News
URBS Faculty Domenic Vitiello Featured on Penn Today
Domenic Vitiello, an urban and regional planning expert, teaches classes that invite students to locations in and around Philadelphia to better understand how its denizens dine.
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IUR Celebrates Local Urban Leader Elaine Simon
Penn IUR Co-Director Dr.
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URBS Alum Rachel Diller featured on Good Dirt Podcast
Rachel Diller, a Penn Urban Studies alum, is featured on the Good Dirt commercial real estate podcast.
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URBS Seventh Ward Course Featured in the Inquirer
Our First Year Seminar Course Investigating the Old Seventh Ward students Noah Kocher and Isha Mankar are featured in a recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Check it out!
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2023 Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History
Congratulations to URBS Professor Domenic Vitiello for receiving the Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History for his 2022 publication The Sanctuary City.
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Broken School Buildings
Alisa Ghura (URBS ’23), researched safety hazards in school buildings in low-income school districts and barriers to change.
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URBS Students Doing The Most This Spring
As we wrap up the year, the URBS department wants to give a shout-out to our wonderful students:
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URBS graduate makes 100 most influential Philly list
Big congrats to Michael Banks (URBS '14) on being one of Philly Mag's 100 Most Influential People in Philadelphia!
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The Statue Podcast
Paul Farber, Monument Lab co-founder and Design faculty, reveals the history and meaning of Philadelphia's Rocky Statue as only an URBS alum can. Listen to the podcast using the link below, or go to…
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Don’t let Philly homes get abandoned. Fix them up instead.
Brand new Urban Studies major Layla Sayed got an op-ed published in the Philadephia Inquirer. Impressive! The idea: Low-income homeowners are losing their homes because they can't afford basic…
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Welcome to Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts & Sciences. It draws on faculty and resources across the university and the city to offer students a multi-faceted approach to the study of urban trends.
Upcoming Events
Public Safety Innovation: After George Floyd
41st Annual Norman Glickman Lecture in Urban Studies: Robert Vargas
Robert Vargas
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER! The killing of George Floyd in 2020 ignited an unprecedented outpouring of support for state investment in policing alternatives. In this presentation, Dr. Robert Vargas, University of…
Spotlight
Qingying Xia
"I’ll never know who I am till I tame the time."
Melanie Wolff
"It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities." - J.K. Rowling