Urban Studies
Designed as an interdisciplinary program, the urban studies major offers a broad introduction to the city and the urban environment. Students combine coursework and research on urban issues with hands-on experience in New York City as well as other American and international cities. The curriculum prepares majors for graduate school and professional programs in teaching, social work, public policy, architecture and urban planning as well as for careers in government service and community development, the nonprofit sector, journalism and law.
Accelerated Master's Program
Undergraduate students in Fordham colleges with a GPA above 3.5 and a background in urban studies are invited to apply for early admission to the master's degree program in urban studies in the second semester of their junior year. Students applying for this option are not required to submit GRE scores. Students admitted to the urban studies master's program under the early admissions policy will take the three required core courses during their senior year (URST 5000 Issues in Urban Studies, URST 5020 Urban Political Processes, and URST 6200 Research Skills in Urban Studies). These courses will count toward the bachelor's degree (which is awarded at the end of the fourth year) and are accepted for the master's, which can be completed by the May of the following year under full-time study.
Program Activities
The urban studies program hosts a wide variety of events throughout the academic year, including lectures, field trips, and tours, and informational lunches. The Urban Studies Week takes place every spring, bringing urban scholars and practitioners to Fordham University for lectures and faculty-student seminars revolving around one particular issue, such as climate change and sustainability, hip-hop as a culture of (urban) resistance, or immigration. The annual Senior Thesis Dinner presents the outstanding research of graduating seniors. Urban studies students also take part in undergraduate conferences and research forums.
Urban studies majors have received numerous prestigious awards, including the New York City Teaching Fellows and the City of New York Urban Fellows Programs.
For more information
Our Courses
URST 1999. Tutorial. (1 Credit)
Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.
URST 2999. Tutorial. (2 Credits)
Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.
URST 3070. Urban Design. (4 Credits)
A studio course in urban design for public spaces, neighborhoods, urban districts, campuses, parks, infill developments and expansions. A major design project is prefaced with research in urban design history, infrastructural technologies, case studies, and diagrammatic analysis. Portfolio layouts. Field trips, workshops, lab fee, and office hours visits are required. Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
URST 3340. Urban Psychology. (4 Credits)
"How does living in a large city impact us—our inner personality, outer behavior, values, and relationships?" This interdisciplinary urban studies course focuses on this question, including the methods and findings of behavioral research on: the growth of cities, crowding, prosocial and antisocial behavior, primary and secondary relationships, ethnicity, happiness, deviance, pace of life, urban personality, the future of cities. This Fordham course meets three days weekly (Tues/Wed/Thurs), including related excursions and fieldwork on city life in New York City. Note: Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
URST 3800. Internship. (3 Credits)
Supervised placement for students interested in work experience.
URST 3999. Tutorial. (3 Credits)
Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.
URST 4800. Urban Studies Internship. (4 Credits)
Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
URST 4890. Research Seminar. (4 Credits)
Four-credit courses that meet for 150 minutes per week require three additional hours of class preparation per week on the part of the student in lieu of an additional hour of formal instruction.
URST 4999. Tutorial. (4 Credits)
Independent research and reading with supervision from a faculty member.
Courses in Other Areas
