theatrical representation can ultimately accomplish. All three of the plays from that period — ‘An Octoroon,’ ‘Neighbors,’ and ‘Appropriate’— are about rejecting narratives that claim to be ‘about race,’ or ‘about Blackness.’ They’re more about revealing and testing the values of the people who show up to watch.”

The other nominations for this staging of “Appropriate” are: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Sarah Paulson); Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Corey Stoll); Best Scenic Design of a Play (dots); Best Costume Design of a Play (Dede Ayite); Best Lighting Design of a Play (Jane Cox); Best Sound Design of a Play (Bray Poor and Will Pickens); and Best Direction of a Play (Lila Neugebauer).

The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 16, at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater.

Jacobs-Jenkins, who joined the Yale faculty in 2021, was a 2016 MacArthur Fellow and is currently a Residency Five playwright at Signature. The initial Off Broadway run of “Appropriate” at the Signature Theater won an Obie Award for Best New American Play. His other plays include “Girls” (Yale Rep), the Pulitzer-finalist “Everybody” (Signature), and the Pulitzer-finalist “Gloria” (Vineyard Theater).

“ Appropriate” is at the Belasco Theater through June 23.

Trill seekers, listen up

In the Yale School of Music’s latest “mini master class” video, published on the school’s Instagram account, Gerald Moore, a professor in the practice of voice and director of Yale Opera, explains the art of trilling — which he describes as “sort of akin to a very controlled yodel, à la Tarzan” — and demonstrates his approach to teaching the technique.

The vocal trill, which involves an oscillation of the larynx, can be quite difficult to master, Moore says. But he considers it a “pretty essential skills for great vocal health.”

“ In order to execute a correct trill the larynx has to be completely free,” he said, “and that’s what singers want from their singing, whether it’s in florid music or sustained.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Yale School of Music (@yale.music)

Rising to the climate challenge

Like coastal communities around the world, the cities of Portland and South Portland, Maine are already experiencing the consequences of rising sea levels, including increased downtown flooding, damaged infrastructure, and record high tides.

This fall, the Yale School of Architecture will join a multi-university initiative that aims to better understand these increased threats and propose design solutions that help communities adapt to the challenge.

The semester-long initiative, known as the Envision Resilience Challenge , was developed by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt.

During the project, Yale students will spend a semester getting to know challenges faced by the local communities, research opportunities to address these threats, and propose adaptive design solutions for such issues as port infrastructure, water quality and access, and affordable housing. Ultimately, initiative partners will organize community programming, events, and a public exhibition to showcase the final designs.

In previous years, the initiative worked with communities in Massachusetts (on the island of Nantucket, and in the communities of New Bedford and Fairhaven) and Rhode Island (Narragansett Bay). Members of the Yale School of Architecture, including faculty from the Yale Urban Design Workshop, also participated in the Nantucket project , in 2021.

Get on your feet

The salsa ensemble from the Yale School of Music’s Music in Schools Initiative (MISI) was invited to open for the Grammy-award-winning singer Gloria Estefan before her appearance at Southern Connecticut State University on April 27. Estefan was the featured guest for this year’s Mary and Louis Fusco Distinguished Lecture at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.

The salsa ensemble is part of MISI’s All-City Ensembles, an after-school program that invites New Haven public school students to play in one of several ensembles and receive free instruction from graduate students. MISI is made possible through a gift from the Yale College Class of ’57.

Documentary captures ‘scholar behind the books’

Historian Todd Holmes ’13 Ph.D. had a chance to meet and work with famed Yale scholar James C. Scott before he ever read his field-changing books.

While earning his doctorate at Yale, Holmes took on the role of graduate assistant and program coordinator for the Yale Agrarian Studies Program, an organization founded (and at the time still led) by Scott to better understand rural life and society. Struck by Scott’s intellect, wit, and boundless curiosity, Holmes felt compelled to share with others the story of the man behind a series of influential books on the social sciences.

A decade later, Holmes has produced a documentary film, “ In A Field All His Own: The Life and Career of James C. Scott ,” which casts a light on Scott’s pathbreaking scholarship on a broad range of subject matter, including peasant resistance, top-down state social planning, and anarchism.

