What is Urban Studies?
Penn Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary program within the School of Arts in Sciences that integrates resources across the social sciences (anthropology, sociology, history, economics, political science) and professional fields (city planning, education, environmental studies, public health, public policy, real estate) in the service of studying urban trends.
Urban Studies students, or “Urbies”, are interested in making a difference and connecting to real world issues. Urbies undertake the task of explaining the conditions of urban places, and work towards creating places that foster equity, better health outcomes, environmental sustainability, and a better quality of life. In order to do this well, students learn about urban history as well as current challenges, and are equipped with a wide range of methodological tools and academic experiences to help them marry the theory (of the problem) with the practice (of solving it).
Why Urban Studies?
More than half of the world's population lives in cities, and the pace of urbanization in most of the world is accelerating. According to the World Bank, by 2050, 7 in 10 people will live in urban areas. Cities are critical nodes of wealth generation in the world economy, global incubators of culture and social life, and spatial aggregates of society’s most intractable problems. But cities are also dense and dynamic places, where people come together to find viable solutions.
The field of Urban Studies explores problems like residential segregation, income inequality, homelessness or housing precariousness, unequal access to health care, climate change and other environmental threats, criminal injustice, and lack of investment in public goods such as schools, transportation, and infrastructure. Understanding these issues empower urban scholars and practitioners to enact meaningful change.
Urban Studies is a flexible and intimate program. Students can shape their experience through courses that reflect particular interests and that cover the range of concerns in the field. Urban Studies is the only major on campus that requires students to carry out an internship for academic credit. Our students experience a strong sense of community in the program as a result of small classes, an active Undergraduate Advisory Board, many extra-curricular activities, and the opportunity to learn directly from faculty working in their respective fields. Urban Studies also has a strong alumni network and opportunities for mentorship and career exposure.
Urbies pursue courses, research, and internship opportunities that set them up for careers in law, city planning, social work, public policy advising, consulting, education, healthcare, sustainability and environmental justice, city management, community development, architecture, non-profit management, social entrepreneurship, real estate, politics and governance, and creative enterprises.
About half of our graduates attend graduate school and most take a year or more before applying. The most common graduate degrees that Urban Studies alumni pursue are Masters in City Planning, Law, Public Policy or Public Administration, Master of Business Administration, Education, Master in Social Work, Certificate in Real Estate, Master in Architecture, and other various specializations.
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What does the Urban Studies Major look like?
You can shape your Urban Studies experience through courses that reflect your particular interests. We strongly encourage you to visit our office for course planning and advising!
The major has three components (14 cus):
Core:
Urban Studies majors all take a set of core requirements (4 cus) that include 1) a research course that teaches quantitative and qualitative methods for studying cities, 2) an internship for credit and accompanying Fieldwork Seminar, and 3) a senior year original research project.
Themes courses:
Majors can shape their experience through choosing 7 courses that reflect their particular interests and that cover the range of themes in the field - 1) the history of cities, 2) comparative and theoretical dimensions 3) the built environment, 4) urban economics and finance 5) urban politics and policy.
Discipline focus:
Because it is interdisciplinary, the Urban Studies major requires students to take 3 courses in a discipline or field that speak to the expertise they develop. These electives should cluster around a discipline (sociology, anthropology, history) or a field (public policy, environmental justice, real estate). For ideas on how to structure your Discipline focus, see Pathways.
Fieldwork:
In the spring semester, students engage in a 15 hour per week immersive fieldwork experience at an urban institution or organization. During those hours students will work on projects in coordination with a supervisor that allow them to understand the connection between theory and practice in the field, develop hard skills, and cultivate professional relationships and networks. Students are encouraged to take the course in the spring of junior year but must plan in advance to take fieldwork in the spring of sophomore or senior years if they are going abroad. Students will meet for a 2 hour seminar weekly in addition to their hours at their fieldwork site.
Thesis:
All majors are required to complete a 35-40 page senior seminar paper on a topic of interest. The paper will be based on original data collected in pursuit of answering a specific research question relevant to that topic. It will be framed within an existing body of research and theory, citing secondary sources. The senior seminar paper allows students to become an authority based on their own original findings, concluding the urban studies education and catalyzing the start of students’ professional careers. The senior seminar is taken in the fall of senior year.