The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the 2025 Graduate Student Research Enhancement (GSRE) Award, a new program designed to support graduate-led research with strong potential to advance scholarship across the design and construction disciplines.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to announce that the University of Oklahoma Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships has awarded $30,052 through the Strategic Equipment Investment Program (SEIP) to support the launch of the Mobile Urban Design Unit (MUDU). This new resource will allow OU teams to bring high-quality tools for research and community engagement directly into towns and neighborhoods across Oklahoma.
The University of Oklahoma’s Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture hosted the inaugural Oklahoma Housing Supply Accelerator Coalition event on November 13, 2025, a day-long gathering dedicated to addressing the state’s growing housing challenges and exploring solutions to expand the supply of attainable homes.
Regional and City Planning students worked with Tulakes Neighborhood Ministries in Oklahoma City to offer recommendations for their site needs and possible paths for expanded services.
An unprecedented coalition of Oklahoma’s academic institutions, Tribal Nations, industry leaders, nonprofits, and government agencies has officially submitted a full proposal to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines Program. Titled WxFORGE — Forging New Frontiers in Extreme Weather Resilience and Innovation, the effort aims to position Oklahoma as a national leader in resilient infrastructure technologies, workforce development, and weather-adaptive innovations.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma (OU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. John Harris to a four-year term as the inaugural Director of the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture & Design (PLAD), effective July 1, 2024.
On April 22, the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture celebrated the annual Gibbs Design Activism Awards. The GDAA is a grant initiative that supports student-led design and research projects that engage topics of community, social and economic concerns across Oklahoma.
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Regional and City Planning faculty John Harris and Charlie Warnken are part of an interdisciplinary team that was recently awarded a $599,000 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. With this funding, the OU team will support the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to prepare a climate action plan that will reduce emissions in communities across the state.
Seven faculty members from the divisions of Regional and City Planning, Architecture and Interior Design were recently awarded funding through Gibbs College’s Program for Research Enhancement. These grants of up to $6,500 are available to full-time faculty members of Gibbs College to support their research and creative activities.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce the creation of the new Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design.
John Harris has agreed to serve as interim director of the newly established Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design at the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture. The appointment was effective July 1, 2023.
On March 29, 2023, Regional + City Planning faculty Dr. John C. Harris and Dr. C Aujean Lee joined doctoral student and Institute for Quality Communities Research Fellow Rebecca Blaine to present to MetaFund about community engagement practices.
Dr. C. Aujean Lee, an assistant professor of Regional + City Planning (RCPL), recently presented for the University of Texas as Austin’s School of Architecture’s lecture series City Forum. During her talk, “Subcontracting Neighborhood Planning and Impacts on Grassroots Organizing: A Case Study of Oklahoma City,” Dr. Lee shared the work she had been doing with RCPL Director Dr. John Harris about neighborhood planning processes that are conducted through nonprofits.
The Regional + City Planning program has taken significant steps to attract and create a supportive environment for international students. In fall 2022, 18 of the 43 RCPL students were international students. In 2019, the RCPL program adopted an Underrepresented Student Recruitment Plan because of the ethical obligations of the planning field to diversify representation and promote institutional change. While the planning field has made successful strides in reaching gender parity, the field is still falling behind in other forms of diversity, including international students and students of color.
The Gibbs College of Architecture’s Division of Regional + City Planning recently celebrated its 75th anniversary as well as its successful Planning Accreditation Board reaccreditation. Established in 1947, the Gibbs Regional + City Planning program is the seventh oldest planning program in the United States. The program boasts over 700 hundred alumni who spend their careers shaping the future of communities across the country.
Dr. C. Aujean Lee, an assistant professor of Regional and City Planning, and Dr. John C. Harris, the Director of the Regional and City Planning program, recently had their article published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.
A project team of University of Oklahoma researchers and Oklahoma City civic partners are collaborating to create the Legacy Building Toolset, a digital platform that will allow community members to collectively explore identity, the meaning of place, and create and engage with community assets and more easily allow community members to participate in community collaboration projects.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce the appointment of two new members to the University of Oklahoma Inclusion Council. Dr. Shooka Motamedi, lecturer in the Division of Architecture, and Nova Savage, Academic Advisor, will be Gibbs College’s representatives on the OU Inclusion Council.
John Harris, Director of the Regional + City Planning program, recently published an article in a special issue of the Journal of Urban Affairs titled “The gendered postconflict city: Possibilities for more livable urban transformations in Gulu, northern Uganda.” Harris – along with co-authors Daniel Komakech, David Monk, and Maria del Guadalupe Davidson – attempt to develop theory and urban management concepts around the notion of the gendered postconflict city as a unique urban identity. The article also works to re-center the analysis on the everyday experiences, agency, and city building practices of women.
RCPL Assistant Professor Dr. C. Aujean Lee recently presented at the Urban Affairs Association conference in Washington DC. The Urban Affairs Association is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life.
Dr. Bryce Lowery, an associate professor in the Division of Regional + City Planning, is part of the University of Oklahoma Sewage Surveillance Team which recently received the Award for Excellence in Transdisciplinary, Convergent Research. This award was part of the 2022 Norman Campus Faculty Awards and Honors which were recognized during the Faculty Awards Luncheon on April 14th.
Regional + City Planning students from “Community Development and Revitalization” with Dr. John Harris and “Planning with Diverse Communities” with Dr. C. Aujean Lee recently presented to the Tulsa Planning Office and Riverwood Neighborhood stakeholders about community engagement techniques.
