The University of New Mexico
AC-3: Graduate Programs

Community & Regional Planning (MCRP): The Master of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree prepares graduates to shape community and regional change, and work towards environmental sustainability and social justice for their communities and regions as well as the larger world. The MCRP program emphasizes the intersections and interactions among people and both natural and built environments. It takes a community-based approach to address intersecting issues in community and economic development, natural resources and environmental planning, and physical planning and design. There are four MCRP concentrations, all of which integrate sustainability-focused coursework and research: Community Development, Indigenous Planning, Natural Resources & Environmental Planning, and Physical Planning & Design. The MCRP can be jointly pursued in tandem with an MA in Latin American Studies, a Master in Public Administration, or a Master in Water Resources.

Water Resources Program (MWR): The Water Resources Program offers the Master of Water Resources (MWR) degree, an interdisciplinary professional degree designed to prepare students for careers in water resources. Applicants to the program must have a basic proficiency in at least one water-related discipline such as engineering, sociology, management, public administration, environmental studies, economics, law, chemistry, planning, political science, geology, geography and biology, among others–or professional experience in the water field. The MWR degree program expands and deepens students’ knowledge of their primary disciplines, provides them with an integrated perspective on the importance of water in socio-economic and environmental contexts, improves their capacity for critical thinking, and develops their technical and communication skills. The Hydroscience concentration is designed primarily for students with technical orientation in the physical and biological sciences and engineering. This concentration leads to further expertise in the technical aspects of water resources management. The Policy and Management concentration is intended for students with interests in the social and economic sciences, administration, public policy, and planning. This concentration develops the students' skills in the administrative, economic, and socio-political aspects of water resources management.

Landscape Architecture (MLA): The Master of Landscape Architecture program in the School of Architecture and Planning is a graduate professional degree that prepares students to enter the profession and discipline of landscape architecture. The program has strengths in sustainable design; the urban environment; cultural landscape studies, in particular, the cultural and historic landscapes of the Southwest; and art and ecology. The strong interdisciplinary relationship between the Landscape Architecture, Architecture, and Community & Regional Planning departments, in addition to the School’s close ties with professional, state, civic, neighborhood and cultural communities of the region ensures that students are given the opportunity to engage in a rich and diverse educational experience.

Geography (Ph.D): New Mexico Geography Ph.D. Program offers a rigorous, research-based degree that is focused on environmental change, dryland resource management, complex cultural landscapes, and the methods needed to understand them. The doctoral program is delivered jointly at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University, with collaborative participation from both faculties. The doctoral curriculum will evolve to adapt to ever-changing human-environment interactions, and career needs within professional geography. The program’s main regional foci are New Mexico and the broader Southwest region, the Mexico-U.S. borderlands, and Latin America.

Geography – Environmental Studies concentration (MS): The Environmental Studies concentration in Geography enables students to study integrative human-environment dynamics, including the interplay of complex cultural landscapes, resource management, and environmental change. The Environmental Studies concentration includes extensive sustainability-focused coursework such as water governance, political ecology, geographies of power, food and natural resources, environmental management, race and geography, environmental management, governing the global environment, and environmental justice, and prepares graduates for professional positions or Ph.D. programs related to geography or environmental management.

Economics – International Development and Sustainability concentration (MA, PhD): The field of International Development and Sustainability (IDS) focuses on the process of economic growth and improving human well-being through sustainable uses of physical, human, social, and environmental resources in the context of low-income and emerging economies. This graduate concentration addresses a wide range of issues faced in developing countries and by the people who live in them, including: the relationship between migration and development in origin countries; the effect of pollution on a range of development and human well-being indicators; the short- and long-term socio-economic effects of environment and natural disasters; and how aspects of human well-bring are transmitted across generations, among others. 

Economics – Environmental and Natural Resource Economics concentration (MA, PhD): Environmental and Natural Resource Economics focuses on addressing human interactions with natural systems. At UNM, this graduate concentration is transdisciplinary, combining, economics with biology, hydrology, chemistry, engineering, and human health. The program addresses some of the most pressing environmental and natural resource problems in the world and in the state of New Mexico including climate change, drought, forests and trees, wildfires, water and water quality, energy, and invasive species. Our goals are not only to understand the impact of humans and their economic pursuits on the natural world, but also to provide policymakers with improved information with which to develop management policies that provide economic opportunity, long-term environmental and resource viability, and environmental justice.

