Urban Studies Graduate Awards

Students and Alums in Urban Studies are recognized by several different awards:

The Scott Greer Awards

The Scott Greer Awards recognize the contributions of Scott Greer to our knowledge of urban social institutions and to the idea that knowledge can be a means to a humane and democratic society. They recognize former and current students in urban studies whose own contributions reflect the values, goals and high standards he sought in his own career. In honoring these alumni and students, the awards record also the dedication of the Urban Studies Programs to stimulating urban initiatives and research and fostering public leadership

There are three annual awards:

The Scott Greer Award for Postgraduate Contribution to Urban Affairs is awarded to an alumnus for distinguished civic leadership and community practice.

The Scott Greer Award for Postgraduate Achievement in the Study of Urban Social Institutions is awarded to an alumnus whose postgraduate publication, teaching or professional activities have advanced our understanding of urban social institutions, their history, interrelationship, consequences, and change.

The Scott Greer Award for Outstanding Research in Urban Studies recognizes the recent and ongoing superior research of a current student

Dissertation Research Grant Award

This award is intended to help support dissertation research by providing monetary assistance to cover research expenses. Awards may be up to $2,000. All awardees will have the expectation that they present on their research at a USP colloquium during the same academic year that they receive research funds, and to provide a short summary and progress report for the USP newsletter and website. Award decisions are made in April. Recipients will be publicly recognized at the Student Forum conference.

Award Recipients

2011-12 – George Papakis

Dissertation Research Description

Recycling an Old Airport: Fiscal Crisis, Urban Redevelopment and the Politics of Public Space in Contemporary Athens

The dissertation will critique the neoliberal governance policies which underpin the urban development trajectories in Athens, and through a case study it will examine the way forces operating at a variety of geographical scales intersect in the construction of new socioeconomic environments. It will also scrutinize the chosen urban development strategies in the context of the changing national and global competitive conditions, as well as in the context of economic and fiscal crisis, which have allowed the central state to introduce "exceptionality" measures, such as bypassing the city's master-plan, sidestepping existing institutional bodies, and forming new planning and decision-making agencies. This qualitative case study will examine the redevelopment process of the former international airport of Athens.

Utilizing in-depth interviews, content analysis, and archival research, the redevelopment process will be studied through the evaluation of the different planning proposals, the projected strategies for urban economic development, and through the political decision-making process. This dissertation aims to observe and analyze how urban space is produced and transformed in contemporary Athens, particularly after the 1990s, which is when Greece was incorporated deeper into the international institutional structures and the global economy.

Previous Years

2010-11 – Michele Radi

2010-11 – Karen Moore

2009-10 – Michael Lorr

2009-10 – Qiang Zhou

Honorary Fellows Program

The Honorary Fellows program allows scholars who earned their Ph.D.s in UWM’s Urban Studies Programs to continue working on their research. Scholars who wish to revise their dissertations for publication may find the opportunity to be a USP Honorary Fellow particularly appealing.

USP Honorary Fellows are appointed for a one-year period on the recommendation of the Urban Studies faculty. Benefits include access to the UWM library and computing services and the mentoring of a USP faculty member. The College of Letters and Science will issue a contract to the Honorary Fellow; note that no salary or fringe benefits come with this appointment.

2010-11 Honorary Fellow: Dr. Phyllis M. Santacroce