The OU Carceral Studies Consortium recently announced the recipients of the Spring 2023 Community-Engaged Micro-Grants and Undergraduate Student Work Prizes. The Carceral Consortium offers two micro-grants of up to $500 to OU students, faculty and staff members to support research, mentorships and community engagement projects. Among this year’s grant recipients are Marjorie Callahan, a professor of architecture, and Kristi Saliba, an architecture student.
The Carceral Studies Consortium is concerned with the political and social systems that organize, shape, sustain and entrench practices of punishment, surveillance, incarceration and harm. Currently, over 11 million people are held in detention globally, with the United States having the highest jail and prison population rates. According to Professor Callahan, the current penal system is characterized by overcrowding and high death rates as a result of illness, homicide and suicide. At the Gibbs College of Architecture, design studios and seminars have recently taken on the challenge to create safe and healthy living environments not only for inmates but also those who visit, work and live in these facilities.
Callahan received the micro-grant for her project Jail Transition Through Architecture and Design, in collaboration with Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Architects + Engineers. The project explores innovative design ideas for future jail facilities that are disaster resilient, help improve circulations to the county courthouse, offer green and healthy living environments and remove constant and inhumane surveillance. The funding will be used to initiate conversations between students’ past findings and studio projects and the actual design firm selected to create the new local jail in Oklahoma County.
Saliba received the Student Work Grand Prize for her project, Beyond Bars and Borders: Refugee Camps as Carceral Spaces and the Architect’s Role in Humanitarian Design Solutions. Advised by Callahan, Saliba’s project documents the harsh reality of African refugee camps and explores how these conditions compare to those of carceral spaces. In her paper, Saliba explains how current architecture supports the negative treatment of both inmates and refugees.
A team of Construction Science and Architecture students from the Gibbs College of Architecture made their mark on the national stage this week, earning third place out of 37 universities competing at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition, held during the International Builders' Show in Orlando, February 16-18, 2026.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has elevated Gary Armbruster, FAIA, ALEP to its prestigious College of Fellows—AIA’s highest membership honor—for his exceptional work and sustained contributions to architecture and society. Fellowship recognizes architects who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant impact at a national level. Members elevated to this distinction carry the FAIA designation after their name.
Students from the Spring 2026 Graduate 4 Architecture Design Studio, led by Professor Amy Leveno, exhibited their work at the School of Visual Arts. The exhibition, titled Reimagining the OU School of Visual Arts, featured drawings, models, and animations developed throughout the semester's studio project. The show was hosted in The Spotlight, a creative gallery space located on the first floor of the Fred Jones Art Center, and ran from January 20–30, 2026.
