URB STD 250-001
Exploring the Urban Environment
Instructor: Sana Avar (sanaavar@uwm.edu)
This course is a General Education course designed for first year students. There are no
prerequisites or prior knowledge of the field of urban studies needed. This course also
fulfills a requirement in the urban studies major and certificate program.
This course explores urban existence from a worldwide point of view, considering the ways
in which physical space, social interaction, economic organization, and environmental
conditions shape city life every day. We will consider how cities function and develop in
different parts of the world by examining and comparing such areas of inquiry as urban
expansion, sustainability, and quality of life in a range of cultural and geographical
contexts. We will also consider how different global structures and activities at global
scales may impact city life in Milwaukee such as economic activity, as well as how broader
global natural processes like climate change can impact urban resilience and design.
URB STD 360-201
Perspectives on the Urban Scene: Green Cities: UrbanAgri, Sustain. & Envir Justice
Instructor: Maria Rose Francis (franci54@uwm.edu)
This course explores the complex intersections of environmental justice, urban agriculture, and
sustainability within both local and global urban contexts. As cities grow, the strain on resources, social
equity, and environmental health intensifies. This course critically examines these issues through the lens of
environmental justice movements, urban agriculture initiatives, global sustainability policies, green
infrastructure, and smart city technologies.
Students will engage with diverse case studies from cities worldwide, highlighting both the successes
and challenges of urban sustainability efforts. By examining international frameworks, policies, and
grassroots activism, students will explore how different regions address environmental justice and urban
resilience, focusing particularly on the role of marginalized communities across different socio-political
contexts in shaping these processes.
The course encourages students to critically assess how global policies, governance structures, and
technological innovations interact within urban settings to either exacerbate or alleviate issues of inequality,
environmental degradation, and social exclusion. Through comparative case studies, active debates,
international policy analysis, video projects, and interactive digital humanities tools, students will develop a
globally informed understanding of urban strategies, ranging from tactical urbanism to international smart
city initiatives.
This course will emphasize civic engagement, ethical reasoning, and real-world applications of
sustainability principles, preparing students to critically analyze and contribute to global urban innovation
and sustainable development efforts
URB STD 450-001
Urban Growth and Development: A Global View
Instructor: Jamie Harris (jmh@uwm.edu)
Urbanization is advancing at an unprecedented rate around the world, with most of that growth occurring in the “developing” Global South, often in informal settlements. More than 1 billion people now reside in informal settlements, and many megacities will be approaching populations of 30 million over the next decade. Rapid urbanization, and the shadow cities that accompany this kind of development can have broad implications for urban poverty and inequality, migration, and the impacts of climate change. Along with this explosion of urbanization, the last two decades have witnessed much new theorizing and empirical research focused on cities and urbanized regions of the Global South. Many of these scholars have challenged conventional urban theory and critiqued the field of urban studies that emerged in the 20th century for its decidedly European and North American orientation. Unable to fully account for the complexity and diverse historical, political and cultural basis of different urbanisms that were emerging, these scholars, many from outside the West, began to formulate new approaches and concepts to more fully understand urban change and development. This interdisciplinary, hybrid course will examine some of these debates and explore some of this new empirical work as we delve into an array of urban contexts across several regions and countries outside the U.S. Particular attention will be given to urban informality and territories of exclusion in Brazil, Ghana, and India; state-led urbanization in China; Global City formations in a number of cities; greening cities and climate disaster and resilience in Europe, Asia, and Canada; urban citizenship, tactical urbanism and 'right to the city' campaigns, and the role of urban space in shaping and fostering political mobilization for gender equality, poor people, and climate justice, across a number of cities and countries.
URB STD 600-001
Capstone Seminar in Urban Studies
Instructor: Jamie Harris (jmh@uwm.edu)
This course is designed for urban studies majors in their senior year or accelerated BA-MUP students in their
Junior year.
This course has one primary objective. As a capstone course, the class will draw upon and build on your past
work in the major, supplemented by exposure to the research process and methodologies in this class, to
develop the skills necessary for you to plan, conduct, evaluate, and present original research. Capstone research
projects will focus on urban studies-related subject areas within the Milwaukee region. Near the end of the
course, the focus of the class will shift to some post-degree life topics. This course fulfills the L&S research
requirement for degree-bearing students in the College.