Drawn from more than 30 hours of interviews — including more than 10 hours of conversation between Holmes and his former mentor — the film offers a moving portrait of a scholar whose work influenced all of the interpretative social sciences, and whom the New York Times described as the “unofficial founder of the field of ‘resistance studies.”

Scott, Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science who also held joint appointments in anthropology and environmental studies, worked at Yale from 1976 until his retirement in 2021. His wide-reaching scholarship has focused on peasant politics, resistance, and anarchism, among numerous other subjects.

“ The best way to capture Jim was really for him to tell his own story,” said Holmes, who is now a historian at the Oral History Center at the University of California, Berkeley. “The main goal in making the documentary was really just to highlight the scholar behind the books,” he said, “but also to allow people both today and certainly the many scholars of the generations to come to get to know James Scott.”

More arts and humanities

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Mexican Architect Tatiana Bilbao to Receive Honorary Doctorate At Boston Architectural College’s 2024 Commencement

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May 07, 2024

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The Boston Architectural College (BAC) is delighted to announce that renowned Mexican architect Tatiana Bilbao will be this year's commencement speaker and recipient of an honorary doctorate. She will deliver the commencement speech on Friday, May 24.

Tatiana Bilbao joins a distinguished lineup of recent Commencement speakers at the College, which includes Polish American architect Daniel Libeskind, architect Billie Tsien, Pritzker Prize winning Indian architect and planner Balkrishna Doshi, architect and planner Moshe Safdie, landscape architect and artist Martha Schwartz, and BAC alum and Cuban-American, Robert (Bob) J. Vila, a home improvement television show host best known for “This Old House.”

“As the BAC continues to honor design visionaries, we are thrilled to recognize acclaimed architect Tatiana Bilbao as our commencement speaker and an honorary doctorate recipient for professional excellence,” said President Mahesh Daas. “Tatiana's commitment to incorporating culture, people, and thoughtful design methods into her work resonates deeply with our institution's principles.”

“By seamlessly merging research and design, her innovative approach serves as a beacon, and an inspiration for our graduates to envision architecture and urban design as catalysts for positive transformation—fostering environments characterized by empathy, resilience, and inclusivity.”

Based in Mexico City, Tatiana Bilbao began her studio, Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO, in 2004 with the aim of research, design, community-led strategies, and responsible construction. The studio’s projects range from urban masterplans to affordable housing strategies, from city planning to furniture design. The goal of their work is to design for and with the people as they believe that architecture is a primary form of care.

Prior to founding her eponymous firm, she held the role of Advisor in the Ministry of Development and Housing of the Government of the Federal District of Mexico City and was part of the General Development Directorate of the Advisory Council for Urban Development in the City.

“Receiving such a distinction [from The Boston Architectural College] is both an honor and a responsibility, to both I am truly thankful,” said Tatiana Bilbao. “Graduating in the world today is also a big responsibility that is carried after a huge privilege—not to underestimate the struggles that each graduate passed through to arrive here, but taking into account that only 16 percent of the global population are able to receive a professional degree—this is a privilege.”

“It’s a proven fact that architecture has an absolute power of shaping societies. The responsibility of these [BAC] graduates is how they will use those tools to shape a world where skills learned in an educational environment will transcend from a privilege to an opportunity for all.”

The studio’s architectural work includes: ESTOA, a university building on the UDEM campus; the Culiacan Botanical Garden; the Pilgrimage Route in Jalisco; an affordable social housing prototype displayed at the 2015 Chicago Biennial; three housing buildings in Lyon France; The Research Center of the Sea of Cortez; Olive West, a new housing development in St Louis, among others.

As a leading global designer, Tatiana Bilbao has received numerous accolades including recognition of the Kunstpreis Berlin in 2012; named in 2010 as an Emerging Voice by the Architecture League of New York; Global Award for Sustainable Architecture Prize by the LOCUS Foundation in 2014; Marcus Prize Award 2019; Tau Sigma Delta Gold Medal of 2020 as well as the Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) in 2021, the Richard Neutra Award in 2022, the AW Architect of the Year in 2022, and the most recent, the J.Irwin and Xenia. S Miller Prize Award in 2023.

She holds a recurring teaching position at Yale University School of Architecture and has taught at Harvard University GSD, Columbia University GSAPP, Rice University, University of Andres Bello in Chile, and Peter Behrens School of Arts at HS Dusseldorf in Germany. Her work has been published in The New York Times, A + U, Domus, among others.

