UNDERGRADUATE BULLETIN 1999 - 2002	[ Previous Page | Table of Contents | Next Page ]

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 phenomenon. 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 http://www.pitt.edu/~cities/.

• Major Requirements

  The urban studies major requires 33 credits, distributed as follows:

  • URBNST 0080 (Introduction to Urban Studies)
  • Eighteen upper-level credits approved by the department, to be chosen in consultation with the Urban Studies Coordinator, from one of four possible areas:
    • Urban Planning
    • Urban Management
    • Community Organization
    • Comparative Urbanism
      Recommended course sequencing for each area is available in the Urban Studies Program Office.
  • URBANST 1300 (Urban Studies Research and Presentations Skills Seminar)
  • URBANST 1500 (Urban Studies Research Seminar)
  • URBANST 1900 (Urban Studies Field Placement)
  • Either STAT 0200 (Basic Applied Statistics) or 1000 (Applied Statistical Methods) is strongly recommended but not required.
  • URBST 1200 (Field Research Seminar) is not required but fills the elective requirement. This seminar is offered only in the summer.

• Urban studies majors must also follow these rules and requirements:
  • Students are encouraged to take URBANST 0080 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 QPA in all courses to be used for the major.
  • Students may take as many courses on the S/N basis as they wish.
  • URBNST 1300, which is required for the major, satisfies the W-Course requirement.
  • Students are required by CAS 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.

UNDERGRADUATE BULLETIN 1999 - 2002	[ Previous Page | Table of Contents | Next Page ]