Diana Ramírez-Jasso has created a first-ever liberal studies program for Boston Architectural College, capitalizing on her deep interest in history, Mexican background and time at Harvard.
Boston Architectural College had a long tradition of undergraduates taking courses at other area schools to fulfill their requirements in liberal arts. Then about five years ago, accreditors insisted the professional school develop its own curriculum in those disciplines.
Creating a new liberal studies curriculum proved quite difficult. The addition of architectural accrediting requirements that undergraduate liberal studies courses not contain any design-related content made the task of offering courses that interested the college’s population even more challenging to every faculty member who occupied the position.
A third national search in three years for a director did the trick. Dr. Diana Ramírez-Jasso arrived from Harvard University in 2010 and put together an innovative program tailored to the diverse architecture and design students at Boston Architectural College, which has open enrollment.
