URBAN STUDIES

URBAN STUDIES

RICHARD V. BUTLER, Ph.D., Professor, Economics

CHRISTINE DRENNON, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology; Director

L. TUCKER GIBSON, Ph.D., Professor, Political Science

CHAR MILLER, Ph.D., Professor, History

SHERYL R. TYNES, Ph.D., Professor, Sociology and Anthropology; Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the global phenomenon of urbanization. The program includes a wide variety of disciplinary approaches to the study of cities around the world.

Urban Studies offers a program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies. For those students whose major is in another field, a minor in Urban Studies may be taken as a complement to their major.

THE MAJOR

The requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with a major in Urban Studies are as follows:

I. The common curriculum

II. Specific degree requirements:

A. The Core Curriculum (9 semester hours)

URBS/SOCI 1310 Urbanization: Concepts and Realities

URBS 3370 Applied Urban Studies

URBS 4394 Senior Seminar

B. Concentrations in Urban Studies (21 semester hours). Students will select a concentration, in consultation with their advisors, from one of three tracks of study: (1) Public Policy, (2) Urban Society, and (3) The Built Environment. Students interested in graduate study in Urban Studies, or a related field, are strongly encouraged to take the following courses: URBS 3334 Urban Economics; URBS 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics; URBS 3365 Research Methods: GIS. No more than three hours of URBS 3-88 or 3-89 may be applied to the major.

Current concentrations in the program are as follows:

Public Policy

ECON 3323 The Economics of Government

HCAD 3350 The U.S. Health Care System

PLSI 3313 Policy Analysis and the Policymaking Process

PLSI 3314 Bureaucratic Politics

SOCI 3332 Sociology of Health and Illness

SOCI 3337 Organizations: Private, Public, and Popular

SOCI 3339 The Welfare State

URBS/SOCI 1316 Places and Regions in Global Context

URBS/ECON 3330 Economics and the Environment

URBS/ECON 3334 Urban Economics

URBS 3336/

PLSI 3316 Comparative Urban Governance

URBS/SOCI 2328 Social Inequality

URBS/SOCI 3340 Urban Geography

URBS/SOCI 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3365 Research Methods: GIS

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS 3-90 Independent Study

URBS 4391 Special Topics in Urban Studies

Urban Society

ANTH 3326 Mexico-United States Border Relations

ANTH/SOCI 4362 Globalization and International Development

CLAS 1308 Daily Life in Ancient Rome

EDUC 3321 Schooling in America

EDUC 4100 Senior Seminar

GNED 3325 The U.S. Latino Experience

HCAD 3350 The U.S. Health Care System

SOCI 3324 Crime and Delinquency

SOCI 3327 Contemporary Minorities

SOCI 3332 Sociology of Health and Illness

SOCI 3337 Organizations: Private, Public, and Popular

SOCI 3338 Work and Professions

URBS/SOCI 1316 Places and Regions in Global Context

URBS 3305/

HIST 3382 The City in History

URBS/SOCI 2328 Social Inequality

URBS/ECON 3334 Urban Economics

URBS/SOCI 3340 Urban Geography

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3365 Research Methods: GIS

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS 3-90 Independent Study

URBS 4391 Special Topics in Urban Studies

The Built Environment

ANTH 3326 Mexico-United States Border Relations

ANTH/SOCI 4362 Globalization and International Development

ARTH 3352 Nineteenth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

ARTH 3364 Twentieth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

ARTH 3391 Topics in Art History: Contemporary Architecture

CLAS 1308 Daily Life in Ancient Rome

GEOS 1304 Environmental Geology: Humans and their

Physical Environment

URBS/SOCI 1316 Places and Regions in Global Context

URBS 3305/

HIST 3382 The City in History

URBS/ECON 3330 Economics and the Environment

URBS/ECON 3334 Urban Economics

URBS 3336/

PLSI 3316 Comparative Urban Governance

URBS/SOCI 3340 Urban Geography

URBS/SOCI 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3365 Research Methods: GIS

