Overview
The Urban Studies minor is offered through the Schools of Public Engagement.
The Urban Studies minor provides a foundational, interdisciplinary understanding of urbanism and the social, spatial, material, ecological, political, and institutional conditions that shape cities and metropolitan regions. With experiential learning
as a key component, the minor provides a strong foundation for students' engagement with the city, whether as citizens, scholars, artists, designers, architects, bloggers, activists, journalists, educators, curators, or other actors with a stake in
the urban.
By the successful completion of this minor, a student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a theoretical understanding of cities as generators of economic, social, and cultural vitality as well as landscapes transformed by human planning and design
- Distinguish between varied urban concepts, practices, and research methods that emerge from different disciplines, interests, ideologies, and traditions
- Employ spatial thinking and conceptualize the metropolis at a variety of scales—from street level exchanges to regional systems to global networks and flows
- Apply critical analysis to primary sources such as maps, planning documents, agency reports, interviews, observations, literary texts, photographs, films, data sets, architectural plans, or buildings
- Recognize cities as sites of contestation and engagement over governance, rights, citizenship, and social justice
Curriculum
Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.
| Subject Area | Sample Courses | Requirements |
|---|
| Fundamentals Course | UURB 2100: Urban Worlds
ULEC 2620: The Dynamic Metropolis
ULEC 2620: Landscapes of the City | 3 credits |
| NYC Experiential Learning Elective | UURB 3010: Sensing the City
UURB 3301: City in Motion
UURB 3450: Immigrant New York
UURB 3501: NYC: Past, Present, Future
UURB 3601: Urban Journalism
UURB 4676: Urban Intelligence | 3-4 credits |
| Electives | UURB 2350: Race & Gender — Global City
UURB 2410: Urban Ecology
UURB 2800: Interpreting Space and Cities
UURB 3001: Planning Sustainable Cities
UURB 3100: Education, Race, and Place
UURB 3620: Photojournalism & Urban Calamities
UURB 3423: Anthropology of Home
UURB 3664: Latin American Cities
UURB 4078: Urban Poverty and Inequality
UURB 4223: Maps as Media
UURB 4510: The Design of Cities
UURB 4521: Political Economy of the City
UURB 4524: African Cities
UENV 3200: Spatial Thinking with GIS
UENV 3400: Urban Resilience
UENV 4520: Urban Food Systems
ULEC 2280: Liquid Cities
LLST 3061: Baudelaire: City Blues
LMUS 3115: Urban Soundscapes
LSOC 2850: Urban Sociology
LSCI 2300: Introduction to Urban Environmental Health
LVIS 3022: Art, Space, and the Global City
NARH 3872: History of Urban Planning
NARH 3874: Housing the Modern Dweller
NCST 3300: Queer New York
PLSD 2100: History of Architecture
PLSD 3002: Architecture, the City, and Cinema
PSAM 3705: X-Studio: Walking as a Practice
PSCE 3020: Design Build: Urban Public Space
PSCE 4021: Designing Sustainable Foodscapes
PSDS 2510: Visualizing Urban Change
PSDS 3510: Designing Urban Agriculture | 9-12 credits
At least two courses must be at the 3000-level or higher. |
Eligibility
Students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses to fulfill the minor.
The Urban Studies minor is available to undergraduate students across The
New School, with the exception of students enrolled in the BA in Urban Studies.
Please
meet with your Student Success advisor to discuss how a minor will fit in with your
overall degree requirements. If you have additional questions about
requirements for the Urban Studies minor that cannot be answered by your
Student Success advisor, please consult:
Advisor, Urban Studies
Robert Jürgen Freiherr Von Mahs
212.229.5100 x2964
freiherr@newschool.edu
Academic Advisor for Global, Environmental, and Urban Studies
Christina McElderry
64 West 11th Street, room 120
clmcelderry@newschool.edu
646.909.2260
How to Declare or Change a Minor
General guidelines for declaring a minor are available here. Current students can declare
or change a minor by logging in to my.newschool.edu, clicking on the Academics tab, and then
clicking on the link to Major/Minor Declarations.