Urban Studies

Study mode:On campus Study type:Full-time Languages: English
Foreign:$ 44.3 k / Year(s) Deadline: Dec 15, 2024
StudyQA ranking:8330 Duration:4 years

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This cross-disciplinary major involves urban studies coursework, fieldwork experiences, internships, and coursework in disciplines that offer useful perspectives on contemporary urban and postindustrial society. The program focuses on conceptual and analytical frameworks and specialized skills needed for professions focused on urban change or development. Students completing the program work in public agencies or private business or pursue graduate study in urban planning, law, social welfare, public affairs, international studies, or the social and environmental sciences. Students are encouraged to incorporate field study into the major or minor. Options include urban studies progr

Students may earn no more than one undergraduate degree in urban studies: a B.A. or a B.S. or a minor. Beginning fall 2012, all incoming CLA freshmen must complete the appropriate First Year Experience course sequence. 

Major Courses

  • URBS 1001W - Introduction to Urban Studies: The Complexity of Metropolitan Life [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • or URBS 3001W - Introduction to Urban Studies: The Complexity of Metropolitan Life [WI] (3.0 cr)

Take 2 or more credit(s) from the following:

  • · URBS 3201 - Urban Studies Colloquium (1.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3202 - Urban Studies Colloquium (1.0 cr)

Take 6 or more credit(s) from the following:

  • · URBS 3500 - Urban Studies Workshop (3.0 cr)

Skills and Methods Courses

Take 4 or more course(s) totaling 12 - 16 credit(s) from the following:

  • Introductory Courses in Statistics & Research

Take 0 - 1 course(s) from the following:

  • · EPSY 3264 - Basic and Applied Statistics [MATH] (3.0 cr)
  • · EPSY 5261 - Introductory Statistical Methods (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3511 - Principles of Cartography (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3531 - Numerical Spatial Analysis (4.0 cr)
  • · PA 5031 - Empirical Analysis I (4.0 cr)
  • · POL 3085 - Quantitative Analysis in Political Science [MATH] (4.0 cr)
  • · PSY 3001W - Introduction to Research Methods [WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · SOC 3801 - Sociological Research Methods [WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · SOC 3811 - Social Statistics [MATH] (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 3011 - Introduction to Statistical Analysis [MATH] (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 3021 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3.0 cr)
  • · Intermediate Courses in Statistics & Quantitative Analysis

Take 0 - 2 course(s) from the following:

  • · FNRM 3131 - Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Natural Resources [TS] (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3561 - Principles of Geographic Information Science (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5511 - Principles of Cartography (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5562 - GIS Development Practicum (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5563 - Advanced Geographic Information Science (3.0 cr)
  • · STAT 3022 - Data Analysis (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 4101 - Theory of Statistics I (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 4102 - Theory of Statistics II (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 5021 - Statistical Analysis (4.0 cr)
  • · STAT 5201 - Sampling Methodology in Finite Populations (3.0 cr)
  • · STAT 5401 - Applied Multivariate Methods (3.0 cr)
  • · STAT 5421 - Analysis of Categorical Data (3.0 cr)

· Applied Courses in Statistics & Quantitative Research Design

Take 0 - 2 course(s) from the following:

  • · CEGE 3101 - Computer Applications in Civil Engineering I (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5564 - Urban Geographic Information Science and Analysis (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3001 - Public History (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 5011 - Measuring the Past: Quantitative Methods for Historical Research (4.0 cr)
  • · HSG 5464 - Understanding Housing: Assessment and Analysis (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5022 - Economics For Policy Analysis and Planning II (1.5-3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5271 - Geographic Information Systems: Applications in Planning and Policy Analysis (3.0 cr)
  • · Other Methods Courses

Take 0 - 2 course(s) from the following:

