UWM Undergraduate Catalog 2012-2013
College of Letters and Science
Urban Studies
- Web Home Pages:
- Urban Studies Major
- Urban Studies Certificate
- Courses: Urban Studies (URB STD)
- Faculty
Amanda Seligman, Associate Professor of History, Program Director
James Harris, Ph.D., Associate Director
Bolton Hall, Room 768
Phone: (414) 229-4751
Fax: (414) 229-5942
The urban studies program offers both an undergraduate major through the Committee Interdisciplinary Major and an undergraduate certificate in urban studies. For information on the Urban Studies Certificate, see the L&S Certificate Programs section of this catalog.
The urban studies major provides the opportunity for students to explore scholarship on cities, suburban communities, and metropolitan regions with an interdisciplinary lens. Coursework in the major is drawn from the affiliated areas of geography, history, political science (and courses that formerly were part of political science that are now offered in public administration), sociology, and urban planning, in addition to urban studies. Although interdisciplinary, the discipline of urban studies encompasses a distinct body of knowledge, one that combines both theoretical and applied approaches to understand urban processes. The major is designed to be flexible to allow the student to develop a strong foundation from the core courses and then build a set of elective courses that address particular urban histories and problems from different disciplines, depending on student interest and future goals.
Four required urban studies courses form the foundation of the major: Urb Std 150 Multicultural America, a core course in which students conduct service learning by working in an urban organization or agency; one of two urban studies survey courses; a theory course on urbanism and urbanization; and a capstone course (Urb Std 600) taken in the senior year. Students also take a statistics courses, which is a standard requirement for social science majors. In addition, students complete five elective courses selected from urban studies and approved courses in the affiliated areas. Student internships (Urb Std 289 or 489) are strongly encouraged. Students also are encouraged to participate in and present at various urban studies-sponsored events, such as the annual Urban Studies Student Forum conference and the Henry W. Maier State of Milwaukee Summit, and to contribute to the epolis ejournal (currently, each issue includes one paper from an undergraduate).
Urban Studies prepares students for careers in nonprofit organizations, government, business, education, law, and social work. Students who major in Urban Studies are equipped for graduate study in many fields, including the social sciences and the professional fields of urban planning and law.
To declare a major in Urban Studies, students make an appointment with the Urban Studies Associate Director in order to complete the “declaration of major” form.
Course of Study
The Urban Studies major requires a minimum of 30-31 credits, including at least 18 credits in the College of Letters and Science with coursework from at least two L&S departments. No more than 9 credits in a single curricular area outside of urban studies may count toward the major. Sociol 377, which is jointly offered in the Urb Std curricular area, will count as an Urb Std course for this purpose.
Students must complete at least 15 credits in upper-division (numbered 300 and above) L&S courses for the major in residence at UWM. In addition, students must attain a minimum GPA of 2.5 in all UWM credits attempted for the major. In addition, the College requires that students attain a 2.5 GPA in all major credits attempted, including any transfer work. The following are required.
CORE COURSE: 3 cr.
Urb Std 150 |
Multicultural America, which includes conducting service learning at an urban organization |
3 |
SURVEY COURSE: 3 cr. (one of the following)
Urb Std 250 |
Exploring the Urban Environment |
3 |
| Urb Std 360 | Perspectives on the Urban Scene (any topic) | 3 |
STATISTICS: 3-4 cr. (one of the following)
Geog 247 |
Quantitative Analysis in Geography |
3 |
| Hist 595 | The Quantitative Analysis of Historical Data | 3 |
Pol Sci 390 |
Political Data Analysis |
4 |
| Sociol 261 | Introduction to Statistical Thinking in Sociology | 3 |
THEORY, 3 cr.
| Sociol/Urb Std 377 | Urbanism and Urbanization | 3 |
CAPSTONE, 3 cr.
| Urb Std 600 | Capstone Seminar in Urban Studies (satisfies L&S research requirement) | 3 |
ELECTIVES, 15 cr: Selected from the following courses or other appropriate courses approved by the program director. (No more than nine credits from the same department outside of urban studies may apply to the 30-31-credit minimum in the major.)