Community & Regional Planning (minor): The 12 credit-hour graduate minor in Community and Regional Planning prepares graduate students from related disciplines to shape community and regional change, and work towards environmental sustainability and social justice for their communities and regions as well as the larger world. The coursework emphasizes the intersections and interactions among people and both natural and built environments. It takes a community-based approach to address intersecting issues in community and economic development, natural resources and environmental planning, and physical planning and design.

Economics – Health-Focused Public Economics concentration (PhD): The public economics concentration at UNM focuses on how government can improve social welfare. Students study how the government interacts with markets, particularly with respect to market failures, when the market provision of goods and services are inefficiently or inequitably provided. Students learn how to evaluate the effects of legal and regulatory policy, including taxation and spending, focusing on healthcare, labor, and education. Sustainability-related applications encompass social determinants of health; substance use disorders; safety net healthcare; and social insurance.

Latin American Studies – Environmental Governance and Resilience concentration (MA): The Latin American Studies (LAS) program is designed to provide MA students with a broad yet solid interdisciplinary foundation. The MA in Latin American Studies is designed to prepare students for careers in government service, teaching, scholarship, business, travel, and tourism, and inter-American and/or non-governmental organizations. In addition, the program complements graduate work in a student's chosen professional field (LAS holds four formalized dual degree programs with: the School of Architecture + Planning, the School of Law, the College of Public Health, and the Robert O. Anderson School of Management). The Environmental Governance and Resilience concentration allows students to explore the complex dynamics of coupled human-environment systems in Latin America. Courses in this concentration address the unprecedented global challenges of ensuring food security, increasing demands for energy and water, and preventing environmental degradation, all in the face of climate change. Students gain exposure to resilience-based research and applications that address pressing societal challenges, including climate change, demographic shifts and infrastructure, human health and biology, sustainable food-water-energy systems, and social and economic inequalities.

Law – Natural Resources & Environmental Law concentration (MSL): The Master of Studies in Law (MSL) graduate degree program offers a condensed legal education for those who do not need or want a law degree. It’s designed for mid-career professionals and recent college graduates who want to enhance their career with legal education relevant to their field or interests. The Natural Resources & Environmental Law concentration is beneficial for professionals working in federal, tribal, state, and local government, and in private-sector fields ranging from real estate to energy production and banking to environmental consulting. 

Natural Resources and Environmental Law (certificate): Through the Natural Resources Program, the UNM School of Law strives to prepare students to be leaders who will participate in the key decisions that affect the environment, either as employees within various federal, state, tribal and local agencies who have regulatory authority over natural resources and the environment, or with the private entities and nonprofit organizations that appear before them. UNM awards the Natural Resources and Environmental Law (NREL) Certificate to graduating students who have completed certain coursework on their way to earning the J.D. degree, including climate change & energy, environmental justice, renewable energy, water law, oil & gas law, land use, international environmental law, and more. A student who graduates with the NREL Certificate has shown serious interest in this field, and has established a solid foundation for practicing environmental or natural resources law.

Mechanical Engineering – Renewable Energy concentration (MSEM): The graduate concentration in renewable energy equips Master of Science Students in mechanical engineering (MSEM) with broad knowledge and skills in the renewable energy field. Coursework associated with the renewable energy concentration includes advanced thermodynamics, energy storage and conversion systems, solar thermal technologies, and optimal control.

Architecture (MArch): The Master of Architecture is a professional degree offered with three different pathways, including thesis, project, or coursework only options. Students in all three tracks complete a course in sustainability that explores the application of theoretical foundations of sustainability to building and landscape design including concepts of passive solar design, daylighting, water conservation, and green building materials and construction methods.

