IN THIS SECTION
Get the skills you need to bring change to an increasingly urban and metropolitan world.
The Urban Studies Major will provide you with a solid foundation in this interdisciplinary field. You will develop your researching, writing, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving skills. With the help of the department’s Urban Action Institute and Citylab, you will go beyond the walls of Worcester State and out into the world to engage with community members near and far through fieldwork, outreach, partnerships, internships, and research.
Depending on your career goals, you can take a concentration in gerontology, intergenerational and community service, public administration and planning, or social work and social policy or take advantage of one of our 4+1 programs and earn a master’s degree in nonprofit management, public management, or public administration and policy in just 5 years.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Develop a solid foundation in the interdisciplinary field of urban studies
- Gain awareness of the interconnectedness of individual, community, and systemic power
- Become a critical thinker, creative leader, and skillful problem solver
- Engage in purposeful, ethical, and collaborative research and action in urban communities
- Cultivate the empathy, reflection, and self-advocacy needed for professional success in a globalizing world
Concentrations in Urban Studies
Explore the different concentration opportunities Worcester State has to offer urban studies majors.
- Learn how activities, programs, and policies designed to sustain and enhance the livability of an urban environment are initiated, developed, and implemented. Courses explore social power and its relation to decision making in urban communities, political behavior and perceptions in cities and towns, urban housing dilemmas, urban ecosystems and land use, and public policy related to environmental issues. The concentration also examines policy issues in areas such as immigration, population, gender equality, and organized religion in contemporary politics.
- Discover the approaches used by social work professionals in assessing and meeting the needs of increasingly diverse, complex, and complicated populations. This concentration builds upon basic social work skills to enhance your understanding about the changing concepts, terms, and theories in the field and practice of social work. Learn interviewing and counseling techniques, conflict resolution in contemporary urban settings, problems faced by youth in urban societies, the formation of policies concerning delinquency, and public policy relating to cultural diversity.
Explore sample courses in this program. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
UR-150 Introduction to City Research
An introduction to various forms of quantitative and qualitative research processes that are employed to explore city systems, histories, and groups. Students develop their skills in an urban studies lab, the city.
3 credits
UR-201 Introduction to Urban Policy
An introduction to the analysis of activities, programs, and policies designed to sustain and enhance the livability of an urban environment.
3 credits
UR-221 Introduction to Social Work
An introduction to the changing concepts, terms, and theories about the field and practice of social work, how social workers interact with individuals and society, and the different roles social workers play in our diverse, ever changing society.
3 credits
UR-232 Quantitative Analysis of Urban Problems
An exploration of methods for developing and examining quantitative information, widely used by planning practitioners and often structuring how issues are framed for public/private discussions and policy decisions.
3 credits
UR-250 Introduction to Urban Planning
An exploration of planning theory, dynamics, and practice, and how they form the modern urban planning agenda.
3 credits
UR-270 Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations
An exploration of the not-for-profit sector—nonprofit organizations and public organizations—and the macro-environment within which it operates. The course explores traditional and popular approaches to leadership and the application of these theories in the not-for-profit world.
3 credits
UR-280 The Queer City
A study of same-sex sexualities, across cultures and throughout time. Students learn to think critically about the role of culture and society in the construction of genders and sexualities worldwide, with an emphasis on urban contexts.
3 credits
UR-347 Refugees in American Society
An assessment of the place of refugees in United States cities, historically and currently. The course critically examines experiences of refugees in the U.S., relevant policies, and debates circulating about refugee settlement and asylum in the U.S.
3 credits