Tara Bissett
Assistant Professor
Email: tmbisset@uwaterloo.ca
Biography
Tara Bissett is a historian of architecture and urbanism. She received her PhD from the University of Toronto, where she was a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral fellow. Tara teaches courses in both studio (Designing for Every Body) and cultural history (Cultural Encounters & Modernisms: Local and Global). She was the recipient of the OUSA Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021.
Her research traces the history of women in architectural and urban design since 1900 and the global history and historiography of “care”, care practices, and care professions in architecture. Currently, she is researching the social history of standards and flexibility in architectural design, especially in kitchens, schools, and play spaces .Tara is leading the Enabling Change project at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. The project is both a study and intervention into systems of access and disability inclusion in architectural pedagogy and practice. Some of the work has been published in More than a Checklist: Accessibility as Creative Practice, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Architectural Summit Proceedings, which outlines the origins, methodology, and collaborative nature of the project
Her research traces the history of women in architectural and urban design since 1900 and the global history and historiography of “care”, care practices, and care professions in architecture. Currently, she is researching the social history of standards and flexibility in architectural design, especially in kitchens, schools, and play spaces .Tara is leading the Enabling Change project at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. The project is both a study and intervention into systems of access and disability inclusion in architectural pedagogy and practice. Some of the work has been published in More than a Checklist: Accessibility as Creative Practice, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) Architectural Summit Proceedings, which outlines the origins, methodology, and collaborative nature of the project
Teaching*
- ARCH 246 - Cultural Encounters 600-1600
- Taught in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
- ARCH 285 - Architectural Research
- Taught in 2019
- ARCH 342 - Modernisms: Local and Global
- Taught in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- ARCH 393 - Option Design Studio
- Taught in 2022, 2023
- ARCH 484 - Architectural Research
- Taught in 2019
- ARCH 642 - Modernism to the 21st Century
- Taught in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
- ARCH 690 - Design Studio
- Taught in 2023
* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.
Graduate studies
- Currently considering applications from graduate students. A completed online application is required for admission; start the application process now.