Urban Studies for Undergraduates

The Undergraduate Major in Urban Studies is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore scholarship on cities, suburban communities, and metropolitan regions with an interdisciplinary lens. Coursework in the major is drawn from five schools and eleven departments in the affiliated areas of Africology, Architecture, Criminal Justice, Educational Policy And Community Studies, Geography, History, Political Science, Nonprofit And Public Administration, Public Health, Sociology, And Urban Planning, in addition to Urban Studies. The major is designed to be flexible to allow the student to develop a strong foundation from the core courses and then build a set of elective courses that address particular urban issues from different disciplines, depending on student interest and future goals. The Urban Studies major enables students to understand and communicate across an array of disciplines, and to see how different disciplines provide unique lenses and methods of inquiry that allow the student to develop more complex understandings of the city and region. The curriculum of the Urban Studies major promotes a perspective that is holistic, historical, and global in its approach to urban development and change.

Download the USP Undergraduate Brochure.

Undergraduate Certificate in Urban Studies

The Undergraduate Certificate in Urban Studies provides the undergraduate student with a broad array of courses from 4 schools and over 18 departments which focus on urban issues and policy alternatives examined from a variety of humanistic, social scientific and professional perspectives. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of gender, racial and ethnic diversity within the context of urban policy choices and delivery. This certificate will be of particular interest to those students considering careers or graduate work in urban areas and as a supplement to majors in the arts and sciences or professions.