Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
MAJOR AND MINOR DESCRIPTIONS BY DEPARTMENT
URBAN STUDIES
While urban studies is not a department, it is an administrative unit offering a major in urban studies for students who have an interest in unraveling the complexities of the urban world. The major is interdisciplinary, meaning that students learn about cities as historical, social, cultural, economic, and political phenomena. The major is “real world” in the sense that students apply what they learn to the world beyond the classroom. Finally, the major is career oriented in that, after graduation, students attempt to find roles for themselves in the urban environment. To accomplish all of these goals, the urban studies curriculum integrates “knowing” with “doing.” The major combines courses offered by the program with courses offered through other social science departments. For more information, see www.urbanstudies.pitt.edu.
Major Requirements
The urban studies major requires 33 credits, distributed as follows:
- URBNST 0080 Introduction to Urban Studies
- URBNST 1300 Urban Studies Skills Seminar
- URBNST 1500 Urban Studies Research Seminar
- RBNST 1900 Urban Studies Field Placement - six credits
- Either STAT 0200 Basic Applied Statistics or STAT 1000 Applied Statistical Methods is strongly recommended but not required
- URBNST 1200 Urban Studies Field Research Seminar is not required but fills the elective requirement. This seminar is offered only in the summer.
- URBNST 1700 International Urbanism Seminar is required for comparative urbanism students.
Additional rules and requirements:
- Students are encouraged to take URBNST 0080 Introduction to Urban Studies as
early as possible, ideally in the fall or spring of the freshman year, and to
develop a broad background in the social sciences among lower-level social science
courses such as the following:
- ANTH 0780 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
- AFRCNA 0031 Introduction to Africana Studies
- ECON 0110 Introduction to Macroeconomic Theory
- HIST 0601 United States 1865–Present
- PS 0200 American Political Process
- SOC 0010 Introduction to Sociology
- Students must have at least a 2.00 GPA in all courses to be applied to the major.
- Students may take as many courses on the S/NC basis as they wish.
- URBNST 1500 Urban Studies Research Seminar, which is required for the major, satisfies the W course requirement.
- Students are required by Dietrich School to complete a 12-credit related area. Particularly appropriate areas are sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, Africana studies, and history, although students may consult with their advisor about other possibilities.