Business Administration – Business for Good track (MBA): One of the most sought-after degrees across every industry, the Master of Business Administration is a flexible program for current and future leaders. The Anderson School of Management's MBA program offers a unique curriculum, cross-disciplinary courses in business and world-class faculty to help create dynamic leaders who makes an impact. The Business for Good track includes sustainability-related coursework in Environmental Sustainability and Business; Leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and the Business for Good Consulting Clinic. 

Chicana & Chicano Studies (certificate): Situated within the vast field of Chicana and Chicano Studies (CCS), the 12-credit Graduate Certificate includes exploration of the unique cultural, historical, political, and social development of Chicanx peoples and communities. Sustainability-focused coursework includes investigation of collective social action on behalf of immigration rights/reform, education rights/reform, labor rights, treaty rights, legal justice, environmental justice, veteran's rights, and political representation.

Civil Engineering – Environmental Engineering area of emphasis (MSCE, MENG-CE, PhD): The Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering offers a thesis-based Master of Science (MSCE), a project-based Master of Engineering (MENG-CE), and a research-based PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on environmental engineering. Students engage with a variety of challenges related to the environment, including the effects of wildfires and climate change on water availability; reservoir storage; advanced water and wastewater treatment; water for energy development and resource recovery; and water quality issues. Sustainability-focused coursework includes sustainable engineering, environmental chemistry, wastewater treatment, and environmental engineering chemistry.

Civil Engineering – Water Resources/Hydraulics Engineering area of emphasis (MSCE, MENG-CE, PhD): The Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering offers a thesis-based Master of Science (MSCE), a project-based Master of Engineering (MENG-CE), and a research-based PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on water resources/hydraulics engineering. Students engage with a variety of challenges related to water, including the effects of wildfires and climate change on water availability; reservoir storage; advanced water and wastewater treatment to desalinate brackish ground water, recycle treated wastewater, and protect the environment; water for energy development and resource recovery; and water quality issues. Sustainability-focused coursework includes stream and watershed restoration, water quality modeling, water resources engineering, and hydrogeology.

Civil Engineering – Transportation Engineering area of emphasis (MSCE, MENG-CE, PhD): The Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering offers a thesis-based Master of Science (MSCE), a project-based Master of Engineering (MENG-CE), and a research-based PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on transportation engineering. The sustainable transportation system planning area focuses on developing new methods for evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of regional transportation system plans and policies with the aim of discovering more environmentally and financially sustainable solutions. These aims are supported by collecting new travel behavior information, developing novel forecasting and prediction models, and evaluating decision making frameworks. Traffic engineering and regional travel demand modeling have been the primary areas of transportation engineering education and research. Sustainability-focused coursework includes the design of sustainable transportation systems and policy.

Communication – Critical Intercultural Studies concentration (PhD): The Communication Graduate Program has a distinctive focus on communication and culture. It approaches communication as central to the social construction and structural production of culture. Culture is defined broadly as pertaining to emergent identities; discursive practices and norms; performative, artistic, and mediated expression; locations of speaking/acting/producing; organizational systems; and institutional structures. The critical intercultural studies concentration focuses on the study of communication, culture, and power in social interactions and discourses, with emphasis on the understanding and critique of normative assumptions about communication and cultural practices. Approaches draw on cultural, critical, race, queer/trans of color, decolonial, border, and transnational studies.

Communication – Health Communication concentration (PhD): The Communication Graduate Program has a distinctive focus on communication and culture. It approaches communication as central to the social construction and structural production of culture. Culture is defined broadly as pertaining to emergent identities; discursive practices and norms; performative, artistic, and mediated expression; locations of speaking/acting/producing; organizational systems; and institutional structures. The health communication concentration focuses on the communication processes associated with improving health outcomes, with a focus on understanding the cultural contexts and inequities that determine health outcomes. 

History – Environmental History concentration (PhD): The PhD program in History at UNM prepares students for the challenges and opportunities of the historical profession. Students learn methods of historical analysis, a variety of historical interpretations, and practical applications of the field. Doctoral students select two concentrations – one regional and one thematic – around which to organize their programs of study. The environmental history thematic concentration is centered around the long-standing goals of many human societies to understand, shape, and control nature. This thematic field focuses on the ways that historical engagement with urban and rural environments, conceptions of nature, and development and application of technologies have shaped – and been shaped by – cultural values, social interactions, political dynamics, and economic exchange. Students seek to understand the ways in which space and time are mutually constitutive, and to see how landscapes, as the physical meeting points of culture, nature, space and time) both structure and respond to historical change.