| Urb Std | All courses |
| UrbPlan | All courses |
| Geog 114 | Geography of Race in the United States |
| Geog 140 | Our Urban Environment: Introduction to Urban Geography |
| Geog 215 | Introduction to Geographic Information Sciences |
| Geog 440 | City Systems and Metropolitan Development |
| Geog 441 | Geography of Cities and Metropolitan Areas |
| Geog 443 | Cities of the World: Comparative Urban Geography |
| Geog 464 | Environmental Problems |
| Geog 520 | Physical Geography of the City |
| Geog 525 | Geographic Information Science |
| Geog 540 | Globalization and the City |
| Geog 564 | Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice |
| Geog 625 | Intermediate Geographic Information Science |
| Hist 192 | Freshman Seminar: "The 'Burbs': History of the American Suburbs" subtitle |
| Hist 404 | Topics in American History: "Big City Life Viewed Through HBO's The Wire subtitle |
| Hist 436 | Immigrant America Since 1880 |
| Hist 440 | History of the American Working Class |
| Hist 446 | African Americans Since the Civil War |
| Hist 450 | Growth of Metropolitan Milwaukee |
| Hist 460 | The History of Poverty in America |
| Hist 463 | History of the American City |
| Pol Sci 213 | Urban Government and Politics |
| Pol Sci 387 | Seminar in American Politics: "Urban Politics" subtitle |
| Pol Sci 413 | Governing Metropolitan Areas |
| Pol Sci 444 | Politics and Bureaucracy |
| Pol Sci 450 | Urban Political Problems |
| Pol Sci 452 | Administrative Law |
| Pub Adm (Pol Sci) 243 | Public Administration |
| Sociol 193 | Freshman Seminar: "College in the City" subtitle |
| Sociol 224 | American Minority Groups |
| Sociol 235 | Social Change in the Global Economy |
| Sociol 307 | Industrial Sociology |
| Sociol 323 | Perspectives on Latino Communities |
| Sociol 324 | Comparative Race Relations |
| Sociol 325 | Social Change |
| Sociol 330 | Economy and Society |
| Sociol 423 | Immigration and Incorporation: (all topics) |
| Sociol 450 | Environmental Sociology |
| Sociol 472 | Population and Society |
| Sociol 610 | Reproduction of Minority Communities |
Courses (URB STD)
Margo J. Anderson, Prof. Ph.D., History
Rutgers University
Aneesh Aneesh, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
Rutgers University
Joe A. Austin, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History
University of Minnesota
John Bohte, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Public and Nonprofit Administration
Texas A&M University
Anne Bonds, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
University of Washington
Marcus Britton, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
Northwestern University
Noelle Chesley, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
Cornell University
Grace Chikoto, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Public and Nonprofit Administration
Georgia State University
Cary Gabriel Costello, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
Rina Ghose, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Donald E. Green, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of Minnesota
James Harris, Sr. Lect., Ph.D., Urban Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Ryan Holifield, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
University of Minnesota
Douglas M. Ihrke, Prof., Ph.D., Public and Nonprofit Administration
Northern Illinois University
Jennifer R. Jordan, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of California, San Diego
Judith T. Kenny, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
Syracuse University
Marc V. Levine, Prof., Ph.D., History
University of Pennsylvania
Nancy Mathiowetz, Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of Michigan
Genevieve McBride, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Linda McCarthy, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
University of Minnesota
Rhonda Montgomery, Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of Minnesota
Stacey J. Oliker, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of California, Berkeley
Joel Rast, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Political Science
University of Oregon
Kent Redding, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lex Renda, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History
University of Virginia
Joseph A. Rodríguez, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History
University of California, Berkeley
Amanda Seligman, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History, Director
Northwestern University
Paru R. Shah, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Political Science/Latino Studies
Rice University
Heeju Shin, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of Texas at Austin
Robert Smith, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D., History
Bowling Green State University
Kristin Sziarto, Asst. Prof., Ph.D., Geography
University of Minnesota
William Vélez, Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
Yale University
Frank H. Wilson, Prof., Ph.D., Sociology
University of Michigan
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University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Undergraduate Catalog 2012-2013:
Urban Studies
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