Urban Studies

Overview

Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary major borrowing from history, public policy, government, economics, and sociology. Cities have a lot going on in them, and the study of them requires a working knowledge of many related fields.

Why are cities arranged the way they are? What are the economic and social factors that physically shape a city? What’s a city’s history, and what role does it play in a city’s continuing development or regression? These are just some of the difficult questions that Urban Studies majors try to answer. Their goal is to help us understand how and why our cities function the way they do. From the way local politics operate to problems of race and class, everything is closely scrutinized to improve municipal physical layout, education, and commerce. With the help of Urban Studies majors, we can address and resolve some of the most complicated issues affecting our cities.