This fall, Merrimack College officially launched two undergraduate architecture degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Architectural Studies and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Architecture. While both programs teach the creative skills needed for architectural design, they also go deeper into ethics, ecology, and what it means to imagine responsibly.
“This is a program about care,” says Dr. Katie Bonier, Director and Associate Professor of Practice in Architecture. “Care for communities, care for environments, and care for each other.”
Bonier joined Merrimack this past summer to lead the development of the new architecture major from the ground up. With teaching experience at top institutions—University of Pennsylvania, Carleton University, LSU—as well as a background in architecture, urbanism, and civic engagement, she saw a rare opportunity to build something rigorous and human-centered in equal measure.
The two degree paths reflect that balance. The B.S. offers a pre-professional track aligned with architecture licensure and graduate study. It includes intensive design studios, a co-op placement, and courses such as Ecological Design and Advanced Structures for Architecture. The B.A. is broader and more flexible, ideal for students interested in where architecture intersects with spatial planning, visual media, education, and social impact.
What both tracks share is an interdisciplinary foundation, a focus on design as a tool for equity, and a commitment to community-engaged learning. That means real-world projects, site-based research, and partnerships with organizations across Greater Boston and beyond.
“It’s not just about building buildings,” Bonier explains. “It’s about learning how to ask the right questions, how to collaborate across disciplines, and how to design with people. Not just for them.”
Bonier begins teaching at Merrimack this semester. As program director, she’s already shaping what she calls “studio culture with substance,” a space where students will be encouraged to take risks, critique thoughtfully, and think critically about the built environment. The curriculum is intentionally cross-disciplinary, with opportunities to collaborate across departments like civil engineering, environmental studies, construction management, and visual art. Students will gain experience in digital and analog drawing and modeling, have access to a new fabrication lab, and eventually participate in site-specific and adaptive reuse projects.
Community engagement will be a defining feature. Merrimack architecture students will work directly with local partners to design for real-world needs, building on the College’s mission of service and social impact. “Merrimack has great links to do community service work, and to support the ethics of community engagement,” she explains. “Instead of typically taking a drawing or community engagement studio, you take ‘Methods & Ethics of Community-Engaged Design,’ which will help students understand how to work with a community, have a voice without taking over, and make that voice your own.”
Looking ahead, Bonier envisions a graduate architecture program by 2030 and a strong pipeline to licensure and professional practice throughout New England. Though, she’s equally focused on something harder to measure: creative confidence, ethical grounding, and a spirit of curiosity in her students.
“Students are not going to be specialists in all things,” Bonier says. “But they are going to learn enough that they can speak the language of all components of how we engage with the world, the environment, and the future.”
The scaffolding is still going up, but the foundation built on vision, collaboration, and care is already in place. To learn more about the new architecture programs, visit Merrimack’s websites for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs.