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS 3-90 Independent Study

URBS 4391 Special Topics in Urban Studies

III. Completion of the Senior Experience: URBS 4394.

IV. Electives sufficient to total 124 semester hours.

THE MINOR

The minor in Urban Studies focuses on the global phenomenon of urbanization, and includes a wide variety of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of cities and urban life around the world. Completion of this program will be indicated on the student’s transcript with the notation “Minor in Urban Studies.” Students interested in the minor should submit an application to the director of the Faculty Advisory Committee, who will assign a faculty advisor to the student. Requirements for the minor include URBS 1310 (Urbanization: Concepts and Realities) and fifteen additional semester hours of Urban Studies electives, as determined in conference with the Urban Studies advisor.

Requirements for the minor in Urban Studies are as follows:

I. Completion of 18 credit hours in the following distribution:

A. Core curriculum (3 semester hours)

URBS/SOCI 1310 Urbanization: Concepts and Realities.

B. Electives in Urban Studies (15 semester hours)

II. Additional guidelines for the selection of course work:

A. At least 9 hours of the total shall be upper-division courses.

B. No more than 12 hours of the course work (including cross-listed courses) can be taken from one department to fulfill the requirements of the minor.

C. No more than three hours of URBS 3-88 or 3-89 may be applied to the minor.

Urban Studies Electives

ANTH 3326 Mexico-United States Border Relations

ANTH/SOCI 4362 Globalization and International Development

ARTH 3352 Nineteenth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

ARTH 3364 Twentieth-Century Architecture and Urbanism

ARTH 3391 Topics in Art History: Contemporary Architecture

ECON 3330 Economics and the Environment

Prerequisite: ECON 1311

ECON 3334 Urban Economics

Prerequisite: ECON 1311

EDUC 1105 Seminar in Current Issues in Education

EDUC 1106 Seminar on School and Community

EDUC 3321 Schooling in America

EDUC 4100 Senior Seminar

GNED 3325 The U.S. Latino Experience

HCAD 3350 The U.S. Health Care System

PLSI 3313 Policy Analysis and the Policy Making Process

PLSI 3314 Bureaucratic Politics

PLSI 3316 Comparative Urban Governance (Same as URBS 3336)

SOCI 3327 Contemporary Minorities

SOCI 3332 Sociology of Health and Illness

SOCI 3338 Work and Professions

SOCI 3339 The Welfare State

URBS/SOCI 2328 Social Inequality

URBS 3336 Comparative Urban Governance (Same as PLSI 3316)

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS/ANTH/SOCI 3365 Research Methods: GIS

Prerequisite: ANTH/SOCI 3359

URBS 4391 Special Topics in Urban Studies

COURSES

URBS 1310 Urbanization: Concepts and Realities

An introduction to the city, its origins, contemporary form, and likely future. The course will present the city and urban phenomena in both the American context and other national environments. The major emphasis will be placed on understanding the physical, social, economic, and political systems that create and sustain urban areas. (Also listed as SOCI 1310.)

URBS 1316 Places and Regions in Global Context

A study of the complex ways in which modern social organization materializes geographically. Topics include the distribution and movement of human populations, characteristics and distribution of cultural mosaics, patterns of economic interdependence, and the forces of cooperation and conflict among peoples from both global and local perspectives. (Also listed as SOCI 1316.)

URBS 2328 Social Inequality

A study of the stratification of American society in terms of the unequal distribution of wealth, status, and power. Theories on the origin and development of social classes as well as of the functional necessity of social inequality will be examined along with empirical works dealing with inequality. (Also listed as SOCI 2328.)

URBS 3305 The City in History

Cross-cultural examination of urban life in the pre-industrial and industrial cities of Asia, Europe, and the Americas from a historical perspective with special emphasis on the U.S. urban experience. Lecture and discussion format. (Also listed as HIST 3382.)

URBS 3330 Economics and the Environment

The economic problem of coping with a finite environment. Study of the interrelationships among economic growth, environmental quality, urban concentration, and resource constraints. Economic analysis of pollution control and other environmental policy problems. (Also listed as ECON 3330.)

