Planning

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning offers an interdisciplinary preprofessional undergraduate major designed to prepare students for careers in both the public and private sectors. The major also provides a foundation for students who are considering graduate work in law, public policy, international development, urban design, management, and planning. The subjects in the major teach students how the tools of economics, policy analysis, political science, and urban design can be used to solve social and environmental problems in the United States and abroad. In addition, students learn the skills and responsibilities of planners who seek to promote effective and equitable social change. After satisfying the core requirements, students use their electives to pursue a specific track. We suggest one of the following, but will accept self-designed options to better meet a student's interest: urban and environmental policy and planning; urban society, history, and politics; or urban and regional public policy. The required laboratory emphasizes urban information systems and offers skills for measurement, representation, and analysis of urban phenomena. In the laboratory subject, students also explore the ways emerging technology can be used to improve government decision making. Students are encouraged to develop a program that will strengthen their analytic skills, broaden their intellectual perspectives, and test these insights in real-world applications. Students must complete a senior project that synthesizes what they have learned. This project may consist of an analysis of a public policy issue, a report on a problem-solving experience from an internship or other field experience, or a synthesis of research on urban affairs. Undergraduate Course 11 majors may apply for admission to the department's Master in City Planning (MCP) program in their junior year . Students accepted into the five-year program receive both the Bachelor of Science...