Graduate Program in Urban Studies

Application deadline: Rolling admissions

The Master of Science degree program in Urban Studies is designed to prepare students for professional practice and responsible roles in the broad range of governmental and private sector activities including: city planning and urban development, urban government management, human resource services, urban education, inter-group relations, and community development. Urban Studies at Southern Connecticut State University provides a high caliber of quality education to undergraduate and graduate students through study, practice, and research, and to engage the local community in an increasingly globalized and urbanized world.

The Urban Studies program provides participants with a systematic, critical overview of contested ideas, concepts, principles and practices which are relevant to the understanding and promotion of co-existence and social justice in an increasingly diverse urban context. The program aims to equip students with the tools and techniques of appropriate urban policy and planning, which are culturally relevant, embracing community level collaboration and positive responses to cultural group conflict in differentiated cities. The Urban Studies program is multidisciplinary in nature, drawing on numerous bodies of knowledge and academic departments. The Urban Studies program is designed to enable students to evaluate and integrate knowledge, skills, values and ethics, and to impart tools for scholarship, critical thinking and leadership emanating from the educational process and experience.

The Urban Studies program offers students several areas of concentration: Urban Planning and Management, Urban Management, and Urban Education. There is also an Interdisciplinary option within Urban Studies. Joint degree programs with Social Work and Environmental Education are available. Please consult with the Director of Urban Studies for various program options.

Program requirements — 36 credits
Students may choose from the following courses with the approval of the Program Director.

URB 550 — Ethnicity and the American Society

URB 551 — Urbanization and the American Society

URB 552 — Public Policy Analysis

URB 553 — City Planning and the Urban Process

URB 554 — Urban Design and Land Development

URB 555 — Land Use Planning: Problems and Prospects

URB 556 — Education in the Urban Community

URB 559 — Application of Public Policy Research in Urban Affairs

URB 560 — Ethnic Realities in the American Community

URB 597 — Housing in an Urban Society

URB 598 — Seminar in Urban Affairs

URB 600 — Directed Independent Study

Master's Thesis
Thesis Seminar (URB 590) and Thesis — 6 credits

Special Project
In lieu of the thesis, the student enrolls in URB 600 — Independent Study and completes a research project as part of the independent study.

URBAN STUDIES COURSES

URB 552 — Public Policy Analysis
An examination of the basic governmental, political, financial, and structural issues in developing and deciding policy in the public arena. State statutes, organizational frameworks and the overt and covert forces in policy analysis will be presented. Scheduled fall semesters. 3 credits.

URB 553 — City Planning and the Urban Process
Analysis of basic city planning principles and their relationship to urban development and sprawl. Environmental, physical, legal, statutory and economic issues in city planning and their impact on urban problems and solutions will be covered. Presentation of actual planning tools and techniques, including planning and zoning procedures. Scheduled fall semesters. 3 credits.

URB 554 — Urban Design and Land Development
The social purposes, economic processes, and cultural imperatives that shape the design renewal of American cities. Scheduled spring semesters of even years. 3 response to ethnicity, cultural heritage, and inter-group relations in a pluralistic society. Scheduled spring semesters. 3 credits.

URB 555 — Land Use Planning: Problems and Prospects

Examination of basic land use issues and the conflicting forces involved in use and reuse of land development. Actual land use problems will be examined within the context of statutory authority, envrionmental restraints, and political realities. Scheduled spring semesters of odd years. 3 credits.

URB 556 — Education in the Urban Community

Analysis of the manner in which educaton is organized and functions with regard to issues of social, economic, and cultural stratification. Assessment of the way education has portrayed urbanization and notions of urban communities. The challenge for educators and planners is to make education a space of opportunity despite the barriers explored in this course. 3 credits.

URB 559 — Application of Public Policy Research in Urban Affairs

Evaluation research studies as applied to programs in urban affairs. Scheduled spring semesters. 3 credits.

URB 560 — Ethnic Realities in the American Community

Application of social theory and practice affecting institutional and individual response to ethnicity, cultural heritage, and inter-group relations in a pluralistic society. Scheduled spring semesters. 3 credits.

URB 590 — Thesis in Urban Studies

For thesis students only. Prerequisite: department permission. Scheduled fall and spring semesters. 6 credits.

URB 597 — Housing in An Urban Society

Social, political, and economic elements affecting the urban-suburban housing market. National local needs, policy formulation, federal programs, private planning, costs and finances. Scheduled fall semesters. 3 credits.

URB 598 — Seminar in Urban Affairs

Analysis of urban and regional issues and the implications to today's society. The relationship of the central city to the suburbs and the region, growth issues, and the conflicting forces will be examined. Involvement in current urban affairs. Scheduled spring semesters. 3 credits.

URB 600 — Directed Independent Study

For special projects, not to be taken in conjunction with thesis. Prerequisite: department permission. Scheduled fall and spring semesters. 3 credits.