  • · AFRO 5551 - Methods: Use of Oral Traditions as Resources for History (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3401 - Geography of Environmental Systems and Global Change [ENV] (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3523 - Digital Mapping: Introduction to Making Online Maps for the Humanities and Sciences (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5401 - Geography of Environmental Systems and Global Change (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5563 - Advanced Geographic Information Science (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5565 - Geographical Analysis of Human-Environment Systems (3.0 cr)
  • · GWSS 5101 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3001 - Public History (3.0 cr)
  • · MKTG 3010 - Marketing Research (4.0 cr)
  • · PA 4101 - Nonprofit Management and Governance (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5035 - Survey Research and Data Collection (1.5 cr)
  • · PA 5111 - Financing Public and Nonprofit Organizations (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5112 - Public Budgeting (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5221 - Private Sector Development (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5253 - Designing Planning and Participation Processes (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5511 - Community Economic Development (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5521 - Development Planning and Policy Analysis (4.0 cr)
  • · WRIT 4573W - Writing Proposals and Grant Management [WI] (3.0 cr)

Urban Form and Society Courses

Take 2 or more course(s) totaling 6 - 8 credit(s) from the following:

  • · ARCH 3412 - Architectural History Since 1750 [HIS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 4445W {Inactive} [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · CSCL 5256W {Inactive} [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · DES 3331 - Street Life Urban Design Seminar (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3161 - Europe: A Geographic Perspective [GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3212 - Producing India (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3371W - Cities, Citizens, and Communities [DSJ, WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3373 - Changing Form of the City [HIS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3973 - Geography of the Twin Cities [SOCS] (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3479 - History of Chinese Cities and Urban Life (3.0-4.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3633 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · HSG 2463 - Housing and Community Development (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3301W - American Cities As Settings for Cultural Diversity [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3861 - Financing Cities (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3871 - A Suburban World (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 5861 - Financing Cities (3.0 cr)

Internship and Senior Paper

Complete both courses. Students planning to finish their degree requirements at the end of fall semester should take URBS 3993 in place of URBS 3955W.

  • URBS 3900 - Urban Studies Internship Seminar (2.0 cr)
  • URBS 3955W - Senior Paper Seminar [WI] (2.0 cr)

Upper-division Writing Intensive within the major

Students are required to take one upper-division Writing Intensive course within the major. If that requirement has not been satisfied within the core major requirements, students must choose one course from the following list. Some of these courses may also fulfill other major requirements.

Take 0 - 1 course(s) from the following:

  • · ARCH 4445W {Inactive} [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · CSCL 5256W {Inactive} [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3371W - Cities, Citizens, and Communities [DSJ, WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · PSY 3001W - Introduction to Research Methods [WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3001W - Introduction to Urban Studies: The Complexity of Metropolitan Life [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3301W - American Cities As Settings for Cultural Diversity [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3955W - Senior Paper Seminar [WI] (2.0 cr)
  • · WRIT 4573W - Writing Proposals and Grant Management [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · PSY 3001V - Honors Introduction to Research Methods [WI] (4.0 cr)

Urban Studies Concentrations

Students are required to complete three courses for a minimum of 9 credits from one of the four concentration tracks.

Social and Cultural Analysis of Urban Life

This is Track A.

Take 3 or more course(s) totaling 9 - 12 credit(s) from the following:

