April 2011
Urban Studies Programs Brownbag: “What is Urban Studies?”
This past year, in response to a set of short articles that appeared in the Journal of Urban Affairs that set out to define the field, we had our own what is urban studies? discussion. As an interdisciplinary field, questions about what makes urban studies a distinctive body of knowledge and area for empirical inquiry and theoretical formulation often come up and are debated from time to time. For those who weren’t able to make it, the JUA articles are listed below:

William M. Bowen, Ronnie A. Dunn, and David O. Kasdan, “What is ‘Urban Studies’? Context, Internal Structure, and Content,” Journal of Urban Affairs 32 (May 2010), pp. 199-227.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2009.00474.x/pdf

Richard Harris and Michael E. Smith, “The History in Urban Studies: A Comment,” Journal of Urban Affairs 33 (Feb. 2011), pp. 99-105.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2010.00547.x/pdf

William M. Bowen, Ronnie A. Dunn, and David O. Kasdan,”Response to ‘The History in Urban Studies: A Comment,’” Journal of Urban Affairs 33 (Feb. 2011), pp. 107-110.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2010.00548.x/pdf

Friday, April 29, 2011
Embodied Placemaking in Urban Public Spaces (Part II) symposium sponsored by the Center for 21st Century Studies
The 16th Annual Student Forum will feature a keynote presentation from Maxwell School at Syracuse University Distinguished Professor of Geography, Don Mitchell. His keynote address is titled: Retrenchment, Revitalization, or the Right to the City?
http://uwm.edu/c21/conferences/2010embodied/embodied_spring.html

August 23, 2011
New Student Orientation
USP New Student Orientation will be held on Tuesday August 23, 2011 from 1-3 in the Urban Studies Conference Room, Bolton 768. Start of the school year reception for new, continuing, faculty and staff to follow from 3-4.

Monday, September 19, 2011
Careers in Government
Join us at this alumni workshop on Monday, September 19th, at 3-4pm in the Urban Studies conference room (Bolton 768B). Suzanne Ludlow, an MS alumna, will discuss careers and working in local government, particularly in city planning fields. Ms. Ludlow is the current deputy city manager of Takoma Park, Maryland, just outside DC. Those of you who might be considering careers in local government, or are interested in community and economic development, or are just curious about life after degree, would benefit from attending.

September 23, 2011
Urban Studies Programs Fall Social and Lecture: “Thick Injustice in the American Metropolis”
The USP Fall Social and Lecture is scheduled for 4 to 5:30 pm in the UWM Hefter Center, 3271 N. Lake Drive. Reception: 5:30 to 6:30 pm.The Keynote speaker wil be Dr. Todd Swanstrom, E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor in Community Collaboration and Public Policy at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Dr. Swanstrom will explore returning social justice to the center of urban policy debates, and address the foundational questions about what justice requires in the contemporary metropolis. In addition to numerous other works of scholarship about the future ofAmerican cities, Dr. Swanstrom is the co-author of Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century and co-editor of the newly published Justice and the American Metropolis. This event is free and open to the public.

September 29 and 30, and October 2, 2011
The Myth of Pruitt-Igoe documentary to be shown during the Milwaukee Film Festival
The film “The Myth of Pruitt-Igoe” will be shown three times during the Milwaukee film festival at two venues (Thurs. 9/29: North Shore Theatre – 5:15pm; Fri. 9/30: Oriental Theater – 4:30-5:53pm; and, Sun. 10/2: Oriental – 12:30pm). Pruitt-Igoe is the public housing project in St. Louis that was demolished in the early 1970s. Some refer to its destruction as the iconic moment when modernism died.

There will be a discussion following each showing but the Friday event will include a panel led discussion with comments offered by Urban Studies and Geography professor, Judith Kenny, Urban Studies alumna, Dr. Phyllis Santacroce, and Ann Wilson of Milwaukee’s Hillside Terrace Family Resource Center. This film is very well done and quite accessible for a wide audience. Those interested in public housing in particular and issues of the mid-century American city, race, and poverty in general will find it useful.

October 19, 2011
Graduate Student Colloquium
Michelle Radi, Urban Studies PhD Program dissertator, will present: The Heart of a Community: Milwaukee’s Jewish Population and their Hospital. Presentation at 12 – 1:00 pm in Bolton 768B.

October 26th at 5-6 pm
November 4th at 1-2 pm
Urban Studies Information Sessions
Please join us for the next info session about our four programs in Urban Studies: PhD, Master’s, Undergraduate Major and Certificate. This informal info session will be an opportunity to learn more about the particular degree program you’re interested in, and to have your questions answered about the application process, funding support that is available, and career opportunities in the field. Location: 768b Bolton Hall

Thursday, Nov 10, 2011
Milwaukee Summit
Join us for the 6th Annual Henry W. Maier State of Milwaukee Summit: Milwaukee and the Great Recession. The Summit will be held at the Hefter Center, 3271 N. Lake Drive, Milwaukee, from 3:30 – 5 pm with the reception from 5-6 pm on Thursday, November 10, 2011.

Tuesday, Nov 29, 2011
Graduate Student Workshop Series: “Demystifying the Prelim”
Please join us for the next workshop in our Graduate Student Workshop Series at noon in the USP Bolton 768 conference room. Two current USP doctoral students and two members of their prelim examination committees will discuss how they prepared for the prelim exam, what it was actually like, and what they would do differently based on their experience. Faculty reflections will include general advice on how to prepare for the exam. This workshop is aimed particularly at current doctoral students in Urban Studies, but any students who are planning to do a PhD in any field might find it useful.