Urban Studies (AB)

About this programme

The Urban Studies Program equips students to analyze the city and urban life in the United States and around the planet through a variety of disciplinary lenses drawn from the humanities and social sciences, applying both qualitative and quantitative methods for scholarly research and community engagement. Cities are sites of problems and promise, inequality and solidarity, conflict and community. Processes of urbanization shape the challenges and possibilities of the 21st century. Urban Studies students explore the history of cities, urban and suburban growth and transformation, the organization and design of built, social, and natural environments, urban politics and policy, and the role of cities and urbanization in art, culture, and public life. The undergraduate program emphasizes global and local perspectives to understand how diverse communities have shaped cities through time, investigates the spatial dimensions of social relations and cultural meaning, and challenges students to work towards inclusive, equitable, and sustainable places.