  • · AFRO 3072 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · AFRO 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans & Chicanos in the U.S. (3.0 cr)
  • · AFRO 5910 - Topics in African American and African Studies (2.0-4.0 cr)
  • · AMIN 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, & Chicanos in the U.S. (3.0 cr)
  • · AMIN 4511 - American Indian Political Economy (3.0 cr)
  • · CHIC 4231 - Color of Public Policy: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans & Chicanos in the U.S. (3.0 cr)
  • · CHIC 4275 - Theory in Action: Community Engagement in a Social Justice Framework [CIV] (3.0 cr)
  • · COMM 3451W - Intercultural Communication: Theory and Practice [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · COMM 5451W - Intercultural Communication Processes [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3374W - The City in Film [AH, WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5374 - The City in Film (4.0 cr)
  • · GWSS 5404 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3821 - United States in the 20th Century to 1945 [HIS] (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3822 - Making America Modern: 1945 to Present (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3865 - African American History, 1865 to Present (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3869 - Urban American History: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in Urban America (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3872 - American Indian History: 1830 to the Present [HIS, DSJ] (3.0 cr)
  • · HSG 4467W - Housing and the Social Environment [WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · PA 5290 - Topics in Planning (0.5-4.0 cr)
  • · PA 5401 - Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5601 - Global Survey of Gender and Public Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · POL 3739 - Politics of Race, Class, and Ethnicity (3.0 cr)
  • · PSY 3201 - Introduction to Social Psychology (3.0 cr)
  • · SOC 3451W - Cities & Social Change [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · SOC 4108 - Current Issues in Crime Control (3.0 cr)
  • · SW 5101 - Historical Origins and Contemporary Policies and Programs in Social Welfare (3.0-4.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3301W - American Cities As Settings for Cultural Diversity [WI] (3.0 cr)

-OR-

Urban Political Economy

This is Track B.

Take 3 or more course(s) totaling 9 - 12 credit(s) from the following:

  • · APEC 3611W - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics [ENV, WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · APEC 5321 - Regional Economic Analysis (3.0 cr)
  • · APEC 5341 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · APEC 5611 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · ECON 4621H {Inactive} (4.0 cr)
  • · ECON 4821 - Public Economics (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3331 - Geography of the World Economy [SOCS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3361W - Geography and Public Policy [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5361 - Geography and Real Estate (4.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3841 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
  • · HSG 5463 - Housing Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 3004 - Regional Environmental Landscape Planning (4.0 cr)
  • · LA 3514 - Making the Mississippi [CIV] (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 4200 - Urban and Regional Planning (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5004 - Introduction to Planning (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5013 - Law and Urban Land Use (1.5 cr)
  • · PA 5211 - Land Use Planning (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5221 - Private Sector Development (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5261 - Housing Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5290 - Topics in Planning (0.5-4.0 cr)
  • · PA 5421 - Racial Inequality and Public Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5511 - Community Economic Development (3.0 cr)
  • · POL 3477 - Political Economy of Development [SOCS, GP] (3.0-4.0 cr)
  • · POL 3739 - Politics of Race, Class, and Ethnicity (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3771 - Fundamentals of Transit (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3861 - Financing Cities (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3871 - A Suburban World (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 5861 - Financing Cities (3.0 cr)

-OR-

Urban Infrastructure and Environment

This is Track C.

Take 3 or more course(s) totaling 9 - 11 credit(s) from the following:

  • · APEC 3611W - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics [ENV, WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 3711W - Environmental Design and the Sociocultural Context [SOCS, CIV, WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 4671 - Historic Preservation (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 4701W - Introduction to Urban Form and Theory [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 5672 - Historic Building Conservation (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 5673 - Historic Property Research and Documentation (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 5711 - Theory and Principles of Urban Design (3.0 cr)
  • · CEGE 3201 - Transportation Engineering (3.0 cr)
  • · CEGE 5211 - Traffic Engineering (3.0 cr)
  • · CEGE 5212 - Transportation Policy, Planning, and Deployment (4.0 cr)
  • · ESPM 3011W - Ethics in Natural Resources [WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · ESPM 3245 - Sustainable Land Use Planning and Policy [ENV] (3.0 cr)
  • · ESPM 3251 - Natural Resources in Sustainable International Development [GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 3003 - Case Studies in Sustainable Landscape Planning and Design (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 3501 - Environmental Design and Its Biological and Physical Context [ENV] (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 4755 - Infrastructure, Natural Systems, and Space of Inhabited Landscapes [TS] (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 5204 - Metropolitan Landscape Ecology (3.0 cr)
  • · LA 5401 - Directed Studies in Emerging Areas of Landscape Architecture (1.0-3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5013 - Law and Urban Land Use (1.5 cr)
  • · PA 5212 - Managing Urban Growth and Change (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5231 - Transit Planning and Management (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5232 - Transportation Policy, Planning, and Deployment (4.0 cr)
  • · PA 5722 - Environmental and Resource Economics Policy (3.0 cr)
  • · SUST 4004 - Sustainable Communities (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3751 - Understanding the Urban Environment [ENV] (3.0 cr)
  • · URBS 3771 - Fundamentals of Transit (3.0 cr)