The following courses offered outside the program have the URST attribute and count toward the Urban Studies major and minor:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| AFAM 1650 | Black Popular Culture | 4 |
| AFAM 2005 | American Pluralism | 4 |
| AFAM 3036 | Global Black Youth Cultures | 4 |
| AFAM 3102 | The Black Family | 4 |
| AFAM 3112 | The Sixties | 4 |
| AFAM 3115 | Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X | 4 |
| AFAM 3130 | Racial and Ethnic Conflict | 4 |
| AFAM 3132 | Black Prison Experience | 4 |
| AFAM 3134 | From Rock-N-Roll to Hip-Hop | 4 |
| AFAM 3136 | U.S. Civil Rights | 4 |
| AFAM 3150 | Caribbean Peoples and Culture | 4 |
| AFAM 3632 | Harlem Renaissance | 4 |
| AFAM 3633 | The Bronx: Immigration, Race, and Culture | 4 |
| AFAM 3663 | Minorities in the Media | 4 |
| AFAM 4000 | Affirmative Action and the American Dream | 4 |
| AFAM 4650 | Social Welfare and Society | 4 |
| AFAM 4896 | Feeling the Funk | 4 |
| AMCS 3535 | Building the Ideal City: Ethics and Economics Foundations of Realizable Utopias | 4 |
| ANTH 2620 | The Anthropology of Cities | 4 |
| ANTH 3006 | Arab-Americans and the Diasporic Experience | 4 |
| ANTH 3180 | Ethnographic Methods | 4 |
| ANTH 3340 | Anthropological Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity | 4 |
| ANTH 3343 | Ghettos and Gated Communities | 4 |
| ANTH 3353 | Anthropology of Globalization | 4 |
| ANTH 3354 | Race, Identity, and Globalization | 4 |
| ANTH 3510 | Museums: Representing / Engaging Culture(s) | 4 |
| ANTH 4341 | Race, Sex, and Science | 4 |
| ANTH 4600 | Global South Megacities | 4 |
| ARHI 3100 | Museum Methods | 4 |
| BISC 1002 | Ecology: A Human Approach | 3 |
| BISC 4035 | Ecology and Economics of Food Systems | 4 |
| CEED 6290 | Health Disparities and Social Justice in Research and Practice | 3 |
| CISC 2500 | Information and Data Management | 4 |
| COLI 3450 | The City in Literature and Art | 4 |
| COLI 3451 | The City in Literature | 4 |
| COLI 3535 | Building the Ideal City: Ethics and Economics Foundations of Realizable Utopias | 4 |
| COMC 2234 | Media and the Arts | 4 |
| COMC 3232 | Class, Taste, and Popular Culture | 4 |
| COMC 3235 | Popular Music as Communication | 4 |
| COMC 4241 | Communication, Popular Culture, and Philosophy | 4 |
| COMC 4360 | Communication Ethics and the Public Sphere | 4 |
| ECON 2140 | Statistics I | 4 |
| ECON 3240 | World Poverty | 4 |
| ECON 3244 | International Economic Policy | 4 |
| ECON 3346 | International Trade | 4 |
| ECON 3430 | ST: Sustainable Business | 4 |
| ECON 3570 | Labor Market and Diversity | 4 |
| ECON 3580 | Economics of Diversity | 4 |
| ECON 3850 | Environmental Economics | 4 |
| ECON 3870 | Public Finance | 4 |
| ECON 3971 | Urban Economics | 4 |
| ECON 4025 | Bronx Urban Economic Development | 4 |
| ECON 4110 | Ethics and Economics | 4 |
| ENGL 3450 | The City in Literature and Art | 4 |
| ENGL 3652 | New Wave Immigrant Literature | 4 |
| ENGL 4121 | New York City in Fiction | 4 |
| ENST 3070 | Green Architecture | 4 |
| HIST 3001 | African American History I | 4 |
| HIST 3002 | African American History II | 4 |
| HIST 3565 | History of New York | 4 |
| HIST 3619 | World's Fair | 4 |
| HIST 3624 | European Cities | 4 |
| HIST 3626 | Social History of Architecture | 4 |
| HIST 3806 | U.S. Immigration/Ethnicity | 4 |
| HIST 3807 | The U.S in the 1920s and 1930s: From the Jazz Age to Hard Times | 4 |
| HIST 3808 | New York City Politics | 4 |
| HIST 3862 | History of New York City | 4 |
| HIST 3922 | East Asian Cities | 4 |
| HIST 3950 | Latino History | 4 |
| HIST 3990 | North American Environmental History | 4 |
| HIST 4031 | Rise of the American Suburb | 4 |
| HIST 4858 | Seminar: Modern European City | 4 |
| HIST 6540 | Global Urban History | 4 |
| HUST 2500 | The Humanitarian System: Past, Present, and Future | 4 |
| ITAL 2700 | Filming the City Inside and Out: A Cinematic Journey Through Italy | 4 |
| LACU 3035 | From Rust Belt to Green Belt: Germany's Ruhr Area | 4 |
| LACU 3050 | Becoming Germany—German Literature, Film, and Popular Culture after World War II | 4 |
| LALS 3000 | Latinx Images in Media | 4 |
| LALS 3343 | Crime and Minority Rights | 4 |
| LALS 3427 | Hispanics/Latinos in the USA | 4 |
| LALS 3670 | Hispanic Women | 4 |