Prerequisite : ECON 1311.

URBS 3332 Sociology of Health and Illness

A study of the social and cultural definitions of health and illness, social sources of illness, social roles of the “sick,” the nature of the illness experience, and the structure of societal institutions that deal with health and illness. (Also listed as SOCI 3332.)

URBS 3334 Urban Economics

Analytical study of the reasons for cities to exist, the location of economic activity, the economic base of urban areas and the functioning of urban land markets. Economic analysis of selected urban policy issues such as local economic development, zoning and growth controls, housing, transportation, poverty, crime, and the provision of local public services. Attention is paid to the urban experience outside as well as within the U.S. (Also listed as ECON 3334)

Prerequisites: ECON 1311, and three hours of upper-division credit in either Urban Studies or Economics.

URBS 3336 Comparative Urban Governance

Cross-national analyses of the evolution of current functions and structures of city governments; bureaucratic power and other contemporary issues in urban governance; political parties and associations, interest groups, and citizen participation in urban politics; business and third sector involvement in urban governance; and recurring patterns in the political policy outputs of major institutions involved in urban governance. (Also listed as PLSI 3316.)

Prerequisites: PLSI 1301 or 1303 or consent of instructor.

URBS 3340 Urban Geography

This course examines the history and contemporary processes of urbanization, primarily in the North American context. In particular, we are concerned with the geography of these processes, resulting in differentiation of space and the creation of distinct places. We will examine the geography of urbanization at several scales, ranging from the development of the North American urban system to the experiences of neighborhoods within cities. (Also listed as SOCI 3340.)

URBS 3347 Urban Systems

This course examines the historical and contemporary human consequences of urbanization from an urban systems perspective. The comparative basis is multidisciplinary and multi-national, and includes non-Western as well as Western examples. Problems of evolving urban systems are also analyzed along with institutional responses at both urban and national levels.

URBS 3360 Research Methods: Applied Social Statistics

This course provides a hands-on approach for learning how to undertake quantitative social research focused on the design and completion of a semester-long research project. A variety of statistical tools are addressed, including descriptive statistics, tests of significance, and linear regression and correlation. The course goals emphasize writing and rewriting, learning how to formulate and test research hypotheses, and understanding how to present results in an accurate and effective manner. (Also listed as ANTH 3360 and SOCI 3360.)

Prerequisite: ANTH 3359 or SOCI 3359 or consent of instructor.

URBS 3365 Research Methods: GIS

This course provides a hands-on approach for learning how to undertake spatial social research focused on the design and completion of a semester-long research project. Spatial tools introduced emphasize geographic information systems. The course goals include map making and the integration of information technology and cartography. (Also listed as ANTH 3365 and SOCI 3365.)

Prerequisite: ANTH 3359 or SOCI 3359 or consent of instructor.

URBS 3370 Applied Urban Studies

This course combines the academic study of Urban Studies with a service learning component; classroom work will be integrated with off-campus internships.

Prerequisites: URBS 1310 and Urban Studies major, or consent of instructor.

URBS 3-88 Urban Studies Internship

Field-work experience in a setting approved by the student, professor, and the organization selected. Supervision and guidance will be provided by the host organization and the professor. This course must be taken on a graded basis.

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

URBS 3-89 Urban Studies Practicum

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

URBS 3-90 Independent Study

Independent study in selected areas. 1 to 6 hours.

Prerequisites: 6 advanced hours in Urban Studies or consent of instructor.

URBS 4391 Special Topics in Urban Studies

Announcement of each course will be by prospectus. May be repeated when topics vary.

URBS 4394 Senior Seminar

Review of urban systems theory. Students will write and discuss papers on topics that involve synthesis of substantial portions of the urban system. They will have the opportunity to organize, integrate, and extend their knowledge of urban systems and urbanization. This course fulfills the Senior Experience requirement of the University’s Common Curriculum.

Prerequisite: Senior standing.