-OR-

International Urban Issues

This is Track D.

Take 3 or more course(s) totaling 9 - 12 credit(s) from the following:

  • · AFRO 3433 - Economic Development in Contemporary Africa [SOCS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 3722 - Istanbul: The City in Visual Culture [GP, AH] (3.0 cr)
  • · ARCH 4674 - World Heritage Conservation (3.0 cr)
  • · ARGN 3009 - Argentina: Stereotypes and Identity (3.0 cr)
  • · CHIC 3352 - Transnational Chicana/o Theory: Global Views/Borderland Spaces (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3212 - Producing India (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3331 - Geography of the World Economy [SOCS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3373 - Changing Form of the City [HIS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3379 - Environment and Development in the Third World [SOCS, ENV] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 3388 - Going Places: Geographies of Travel and Tourism [CIV] (3.0 cr)
  • · GEOG 5385 - Globalization and Development: Political Economy (4.0 cr)
  • · GLOS 3145 - Global Modernity, the Nation-State, and Capitalism (4.0 cr)
  • · GLOS 3231 - Geography of the World Economy [SOCS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · GLOS 3278 - Tigers and Dragons: The Rise of the East Asian Economies, 1930-Present (3.0 cr)
  • · GLOS 3422 - 20th-Century Europe From the End of World War II to the End of the Cold War: 1945-91 (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3066 - Prehistoric Pathways to World Civilization [HIS] (3.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3402W - Modern Latin America 1825 to Present [HIS, GP, WI] (4.0 cr)
  • · HIST 3415 - Migrations in Modern Global History [HIS, GP] (3.0 cr)
  • · HSG 4465 - Housing in a Global Perspective (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5561 - Gender and International Development (3.0 cr)
  • · PA 5880 - Exploring Global Cities (1.0-3.0 cr)
  • · POL 3451W - Politics and Society in the New Europe [GP, WI] (3.0 cr)
  • · POL 3464 - Politics of Inequality (3.0 cr)
  • · POL 3739 - Politics of Race, Class, and Ethnicity (3.0 cr)

Requirements

  • Completed Application for Admission
  • $55 U.S. nonrefundable application fee
    If you apply online, you may pay the fee online using a credit card.
  • Secondary school transcript from each secondary school/high school attended
    If you have graduated from high school/secondary school, the final school transcript must include grades through the end of the last year in school (equivalent to the 12th year of high school in the U.S.) and the year of graduation. If you were also issued a graduation certificate or leaving examination results, we must also receive a copy of this document. You may submit these documents online using our Secondary School Document Submission form.
  • English proficiency test scores
    If your native language is not English, a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), or MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) score is required. Official test scores must be sent 

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

  • ✔️ Flexible study schedule
  • ✔️ Experienced teachers
  • ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Scholarships

  • The University of Minnesota offers a limited number of Global Excellence Scholarships for incoming freshmen and transfer international students studying on an F-1 visa and admitted for fall semesters. The Gold Global Excellence Scholarship awards the full difference between resident and non-resident tuition (freshmen only) and the Maroon Global Excellence Scholarship awards 50% of the difference between resident and non-resident tuition (freshmen and transfer students). 
  • New international freshman admitted to the University will also be considered for the Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Recipients receive $1,400 for participation in a faculty sponsored University of Minnesota research project and up to an additional $300 in support of supplies and expenses related to their research project.
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