Students must complete an inside field and outside field, or as an alternative may choose to complete two dual fields. These fields provide students the opportunity to build their knowledge in depth in two or three areas of their choice pertinent to planning.

1.  Inside Field Statement and Examination

The purpose of the Inside Field requirement is to help students master a coherent body of planning-related literature and research in preparation for the dissertation and for later teaching or research. The topic of the inside field is determined by the student, with input from the DCRP faculty, and especially, their inside field advisor. We recommend that students choose an inside field linked to a traditional sub-field of city and regional planning (e.g. land use planning and policy, regional and economic development, planning theory, housing, international and comparative planning, community development environmental planning, urban design, or transportation). Alternatively, students may propose their own fields subject to the willingness of three DCRP faculty members to constitute the student’s inside field committee.

Students prepare for the Inside Field Examination by preparing a statement describing the field, its principal schools of thought, and the major questions in the field, along with a bibliography. Once the student’s inside field committee has approved the statement and bibliography, the student may schedule a 3-day take-home examination. The exam typically involves three essay questions, one from each section of the student’s inside field statements. The members of the inside field committee then grade the examination, which students must pass before proceeding to the PhD Qualifying Examination.

2.  Outside Field

To broaden their perspectives and encourage multi-disciplinary thinking, most doctoral students complete a field of study outside DCRP. This is known as the Outside Field, and must be different in content from the Inside Field. Examples of departments that offer fields of interest to city and regional planning students include geography, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental science, policy and management (ESPM), sociology, political science, economics, engineering, environmental science, and public health. Students should begin by identifying sub-fields (or departments) of interest, and should discuss their interests with their principal advisor and with prospective outside faculty members. New PhD students also should seek the advice of current PhD students regarding appropriate departments, sub-fields, and outside faculty sponsors. In many cases a student who has completed a Masters degree in one of these other fields may seek to build on that for more efficient completion of the requirement.

To complete the requirement, a student is expected to demonstrate competence in a sub-field of another academic department at the level of performance expected of PhD students in that department. This may mean completing a two or three-course sequence in a designated sub-field (e.g. organizational behavior as a subfield of political science), completing a doctoral field examination in the department, or writing a paper or bibliographic review of literature.

3.  Dual Field Option

While most doctoral students elect to complete separate inside and outside fields, the dual field option serves students who cannot conveniently divide their interests into inside and outside categories. The procedures for meeting the dual planning field option are similar to those for the inside field requirement: the student assembles two separate committees; prepares appropriate field statements and bibliographies for each field; and completes two take home examinations. Each committee must include three faculty members, one of whom must be an Academic Senate member from another Department.