Associate Director of SADAH, Architectural Design Program Coordinator, Professor of Architectural Design
Year Started at JMU: 2018
erdmanja@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Jori Erdman is an architect, educator, writer and researcher whose work examines the relationships connecting architecture, material practice, and community. Her teaching and scholarship are grounded in architecture as both a cultural practice and an instrument of the public good, with interests in the American South, environmental and community resilience, and the ways architecture responds to changing social and ecological conditions.
Her current research explores architectural practice and place in the contemporary South. She is the author of Witness: The Practice of Duvall Decker, a book length study of the work and architectural practice of Mississippi-based Duvall Decker that considers architecture through themes of presence, authority, kinship, care, attunement, and orchestration. Related research examines architecture in the “New, New South,” asking how practices rooted in particular places can engage broader questions of climate, culture, equity, and change.
Witness: The Practice of Duvall Decker
Erdman’s research also extends into documentary filmmaking, public interest design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Current projects address rural community infrastructure, resilient housing and landscapes, and the relationship between architectural practice and forms of observation and witnessing.
At JMU, Erdman coordinates the Architectural Design program and serves as Associate Director of the School of Art, Design and Art History. Her teaching emphasized design as a process of inquiry and making, connecting experimentation, representation, history and theory, environmental systems, and engagement with real places and communities.
Education
- Master of Architecture, Columbia University, 1995
- Bachelor of Science in Architecture, University of Virginia, 1989
Teaching
- Regularly teaching across the studio sequence including ARCD 402 Thesis
- History, Materials and Methods, and Professional Practice courses
- Independent Study and Special Topics courses on sustainability, resilience and other research areas
- Honors Liaison for the School of Art, Design, and Art History
- Internship program
- Study abroad programs and field trips with students. Locations include New York City, Japan, Italy and Korea (upcoming).
Areas of Expertise
- Architectural Design
- Architectural Design Education
- Design Research
- Southern Architecture
- Public Interest Design
- Environmental and Community Resilience
- Materiality and Making
- Architectural Representation
- Architectural Theory and Criticism
- Documentary and Visual Research
Professional Affiliations
- American Institute of Architects
- National Organizations of Minority Architects
Service
- SADAH Curriculum and Instruction Committee Chair
- CVPA Curriculum Innovation Working Group
- AIA Central Virginia Executive Board
- ACSA Reviews Committee
Previous Experience
Prior to joining James Madison University in 2018, Erdman taught architecture at Louisiana State University, Clemson University, and Drury University along with a one-semester Visiting Professorship at the American University of Sharjah.
From 2009 to 2016, she served as Director of the School of Architecture at Louisiana State University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate design studios and participated in interdisciplinary research addressing architecture, landscape, infrastructure, and the environmental challenges of the Gulf Coast. While there, she was also a founding member of the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio, an interdisciplinary research and design initiative bringing together architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, coastal science, and community engagement to address the challenges facing Louisiana’s coastal communities.
She has served as Treasurer for both the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the National Architectural Accreditation Board. She was Design Editor for the Journal of Architectural Education from 2006-11. Most recently she has served as the Chair of the ACSA Education Committee.
She is a registered architect in California and Virginia and principal of ROOM Architecture.
Recent Research Activities
Common Table: Designing Rural Community Kitchens through Collaborative Practice in Virginia, $5000, 4VA-VA Research Grant, Co-PI, with Katie Stranix (UVA) 2026
The Firm: Documenting the Design Process of Justice, $3000, College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty Development Award, 2025
Voices to Inception, $10,000, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studio in the Fine Arts, 2023
Design Process: Collaborations for Resilient Coastlines, $165,000 from VA Sea Grant, Co-PI (Dr. Patrice Ludwig), 2023 and Prototype Design for Resilient Coastal Inhabitation, $4500, 4VA-VA Research Grant, PI, 2022
VOICES TO INCEPTION (DOCUMENTARY SHORT) collaboration with Becky Beamer.
- Screening and artist talk at the 2025 Jackson Film Festival
- Screening at the 2025 Oxford Film Festival
- Screening at the 2025 ACSA Annual Conference
- Screening at the 2024 Venice Architecture Film Festival Adaptations
- Screening at the 2024 LUND Fantastic Film Festival
- Screening and artist talk at Hurricanes and Scaffolding: Symposium on Artistic Research, Umeå University in Sweden.
“The New, New South,” keynote presentation, Place of Practice: Practicing Place Symposium, University of Arkansas, 2022
“The Open South: Towards a Theory of Practice in the New, New South” 2026 ACSA/AASA International Conference.
“Leah: Lands End Adaptable Home,” co-author, Lemara Morrell, 114th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2026
“Leah: Lands End Adaptable Home,” co-author, Lemara Morrell, 2025 Architecture East Exchange, AIA Virginia Annual Conference, Richmond, VA
“Leah: Lands End Adaptable Home,” co-author, Lemara Morrell, 2025 Resilient Virginia Conference
“Voices to Inception: Connection People, Place and Design” co-authored, 113th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting, 2025
“CERF 2021 National Student Design Competition” 2022 Architecture Research Center Consortium International Consortium, 2022
“Practicing Architecture in the Global South: Case Studies” 2021 National Environmental Design and Research Association. 2021
“Core Values In Higher Education,” Panelist, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Administrators Conference, Fayetteville, AR, 2025
“More Than Competent: Redefining A Common Ground for Architectural Education,” Moderator, 113th Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2025
“What is Core?” Panelist, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Administrators Conference, Denver, CO, 2024
“New Frontiers & New Opportunities for Students,” Panelist, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Administrators Conference, Buffalo, NY, 2023