| LALS 3950 | Latino History | 4 |
| MLAL 3535 | Building the Ideal City: Ethics and Economics Foundations of Realizable Utopias | 4 |
| MUSC 2014 | Jazz: A History in Sound | 4 |
| MVST 3535 | Building the Ideal City: Ethics and Economics Foundations of Realizable Utopias | 4 |
| MVST 4040 | Exploring Medieval New York | 4 |
| NMDD 3880 | Designing Smart Cities for Social Justice | 4 |
| NSCI 1040 | People and the Living Environment | 3 |
| PHIL 3109 | Environmental Ethics | 4 |
| PHYS 1203 | Environmental Physics | 3 |
| PJST 3200 | Environmental Justice | 4 |
| PMMA 6212 | Digital Media and Advocacy | 3 |
| POSC 2102 | Introduction to Urban Politics | 4 |
| POSC 3120 | The Democracy Internship | 4 |
| POSC 3121 | New York City Politics | 4 |
| POSC 3131 | Politics, Urban Health, and Environment | 4 |
| POSC 3307 | Environmental Politics | 4 |
| POSC 3324 | Politics of Immigration and Citizenship | 4 |
| POSC 3507 | International Human Rights | 4 |
| POSC 3610 | Political Economy of Development | 4 |
| POSC 3645 | Politics of Immigration | 4 |
| POSC 3915 | International Political Economy | 4 |
| POSC 4015 | American Economic Policymaking | 4 |
| POSC 4020 | Place, Space, and Immigrant Cities | 4 |
| POSC 4025 | Youth and Politics | 4 |
| POSC 4400 | Seminar: Global Justice | 4 |
| PSYC 2600 | Social Psychology | 4 |
| PSYC 3340 | Urban Psychology | 4 |
| PSYC 3600 | Multicultural Psychology | 4 |
| PSYC 4820 | Community Psychology | 5 |
| PSYC 4920 | Youth, Values, and Society | 4 |
| SOCI 2410 | Inequality: Class, Race, and Ethnicity | 4 |
| SOCI 2420 | Social Problems of Race and Ethnicity | 4 |
| SOCI 2606 | Social Science Statistics | 4 |
| SOCI 2607 | Social Science Research and Statistics | 4 |
| SOCI 2650 | Basic Research Methods | 4 |
| SOCI 2701 | Introduction to Criminal Justice | 4 |
| SOCI 2703 | Social Deviance | 4 |
| SOCI 2845 | Drugs, Law, and Society | 4 |
| SOCI 2850 | Methods Social Research I | 4 |
| SOCI 2851 | Methods Social Research II | 4 |
| SOCI 2925 | Media, Crime, Sex, and Violence | 4 |
| SOCI 2960 | Popular Culture | 4 |
| SOCI 3000 | Latinx Images in Media | 4 |
| SOCI 3017 | Inequality in America | 4 |
| SOCI 3021 | Sociology of Medicine | 4 |
| SOCI 3046 | International Sociology | 4 |
| SOCI 3070 | The City and Its Neighborhoods | 4 |
| SOCI 3136 | Inequality-Why/Effects | 4 |
| SOCI 3142 | Environmental Sociology | 4 |
| SOCI 3148 | Population and Economic Development Issues | 4 |
| SOCI 3325 | America Divided: Economic Inequality and Political Polarization in the 21st Century | 4 |
| SOCI 3405 | Gender, Race, and Class | 4 |
| SOCI 3406 | Race/Social Construct | 4 |
| SOCI 3415 | Development and Globalization | 4 |
| SOCI 3418 | Contemporary Immigration in Global Perspective | 4 |
| SOCI 3427 | Hispanics/Latinos in the USA | 4 |
| SOCI 3502 | Work, Inequality, and Society in 21st Century America | 4 |
| SOCI 3601 | Urban Poverty | 4 |
| SOCI 3602 | Urban Sociology | 4 |
| SOCI 3606 | The Global City | 4 |
| SOCI 3670 | Hispanic Women | 4 |
| SOCI 3711 | American Criminal Justice | 4 |
| SOCI 3713 | Criminology | 4 |
| SOCI 3720 | Mass Incarceration | 4 |
| SOCI 4020 | Place, Space, and Immigrant Cities | 4 |
| SOCI 4408 | Diversity in American Society | 4 |
| SOCI 4902 | Internship Seminar: Community Organizations | 4 |
| SOCI 4961 | Urban Issues and Policies | 4 |
| SOCI 4970 | Community Service/Social Action | 4 |
| THEA 4050 | Arts, Social Justice, and Human Rights: Foundations | 4 |
| VART 1101 | Urbanism | 3 |
| VART 1160 | Architectural Language | 4 |
| VART 1234 | Modes of Transport: Choo Choo, Vroom Vroom | 4 |
| VART 2040 | Elements of Architecture | 4 |
| VART 2050 | Designing the City | 4 |
| VART 2055 | Environmental Design | 4 |
| VART 2070 | Architectural Design | 4 |
| VART 2222 | Art of the Interview | 4 |
| VART 3055 | Ecology for Designers | 4 |
| VART 3060 | Visual Justice: Enacting Change Through Image-Based Storytelling | 4 |
| VART 3070 | Urban Architectural Design | 4 |
| VART 3267 | Urban Film Video Production | 4 |
| VART 3333 | Art Making in Hell's Kitchen | 4 |
| VART 3541 | The Streets of New York | 4 |
| VART 4090 | Senior Project Architecture | 4 |
| WGSS 4341 | Race, Sex, and Science | 4 |