About the BAC  Founded in 1889, The Boston Architectural College (BAC) stands as a leading institution in spatial design, recently ranked #4 Best College for Architecture in America by Niche among 240 institutions. The BAC has also been rated #1 for Best Graduate School in Architecture for Earning Potential and #4 for Best Architecture School Offering Bachelor's Degrees in the U.S. in 2020 by GradReports . Renowned for its diverse student body representing over 54 countries, the BAC offers bachelor and graduate degrees in architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and design studies, alongside continuing education certificates and courses. The BAC's dedication to its mission to diversify the design profession, is reflected in its commitment to accessibility through offering onsite or online learning options. Embracing inclusive admission, diversity, and innovation, the BAC fosters a community of dedicated faculty and students committed to both academic excellence and practical experience.

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Trump's hush money trial

Israel-Hamas war

April 30, 2024 - US university protests

By Rachel Ramirez, Chandelis Duster, Samantha Delouya, Tori B. Powell, Aditi Sangal, Amir Vera, Deva Lee, Kathleen Magramo, Dalia Faheid and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

Our live coverage of the protests rocking US campuses has moved here

Over 100 protesters arrested across 2 New York college campuses, law enforcement official says

From CNN’s Mark Morales

Over 100 protesters were arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and City College of New York, according to a law enforcement official.

Most of the arrests were made at Columbia, including about two dozen protesters who police say tried to prevent officers from entering the campus, the official said.

Tactical teams at Columbia first set up a perimeter around the campus to hold back protesters and prevent further arrests, according to the official. Offers then entered the campus through multiple entry points.

"It's still a student-fueled movement," Columbia student magazine editor says

From CNN's Kathleen Magramo

Jonas Du, editor-in-chief of a Columbia student magazine, told CNN that the protests on campus are student-fueled regardless of any outsider involvement.

It’s “hard to say” whether those arrested from Columbia's Hamilton Hall were students or from outside the institution, the Columbia Sundial editor said.

“Even though campus has been locked down to Columbia ID holders, now there has been ways of getting in, getting non-affiliated into campus. But for the most part you need Columbia IDs, you need students to provide you with IDs that can get you into campus," said Du, who is a junior student at the university.

Du said he believes there is “evidence” of outside organizations behind the occupation's planning, but he also says numerous Columbia students were inside Hamilton Hall. 

He said he recognized “many, many Columbia students in the crowd” that formed human chains around the entrances to Hamilton Hall while reporting on the protests. 

“At the end of the day, it's still a student-fueled movement. It wouldn’t have gotten to (this) extent without the of the student organizations here.” 

Du said students received a text message and email alert from the school stating that a shelter-in-place order had been issued, asking them to remain in their dorms and not to go on campus.

"But all of us knew that that was sort of a signal that the NYPD was going to raid campus," he added.

Video shows Arizona State University police officer removing protester’s hijab during arrest

From CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow

Video taken over the weekend at Arizona State University shows a campus police officer removing a hijab from a protester’s head during her arrest.

The blurred video, obtained by Mass Liberation AZ and provided to CNN by attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed, who represents the women, shows several ASU Police Department officers surrounding a woman whose hands are held behind her back as one of the officers removes her hijab.

People nearby can be heard yelling, “You’re violating her privacy,” and “Give it back.”

The officers then pull the woman’s sweatshirt hood over her head and a bystander yells, “So she can wear a hood but not her hijab?” At one point one of the officers blocks the woman from the view of those taking the video, as a person yells, “let her go!”

A lawyer representing her and three other women who said it also happened to them is demanding accountability.

Al-Sayyed, who said the arrests took place early Saturday, did not identify the women but indicated that three of them are students at the university and all four are Phoenix-area residents. They are facing criminal trespass charges.

Upon being taken into custody, Al-Sayyed said, the women explained the significance of a hijab and “begged” to keep their hijabs, but he said they were told that their hijabs had to be removed for safety reasons.

“They never expected that an officer … who’s sworn to protect and serve is going to violate their most basic protected right under the United States Constitution, which is the right to practice their religion. So they're hurt,” Al-Sayyed said.

After being detained and bused to jail, the women were not given their hijabs back, Al-Sayyed said.

Around 15 hours later, when he was finally given access to his clients, Al-Sayyed said he was able to bring them new hijabs.

The Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-AZ),  condemned  the university police for the recorded incident and others like it and called for a full investigation.

“This act represents a blatant infringement upon the religious liberties of peaceful protesters. It is profoundly distressing for the affected women, and ASU Police must conduct a thorough investigation into this matter,” Azza Abuseif, executive director of CAIR-AZ, said in an email to CNN.

In a statement to CNN, the university said, “This matter is under review.” CNN has reached out to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for comment.

Protests will continue despite police presence at Columbia, student negotiator says

A lead student negotiator for protesters at Columbia University has told CNN that protests will continue on the campus despite the school's request for a police presence.

The university has asked NYPD to maintain its presence on campus until May 17.

"I’m very confident that students will continue this movement even after all this brutality against them," negotiator Mahmoud Khalil said, adding that students still have the right to protest despite increased security.

Since negotiations between student protesters and the Columbia University administration began two weeks ago, the university has not viewed them as an anti-war movement, he said. 

"Instead, they dealt with it as an internal student discipline matter. They negotiated with us about bringing food and blankets to the encampment. They refused to acknowledge that this actually is more than that, this is a nationwide movement.

"This is a movement that asks Columbia to divest its investments from the companies that are fuelling the war in Gaza right now,” said Khalil, who is a second-year graduate student at Columbia.

Tensions escalated on campus when officers entered Columbia's Hamilton Hall , which had been occupied by protesters since the early hours of Tuesday, and dozens were seen being arrested.

Khalil said that "the autonomous group decided to take that building when they felt the university is not answering their demands" and was "alienating" them.

Police presence at Columbia may dampen graduation celebrations, CNN journalist and student says

From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe

Julia Vargas Jones, a CNN journalist and Columbia Journalism School graduate student, said the university's request for an on-campus police presence through May 17 will only "dampen the mood even more" as students and their families prepare for graduation.

NYPD swarmed the university Tuesday night after the university authorized them to go into the campus to clear out a building being occupied by protesters. CNN has witnessed dozens of arrests.

"Graduation is May 15. That is my graduation as well. I have family coming from Brazil to come watch me walk across the stage and get my diploma. I hope of course, as everyone does, that this (graduation) can happen," Jones said.

"But at the same time, is there a climate for celebration, for graduation?" Jones said.

Jones said she's unsure the climate on campus will be celebratory as graduation nears.

"I spoke to a lot of students on campus today and students were just feeling caught in between. I don't really see celebration being something we flock to in the coming weeks," she said. "I'm interested to see who will actually attend graduation."

Jones said she has not witnessed any violent altercations as she reported from inside Columbia’s campus Tuesday night. After the campus was cleared by NYPD, Jones described the atmosphere as quiet enough to “hear a pin drop.”

NYPD used flash bangs to breach Columbia building where doors were barricaded

From CNN’s Matthew Friedman and Miguel Marquez

NYPD officers used flash-bang grenades to breach Columbia's Hamilton Hall, which protesters had barricaded themselves inside Tuesday, the police department told CNN.

The building's doors had been barricaded with chairs, tables and vending machines, and windows had been covered with newspaper, the NYPD said.

When a flash-bang grenade is deployed , it emits a bright flash and a very loud bang, often used to shock and disorient. 

Video posted by NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shows officers searching a bookshelf-lined office after busting the door's lock with a hammer.

Another video shows officers packing a stairwell and passing chairs to one another.

At least 50 officers had earlier used an elevated ramp to climb into the building through a window. 

Columbia University property has been cleared, NYPD says

From CNN’s Matthew Friedman and Miguel Marquez at Columbia

Columbia University’s property has been cleared, the New York Police Department told CNN, less than two hours after officers entered the school’s campus in Morningside Heights.

Hamilton Hall has also been cleared, the NYPD says, and nobody was wounded during the operation. 

The NYPD is still monitoring different locations for protesters across the city, they said.

Photos show NYPD action at Columbia University

From CNN Digital’s Photo Team

The New York Police Department entered the Columbia University campus late Tuesday evening after receiving a letter from the university authorizing them to go into the campus, a law enforcement source familiar with the situation told CNN. 

Officers entered Hamilton Hall , which had been occupied by protesters since the early morning hours Tuesday.

Dozens of people have been arrested.

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