Experience how insights from the science of people can transform design thinking and practice with a dynamic six-session webinar series! Sign up for one session or the whole series, occurring on select dates from September 11 through November 13. Presented by award-winning architect, author, and professor Milton Shinberg, AIA, this series will explore how human factors, neuroscience, psychology, and aesthetics impact how people experience the built environment.
This continuing education series, eligible for Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW), will equip attendees with practical tools to design environments that are not only functional and beautiful, but also intentionally supportive of human well-being. Architects can earn up to one AIA learning unit (LU)/HSW credit per course, for a maximum of six learning units if all sessions are attended. In addition, the webinars will be presented live and have designated Q&A periods.
Select from the individual sessions described below or attend them all for a discounted rate. Register now for the Leveraging Science for People-Centered Design courses.
Course Agenda
Architecture Built on Human Factors (September 11, noon to 1 p.m. ET): Learn how to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of people through science-driven design case studies. Apply a revitalized design process to embed deeper human needs into architectural concept development.
Real Experience & Architecture (September 18, noon to 1 p.m. ET): This session emphasizes practical strategies that strengthen wayfinding, visibility, safety, and well-being for diverse users. Architects will learn more about applying foundational aspects of perception and multisensory design strategies to help reduce stress and link design choices to measurable outcomes.
Human Sciences & Architecture (September 25, noon to 1 p.m. ET): Define and document the HSW impact for key neuroscience and neuroarchitecture principles to explain how light, color, proportion, and texture relate. Identify sources of visual stress in a space and propose design fixes to reduce cognitive stress and provide support for human physiological health.
Emotional Foundations of Architecture & Design (October 30, noon to 1 p.m. ET): Analyze approaches for gauging positive and negative reactions to design. Apply evidence-based strategies in public and private spaces to reduce stress, improve health, and explain expected health and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) benefits. Develop approaches that support sensory comfort for neurodiverse and neurotypical users.
The Science of Beauty in Architecture (November 6, noon to 1 p.m. ET): Participants will outline neuroaesthetic principles and explain how each affects stress, attention, or comfort from a HSW perspective. You will connect underlying benefits that beauty can contribute to measurable improvements in the psychological state of occupants and the public, documenting how each can land pragmatically in architectural practice.
Integrating Human Factors into Practice (November 13, noon to 1 p.m. ET): Skills learned in this session will help architects, clients, and stakeholders align to turn user research into measurable HSW criteria, specifying design principles that guide lighting, acoustics, materials, and other design factors to protect future occupant health, safety, and welfare.
To earn credit for each course, participants must attend the full session.
The fee to register for the whole series of courses is $450 ($350 for active NCARB Certificate holders) and $100 for individual sessions ($75 for active NCARB Certificate holders). Learn more and register for the series.
More About the Course Facilitator: Milton Shinberg, AIA
Milton Shinberg has been in practice as an architecture firm principal since 1975, following graduation from Carnegie Mellon University. He was principal of Shinberg Levinas Architects, together with Salo Levinas, from 1995 to 2018. Their work, including international projects, won numerous awards, many shown prominently in U.S. and overseas publications. Shinberg is the longest-serving faculty member at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture & Planning, beginning in 1978. He is an Adjunct Ordinary (full) Professor in Architecture and has led a wide range of courses, including all the studios from first year through master’s degree.
A special focus of Shinberg’s teaching is the intersection of architecture, neuroscience, and the human sciences. He has delivered talks on these topics in the U.S., Italy, Brazil, Germany, and in many international online venues. His ongoing seminar, Beauty & Brains, begun in 2003, continues. He is on the Advisory Council of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture and on the Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins International Arts+Mind Lab. Shinberg’s book, People-Centered Architecture: Design, Practice, and Education, was published by Wiley in May 2025, and, in addition to widespread praise from the profession, has been adopted by university architectural education programs in the U.S. and abroad.