Indian Law (certificate): The UNM School of Law has a strong and longstanding tradition of dedication and commitment to the development of the field of Indian law education and assisting in the legal protection and representation of Native American nations and communities. All students at the University of New Mexico School of Law are eligible to participate in the Indian Law Certificate (ILC) Program, which was developed in response to a growing need nationwide for lawyers trained in Indian law. The Program prepares students to work with tribes, Indian clients, and the federal government. Students complete sustainability-focused coursework that includes Tribal Natural and Cultural Resources, Indian Water Law, Indian Civil Rights, Indigenous Peoples and International Law, and more.

Indigenous Planning (certificate): The School of Architecture and Planning offers a 15 credit-hour graduate certificate in Indigenous Planning that is open to students who hold a bachelor's degree or are currently enrolled in a graduate program at UNM. The certificate is designed for students who intend to work with Indigenous communities, in or alongside Native American lands, and with Indigenous nations. Indigenous planning is first and foremost about strategically shaping the physical and social character of Indigenous communities by informing planning and community development to improve economic and social viability. At the core, Indigenous planning draws on cultural values to generate and sustain places that are productive, beautiful, healthy, and safe. The intent of the certificate is to provide Indigenous planning professional development for working professionals and promote socially responsible practices that empower tribes to better manage and take control of planning, community development, and related processes.

Latin American Studies – Conflict, Peace, & Rights concentration (MA): The Latin American Studies (LAS) program is designed to provide MA students with a broad yet solid interdisciplinary foundation. The MA in Latin American Studies is designed to prepare students for careers in government service, teaching, scholarship, business, travel, and tourism, and inter-American and/or non-governmental organizations. In addition, the program complements graduate work in a student's chosen professional field (LAS holds four formalized dual degree programs with: the School of Architecture + Planning, the School of Law, the College of Public Health, and the Robert O. Anderson School of Management). The Conflict, Peace, & Rights concentration introduces students to the interdisciplinary and comparative study of conflict, law, human rights, and related subjects in Latin America. Coursework examines the causes, practices, and consequences of violence as well as nonviolent methods of conflict management, resolution, and transformation. Students explore how human conflict in Latin America has been shaped by various socio-economic, cultural, political, and historical factors. This concentration is particularly suited to research and applied careers in the fields of law and governance in the Americas.

Latin American Studies – Indigeneity in the Americas concentration (MA): The Latin American Studies (LAS) program is designed to provide MA students with a broad yet solid interdisciplinary foundation. The MA in Latin American Studies is designed to prepare students for careers in government service, teaching, scholarship, business, travel, and tourism, and inter-American and/or non-governmental organizations. In addition, the program complements graduate work in a student's chosen professional field (LAS holds four formalized dual degree programs with: the School of Architecture + Planning, the School of Law, the College of Public Health, and the Robert O. Anderson School of Management). The Indigeneity in the Americas concentration provides students with a foundation in ethical, theoretical, and empirical frameworks critical to a deeper understanding of Indigenous issues. Coursework explores diverse cultural traditions, the legacies of colonialism, social movements, belief systems, and political ecologies that shape the experience of Indigenous communities throughout the Americas.

Native American Studies (PhD, MA): The graduate program in Native American Studies focuses on and prepares students for positions in tribal leadership, leadership in tribal and/or community-based organizations, and positions related to educational outreach and training, social and cultural program development, policy development, and sustainable community building. Students complete coursework in indigenous thought, restorative justice, power and education, leadership, community building, and economies, sustainability, and environmental protection.

