Urban Studies Minor

Summer and Fall 2024 Urban Studies Course Offerings can be downloaded here:

To add the Urban Studies Minor, please fill out the Change of Minor Form located on the GES website.

What is the Urban Studies Minor?

The Urban Studies Minor is an 18-credit-hour interdisciplinary program focused on the exploration of cities and urban processes through an array of disciplinary lenses. The program prepares students to better understand the complex challenges presented by urbanization and the rapid pace of change in 21st-century cities. The Urban Studies Minor positions students to be able to effectively address these challenges as both professionals and citizens.

A minor in Urban Studies requires the completion of 18 credit hours from among the following elective courses:

• ANTH 2125 Urban Anthropology (3)
• GEOG 2165 Patterns of World Urbanization (3)
• GEOG 3100 The City and Its Region (3)
• GEOG 3205 Internal Structure of the City (3)
• HIST 3280 Blacks in Urban America (3)
• HIST 3281 American Cities (3)
• POLS 3121 Urban Politics and Policy (3) or GEOG 3110 Urban Political Geography (3)
• SOCY 4125 Urban Sociology (3)
• URBS 2200 Introduction to Urban Studies (3) or GEOG 2200 Introduction to Urban Studies (3)
• URBS 3050 Topics in Urban Studies (3)

Students may also count up to nine (9) credit hours of other courses that have a significant urban focus with the prior permission of the Director of the Minor in Urban Studies (Dr. Katherine Idziorek, kidziorek@uncc.edu).

With prior permission from the Director, students may also select from: URBS 3801 Independent Study in Urban Studies (1-3) and/or URBS 4401 Internship in Urban Studies (3).

Of the total 18 hours, students should take no more than 6 hours of coursework in any one disciplinary area.

What can the Urban Studies Minor do for you?

• Prepares students for careers in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
  A minor in urban studies provides an excellent foundation for students interested in pursuing careers such as architecture, land use or community planning, law, public policy and administration, education, law enforcement, community organizing, transportation, housing and commercial development, real estate, political service, social work, journalism and research.
• Broadens students’ range of analytical tools.
  Students who minor in urban studies will have the opportunity to explore cities through multiple lenses of analysis. A course in architecture exposes students to an urban design perspective; a course in urban politics engages the student in questions of public policy and public service provision, and courses in geography address issues of urban planning and spatial analysis. Courses in history provide temporal context and historical insight while courses in sociology and anthropology introduce students to the social dynamics and cultural complexity of urban life.
• Facilitates exposure to both traditional academic and applied analysis.
  Coursework in urban history, sociology and anthropology introduces students to theory development and evaluation while also building skills of critical thinking and analysis. Coursework in architecture, politics and geography additionally emphasizes the ways in which urban practitioners identify and work to solve urban problems and challenges.
• Enables students to become both generalists and specialists.
  A major in history or anthropology or sociology, for example, provides students with a broad-based social science liberal arts degree, while a minor in urban studies allows further specialization in cities.
• Deepens students’ appreciation and understanding of urban problems and promise.
  Housing, homelessness, sustainable development, urban design, architecture, transportation, poverty, urban health, crime, local government, architectural history, urban sprawl, race relations, urban history, economic restructuring, urban revitalization, and growth management are examples of issues explored in the courses offered within the Urban Studies Minor.
• Prepares students for both professional and civic roles in the improvement of the quality of urban life.
  The interdisciplinary focus of the Urban Studies Minor prepares students to better understand, and to be able to effectively address – as both professionals and citizens – the many challenges presented by the rapid pace of urban change in the 21st century.

Questions?
If you have questions, or if you are interested in enrolling in the Urban Studies Minor, please contact Dr. Katherine Idziorek, Urban Studies Minor Coordinator
Email: kidziorek@uncc.edu
Office: McEniry 311