Urban Studies, B.A.

FACULTY:
Heather Fitz Gibbon, Chair
Hamed Goharipour

The Urban Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program grounded in the liberal arts engaging students in exploring and understanding the richness and complexity of global urban experiences. The program provides students with the theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge needed to become urban scholars and professionals who will improve the lives of individuals in coplex metropolitan settings. The major in Urban Studies includes practical experience in solving urban problems through advanced coursework and either an internship or off-campus study in an urban setting.

Economic, Political, and Social Processes Track

Consists of twelve courses:

Complete the following six courses:
URBN 10100 - Contemporary Urban Issues
URBN 10200 - World Cities
ESCI 25000 - Intro to Geographic Info Systems (GIS)
or
ESCI 29902 - Introduction to Web GIS
URBN 30100 - Urban Studio
URBN ELEC - Study Abroad/Experiential Learning
SOCI 20600 - Urban Sociology
Methods: Complete two Methods courses. At least one must be a quantitative course.

Quantitative courses:
BIOL 20300 - Research Skills in Biology
ECON 11000 - Quantitative Methods
ECON 21000 - Econometrics
PSYC 25000 - Intro to Statistics and Experimental Design
SOAN 34100 - Social Statistics
Qualitative courses:
COMM 35100 - Critical/Cultural Research Methods
SOAN 34000 - Ethnographic Research
WGSS 33000 - Doing Feminist Research: Theory and Practice
ARTS 15900 - Introduction to Photography
Complete one of the following:
ECON 10100 - Principles of Economics
ECON 23200 - Labor Economics
ECON 24000 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
ECON 25400 - Economic Development
ECON 26100 - Urban Economics
ECON 31500 - Public Finance
Complete one of the following Political Science courses:
ENVS 29903 - Urban Environments in Comparative Contex
PSCI 11000 - Intro to United States National Politics
PSCI 20300 - The Politics of Public Policy
PSCI 20715 - Immigration Politics and Policy
URBN 45100 - Independent Study Thesis
URBN 45200 - Independent Study Thesis

Urbanism and Social Justice Track

Consists of twelve courses:

URBN 10100 - Contemporary Urban Issues
URBN 10200 - World Cities
ESCI 25000 - Intro to Geographic Info Systems (GIS)
or
ESCI 29902 - Introduction to Web GIS
URBN 30100 - Urban Studio
URBN ELEC - Study Abroad/Experiential Learning
URBN 20106 - Social Justice and the City
Methods Courses - Complete one of the following quantitative or qualitative courses:

Quantitative courses:
BIOL 20300 - Research Skills in Biology
ECON 11000 - Quantitative Methods
ECON 21000 - Econometrics
PSYC 25000 - Intro to Statistics and Experimental Design
SOAN 34100 - Social Statistics
Qualitative courses:
COMM 35100 - Critical/Cultural Research Methods
SOAN 34000 - Ethnographic Research
WGSS 33000 - Doing Feminist Research: Theory and Practice
ARTS 15900 - Introduction to Photography
Complete one of the following Economics courses:
ECON 10100 - Principles of Economics
ECON 23200 - Labor Economics
ECON 24000 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
ECON 25400 - Economic Development
ECON 26100 - Urban Economics
ECON 31500 - Public Finance
Complete two electives from:
AFST 21300 - Racism 101
COMM 25100 - Communication and Social Protest
EDUC 19903 - Urban Education
EDUC 30000 - Classroom Management as Social Justice
HIST 10152 - African American History 1865-Present
HIST 10182 - America in the 60s and 70s
HIST 11100 - The U.S. Experience Since 1877
HIST 11500 - African American History
HIST 27513 - Race and Ethnicity in 20th Century America
PHIL 10000 - Ethics, Justice, and Society
PHIL 21200 - Race, Gender, and Justice
RELS 13000 - American Religious Communities
RELS 26720 - Asian Religions in America
SOCI 20600 - Urban Sociology
SOCI 20900 - Inequality in America
SOCI 21300 - Deviance and Criminology
SOCI 21400 - Racial and Ethnic Groups in American Society
URBN 45100 - Independent Study Thesis
URBN 45200 - Independent Study Thesis

Global Urban Processes Track

Consists of eleven courses:

Environmental Urbanism Track

Consists of eleven courses:

URBN 10100 - Contemporary Urban Issues
URBN 10200 - World Cities
ESCI 25000 - Intro to Geographic Info Systems (GIS)
or
ESCI 29902 - Introduction to Web GIS
URBN 30100 - Urban Studio
URBN ELEC - Study Abroad/Experiential Learning
ENVS 12000 - Ecology and the Environment
Methods: Complete one quantitative or qualitative methods course:

Quantitative courses:
BIOL 20300 - Research Skills in Biology
ECON 11000 - Quantitative Methods
ECON 21000 - Econometrics
PSYC 25000 - Intro to Statistics and Experimental Design
SOAN 34100 - Social Statistics
Qualitative courses:
COMM 35100 - Critical/Cultural Research Methods
SOAN 34000 - Ethnographic Research
WGSS 33000 - Doing Feminist Research: Theory and Practice
ARTS 15900 - Introduction to Photography
Complete two electives from:
BIOL 35000 - Population and Community Ecology
BIOL 35600 - Conservation Biology
CHEM 21600 - Environmental Chemistry
COMM 26000 - Environmental Communication
ECON 10100 - Principles of Economics
ECON 24000 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
ENVS 21000 - Rural Society and the Environment
ENVS 29900 - Topics in ENVS
ENVS 29903 - Urban Environments in Comparative Contex
ESCI 27500 - Modern Climate Change
PHIL 21600 - Environmental Ethics
PSYC 22500 - Environmental Psychology
SOCI 20300 - Environmental Sociology
URBN 45100 - Independent Study Thesis
URBN 45200 - Independent Study Thesis

Special Notes

Off-Campus Study: The Urban Studies Program requires one course focused on Urban Studies in a study abroad program (URBN 29100 Field Seminar) or a 1.0 credit Urban Internship (URBN 41000) experience.
To be eligible for the Urban Semester, the major must complete either URBN 10100 or one of the following: ECON 26100 , PSCI 20500 , or SOCI 20600 .
S/NC evaluation is not permitted for courses in the major/minor.
Only grades of C- or better are accepted for the major or minor.