Minor in Urban Studies

The Undergraduate Minor in Urban Studies provides undergraduates with an opportunity to pursue their love of cities and communities and to study urban issues in depth. Students can select from a rich variety of courses that examine the interplay among the different groups occupying the urban space, the problems they confront, their struggle for recognition and power, and the forces shaping the physical terrain they inhabit. Students can pursue interests in urban history, urban design, neighborhood revitalization, economic development, social movements, and world urbanization.

The minor offers a good foundation for students contemplating graduate work in urban planning, environmental policy, public administration, public policy, law, or social work. It also can be an intellectually exciting focus for interdisciplinary exploration, because understanding urban phenomena requires synthesizing knowledge from a broad range of the social sciences and humanities.

Program Requirements and Policies

• For the Minor in Urban Studies, a total of five courses (for a minimum of 15 semester hour units) are required.
• Interested students should complete the Declaration of Major/Minor/Change of Advisor webform on the Student Life website, which is then approved by the Urban Studies Minor coordinator. On the declaration form, the minor advisor is the same as the minor coordinator.
• Courses for the minor are generally drawn from the list presented. It is the student's responsibility to consult with the Urban Studies Minor coordinator about other eligible courses.
• At the same time as completing the major checklist (this is usually December for May graduation), the student must also submit the Urban Studies Minor certification form together with an unofficial transcript to the UEP office to obtain the signature of the Minor coordinator. The signed form is to be sent back to the student, who then uploads all of their signed materials to the online submission portal. Student Services cannot accept any major or minor checklists directly from the department. It is the student's responsibility to deliver this form to UEP and to submit the final documents to Student Services.
• Other courses can count towards the minor. Email a syllabus and brief explanation of why you think this class is urban studies related to Rebecca Shakespeare. She will evaluate and let you know if this course can count towards the minor. 
• Classes with significant independent project work can count towards the minor if independent work is focused on an urban studies related topic. Email Rebecca Shakespeare to confirm that a class and project are appropriate for the minor. 

Course Requirements

• Five courses (15 credits) from at least three different departments, including: Anthropology, Art History, Child Study and Human Development, Community Health, Economics, Education, History, Sociology, Political Science, and UEP. See a listing of exemplary courses in the Urban Studies Minor brochure.

Exemplary Courses

Sociology

• SOC 11 Sociology of Race & Ethnicity
• SOC 70 Immigration, Race, and US Society
• SOC 112 Race and the Criminal Justice System
• SOC 113 Urban Sociology

History of Art and Architecture

• HAA 0008: Introduction to Architecture
• HAA 0095: Boston Architecture and Urbanism 

Environmental Studies

• ENV 009 - Food Systems
• ENV 196 - Water: Science, Society, Policy 

Anthropology

• ANTH 020 Global Cities 
• ANTH 149 Community-Based Research in Urban Borderzones
• ANTH 187 Ethnography for Policy and Planning

Political Science

• PS 128: Gender, Work, and Politics in East Asia
• Topics in American Politics: Imagining Law and Order (anticipating new course number)

Child Study and Human Development

• CSHD 82 Social Policy for Children and Families
• CSHD 188 Seminar on Government Policy and the Family

Community Health

• CH 002 Health Care in America: Policies and Politics

Economics

• EC 124 State and Local Public Finance
• EC 127 Urban Economics

Education

• ED 167 Critical Race Theory Seminar: Issues in Urban Education

History

• HIST 035 African Americans in the Post Civil Rights Era
• HIST 123 Industrial America and Urban Society: The Progressive Era to the Great Depression
• HIST 143 South Asian Urban History

UEP

• UEP 11 Introduction to Urban Studies
• UEP 101 Land Use Planning
• UEP 105 Urban Planning and Design
• UEP 113 Housing Policy
• UEP 173 Transportation Planning
• UEP 175 Independent Study
• UEP 178 Urban Policy and Planning
• UEP 181 Homelessness in America
• UEP 194 Cities and Urban Design

Procedures

Students declare the Urban Studies Minor the same way as declaring a major, by filling out the Declaration of Major/Minor/Change of Advisor Form on the Student Life website. Students must also submit an Urban Studies Minor Certification Form via email to Rebecca Shakespeare for approval. Students will include this in their graduation packet. Students interested in the Urban Studies Minor should arrange to meet with the faculty coordinator for the Minor at any point during the academic year to discuss the program

Students interested in the Urban Studies Minor should contact the program coordinator:
Dr. Rebecca Shakespeare
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
Bromfield-Pearson 503 Boston Ave Medford, MA
Phone: 617-627-3394