Public Health – Community Health concentration (MPH): The Master of Public Health program in the College of Population Health enables graduates to lead population-based disease prevention and health promotion programs in public and private settings. The community health concentration teaches multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills necessary to plan, implement and evaluate public health programs using the socio-ecologic framework. Student learn how to promote social justice and equity in health, and value diversity, self-reflection and critical analysis; and develop expertise in:

• Researching community needs
• Developing policies and promote community-based disease prevention programs
• Learning through a social-ecological approach
• Exploring how interactions between people and environments affect behavior

Public Policy (MPP): The Master of Public Policy is an innovative degree program administered jointly by the School of Public Administration, and the Departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. Students develop key competencies in quantitative research and the fundamentals of public policy, including a required course on diversity. Each student selects a policy area specialization, which can include sustainability-focused topics such as environmental policy, health policy, education policy, crime and justice policy, Native American policy and administration, immigration policy, and economic development. All students participate in a two-semester Evaluation Lab course that emphasizes collaborative and culturally competent problem-solving, robust data analysis, and creative ways of communicating technical information applied to a community organization’s evaluation project. In addition to hands-on learning in the classroom, students work in partnership with non-profit community organizations to develop and implement evaluation plans under the supervision of an Evaluation Lab Team Lead.

Public Policy (certificate): The Public Policy certificate may be pursued as a standalone credential or in conjunction with another graduate degree. Students have the option of pursuing one of two tracks: Track I provides a general overview of policy analysis and program evaluation concepts and requires 12 credits; Track II emphasizes quantitative analysis and requires 15 credits. All students participate in a two-semester Evaluation Lab course that emphasizes collaborative and culturally competent problem-solving, robust data analysis, and creative ways of communicating technical information applied to a community organization’s evaluation project. In addition to hands-on learning in the classroom, students work in partnership with non-profit community organizations to develop and implement evaluation plans under the supervision of an Evaluation Lab Team Lead.

Race and Social Justice (certificate): The 15-credit transcripted "Race & Social Justice Interdisciplinary Certificate" is designed as an area of specialization for students pursuing a master's degree or a doctorate in disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, fine arts, or the professional schools at the University of New Mexico; and students, community members, and practitioners who are not currently enrolled graduate students but have earned a BA or higher. The monumental benefits of cross-disciplinary dialogues, reflection and collective insights are facilitated when faculty and students from different disciplines converge to explore the contours of race and social justice in the U.S and global context. Broad learning goals include:

1. Understanding and identifying the historical, political, social, psychological, cultural, and/or economic dimensions of race, racialization, difference and power, integrating these into an interdisciplinary perspective
2. Critically reading/writing about, discussing, and engaging in scholarly inquiry related to race and social justice
3. Acquiring a basic level of knowledge about U.S. and/or local, global race and social justice movements
4. Pursuing community-engaged research and teaching opportunities as well as career and post-graduate opportunities the certificate makes possible

Urban Innovation (certificate): The School of Architecture and Planning offers an 18 credit-hour graduate certificate program in Urban Innovation that is open to students who already hold a graduate degree or are currently enrolled in a graduate program at UNM. Cities and towns are among humanity's largest and most complex achievements. The buildings, public works, plazas and parks of even a small community embody substantial amounts of capital, energy, natural resources, history and aspirations. New Mexico and the American Southwest offer a unique variety of settlement and district types for study, including Native American pueblos; strip mall development; Spanish Colonial settlements; streetcar suburbs; gated residential developments; downtown revitalization districts; acequia villages; railroad, company, courthouse square, military and Mormon towns; second-home sprawl; ghost mining towns; Interstate commercial clusters, colonias; and communes. Ruins of ancient Native cities, myths of lost cities, and a rich literature of place provide further opportunities for research and design.  Interactions between the natural and built environment are particularly vivid and strong in New Mexico’s desert and alpine ecosystems, as well as other parts of the Southwest. Examples of both extractive settlements and centuries-old renewable resource-based settlements are clearly represented in the State and region. The graduate certificate in Urban Innovation examines settlements from village to megalopolis and from street to planet-wide patterns to provide a foundation for students to engage one of humanity’s greatest needs and challenges - how to create sustainable and vibrant 21st-century cities. The program aims to give students the foundations to explore critical questions about, study examples of, and propose approaches to creating specific sites, neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities and regions within a globalized world.