The History of Architecture and Urbanism Society (HAUS) is led by students in the History of Architecture and Urban Development (HAUD) Ph.D. program and includes other graduate and AAP students. HAUS advances discourse within the field of spatial, architectural, urban, and built environmental history and across related disciplines by coordinating various events, including professionalization workshops, lectures, and symposia.
Symposia
HAUS hosts an annual graduate symposium around a topic that challenges the field of architectural history. Curated and peer-reviewed autonomously by HAUD students, the event brings Cornell faculty, international scholars, fellow Ph.D. students, and visitors from various universities together for keynotes, panel discussions, and thoughtful conversations on emerging scholarship.
event
Mar 26–27
Unearthing the Earth: Architectural Histories of Extractivism
Scholars from various fields are invited to engage with the spatial and infrastructural aspects of extractivism and to contribute to a global understanding of the connections between extractivism and the management of life for their spring 2026 symposium.
Recent topics include:
- “Unearthing the Earth: Architectural Histories of Extractivism” co-organized by Ehssan Hanif and Piergianna Mazzocca (both Ph.D. HAUD)
- “Writing Land into Architectural History” co-organized by Priyanka Sen, Asya Ece Usmay, and Qianye Yu (all Ph.D. HAUD)
- “Architectures of Control and Resistance” co-organized by Maria Luisa Palumbo (Ph.D. HAUD ’25) and Eun-Jeong Kim (Ph.D. HAUD ’25)
- “Writing the Histories of the Built Environments of Asia” co-organized by Labib Hossain (Ph.D. HAUD ’24) and Ecem Saricayir (Ph.D. HAUD)
- “How to Build a Climate Crisis” co-organized by Michael Moynihan (Ph.D. HAUD ’24) and Ana Gisele Osaki (Ph.D. HAUD ’22)
Under Construction
Each semester, HAUS organizes Under Construction, where Ph.D. students and scholars from related disciplines share works in progress and receive feedback. Select events include:
2025
- Alican Taylan (Ph.D. HAUD), writing workshop, Resistance by Desertification, with response by Assitant Professor of Architecture María González Pendás
- Neil Brenner, Professor of Urban Sociology from the University of Chicago, reading workshop on methods for urban theory and public lecture
- Piergianna Mazzocca (Ph.D. HAUD), writing workshop, Architectures of Improvement: Rural Housing and the Racialization of Eradication
2024
- HAUD Ph.D. students and candidates, Archival Show-and-Tell
- Asya Ece Uzmay (Ph.D. HAUD), conference workshop
2023
- The Making of Dry Dacca with Labib Hossain (Ph.D. HAUD ’24)
2022
- Re-Assembling Lost Children: Tuzla Armenian Orphanage (Kamp Armen) and Architecture Against Displacement with Aslihan Günhan (Ph.D. HAUD ’23)
- Lemmings, Explosions, and Other Popular Myths with Michael Moynihan (Ph.D. HAUD ’24)
- Architecture of Foreign Aid Programs in South Korea with Eun-Jeong Kim (Ph.D. HAUD ’25)
- Histories of the Channel of Sicily: Architecture, Colonization, and Migration across the Mediterranean Shores (1932—1942) with Maria Luisa Palumbo (Ph.D. HAUD ’25)
- The Geography of Housekeeping with Athanasiou Geolas (Ph.D. HAUD)
- Exhibition-Making, A Historian Perspective with former faculty member Samia Henni
- On Collecting with Professor of Architecture Medina Lasansky (HAUD)
- A mock job talk with Michael Moynihan (Ph.D. HAUD ’24)
Professional Development Workshops
Academic careers in the discipline entail a multifaceted understanding of standard processes and methodologies. HAUS coordinates workshops with academics active in architectural history and related fields to guide HAUD students through topics and practices spanning:
- Dissertation Proposal and Fellowship Application with Professor of Architecture Esra Akcan
- Grant-Writing with Assistant Professor of Architecture María González Pendás
- Research and Writing Workshop Historian’s Craft, with Aslihan Günhan (Ph.D. HAUD ’23)
- Strategies in Professionalization with Associate Professor of Architecture Pamela Karimi
- Preparing for Job Applications with Associate Professor of Architecture Lily Chi
- Image Rights with Professor of Architecture Medina Lasansky
- Mock conference with Michael Moynihan (Ph.D. HAUD ’24), Maria Luisa Palumbo (Ph.D. HAUD ’25), Sergio Preston (Ph.D. HAUD ’23), and Asya Ece Uzmay (Ph.D. HAUD)
- Archival Stories with Assistant Professor of Architecture María Gonzáles Pendás
- Space, Writing, and the Photographic Image with former Architecture faculty Tao DuFour
HAUS Cosponsored Events
HAUS partners with faculty and students at AAP and other departments and institutes at Cornell to cosponsor events related to its mission, in collaborations that span from small funding to student promotion and participation, including:
- Building Exhibitions in the Age of Reparations, a series of (re)created public exhibitions by AAP students as part of Professor of Architecture Esra Akcan’s class on the topic
- A college-wide lecture titled Skyborn Spiritualities and the Shaping of American Spatial Imaginations with Courtney Bender, Professor of Religion from Columbia University, followed by a workshop and discussion as part of Assistant Professor of Architecture María González Pendás’s seminar
- A lunchtime discussion with Assistant Professor Amanda Lanzillo from the University of Chicago’s Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations on her recent book, Pious Labor: Islam, Artisanship, and Technology in Colonial India
- HAUS often partners to coordinate workshops and events with visiting scholars spanning related disciplines, including Mabel O. Wilson from Columbia University, Philip Ursprung from ETH Zurich, and Ijlal Muzaffar from RISD
If you are interested in participating in HAUS events and activities, please get in touch with current HAUS co-presidents Sara Ather (Ph.D. HAUD) (sa2396@cornell.edu) or Yakin Kinger (Ph.D. HAUD) (yak8@cornell.edu).
This organization is a registered student organization of Cornell University.