Urban Studies

Urban Studies involves exploring the ways we organize our lives together in places, both urban and rural, as well as how we produce, understand, represent and engage such places and landscapes in our daily lives. In the broadest sense, it is the study of the patterns, qualities and consequences of human settlements, as built environments and as social, cultural, economic and political structures — all with profound implications for the way humans organize their interactions with natural systems of the planet. Neighborhoods, towns, cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions are the immediate contexts in which we work toward a diverse and just society, and they are the practical sites where we are compelled to confront many of the most central social, political, economic and environmental challenges of the day.

Whether planning recreational space along Florida’s Gulf Coast, or addressing the problems homeless in our local community or examining the historic urbanization of other cultures, you will learn from and contribute to the city as a vital part of modern human life. You will also develop a strong background in the tools and perspectives of social science and the humanistic disciplines as they relate to an understanding of human communities, as well as a background in the natural sciences associated with the core requirements in Environmental Studies. You will then apply this training in a hands-on fashion to investigate and seek solutions for a type of environmental problem that interests you.

Graduates of our program choose a diverse array of fields. Careers in law, planning, and sustainable development are the most common, but graduates have also gone on to become healthcare CEOs, educators, and magazine publishers. One is even a professor of graphic design who looks at the intersections of rural and urban as expressed through graphic, architectural, and urban design.