WASHINGTON – Howard University architecture assistant professor Farhana Ferdous was recently awarded the HistoryMakers 2021 Faculty Innovations in Pedagogy and Teaching Fellowship for her course, "Health and Design in Segregated Landscape."

The HistoryMakers Faculty Innovations in Pedagogy and Teaching Fellowship is designed to foster classroom innovation and teaching and to diversify curricula while furthering student learning and research skills during the upcoming academic year. The "Health and Design in Segregated Landscape" course provides students with a framework to assess different urban and built environments from health and wellbeing viewpoints.

“I am extremely honored to receive this prestigious pedagogy and teaching fellowship," Ferdous said. "The use of the digital archive is pivotal for my students, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to incorporate the rich oral history into key resource materials for my course."

Ferdous said she explored the HistoryMakers Digital Archive to demonstrate how to creatively use the resource to supplement course material. According to the HistoryMakers’ website, the HistoryMakers Digital Archive is the largest digital repository of the Black experience in the country with its African-American video oral history collection. Featured on PBS as a documentary series focused on real-life African-American stories, the HistoryMakers aims to help create a more inclusive record of American history.

With this invaluable resource, Ferdous will further examine how urbanization and residential segregation have affected the health and well-being of the minority population in the United States from the 1900s to the present. Ferdous’ students will identify opportunities to improve the health and well-being of the minority population from a professional standpoint through case studies, contemporary developments and best practices.

“Dr. Ferdous’ work on health and wellness within the discourse of the urban environment continues to increase our student’s awareness of cultural and social health inequalities in the United States and the ways that design can help people and places be more sustainable and resilient,” said Hazel R. Edwards, professor of architecture and chair of the Howard University Department of Architecture. 

“Dr. Ferdous’ work on health and wellness within the discourse of the urban environment continues to increase our student’s awareness of cultural and social health inequalities in the United States and the ways that design can help people and places be more sustainable and resilient," said Hazel R. Edwards, Ph.D., professor of architecture and chair of the Howard University Department of Architecture. "The prestigious HistoryMakers Fellowship will support her ongoing work through innovative methods that connect pedagogy and scholarship within the lens of historic and contemporary developments."

Ferdous recently co-edited the Routledge publication, “All-Inclusive Engagement in Architecture: Towards the Future of Social Change” and also received a Graham Foundation grant for her research titled “The (pathogenic)-CITY: A Segregated Landscape of Urbanization, Urbanicity and Wellbeing in American Landscape (the 1900s to present).”

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 14 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 12 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.