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Global Urban Studies/Urban Systems Core Requirements (9 credits)
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26:977:616
Urban Theory and the Contemporary City (3)
This course surveys the work of thinkers who have shaped modern and contemporary urbanism, including critics, planners, architects, sociologists, anthropologists, activists, and geographers. The emphasis is on theoretical texts from the late 19th century to the early 21st century that have had a significant influence on the spatial and social development of cities--in their cores and their peripheries. These texts are also examined within the context of key socio-economic, cultural, political, and demographic developments, including industrialization, post-industrialization, capitalism, Marxism, colonialism, decolonization, war, segregation, im/migration, neoliberalism, gentrification, globalization, and information technologies. Theoretical texts are paired with case studies that offer students the opportunity to explore the relationship between urban thought and urban action, using diverse and global examples from the mid-20th century to the present. Weekly meetings include lectures and discussions and regular student presentations. This course is reading, writing, and research intensive.
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26:977:618
Urban Governance in Global Perspective (3)
This course examines the theory and practice of governance--the interactions of state and non-state actors in decision-making, problem identification, program development, and implementation. It considers theoretical approaches for studying the balance of power in cities, as well as analyzing who takes part in decision-making and how; how, why, and when policies and programs change; which voices and actors experience marginalization and exclusion and why. Course readings consider how and whether governance theories and practices travel across space, for example from Global North to South and vice versa, or across various regions. The course pays particular attention to the roles of NGOs both locally and through national and international networks in policy change and implementation. Students apply theoretical and empirical literature to urban issues of their choosing in sites of their choosing.
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26:977:622
Producing Place: Theories and Concepts in Urban Geography (3)
At its heart, urban geography is about place-making. As a discipline, urban geography draws on a broad range of scholarly fields in the social sciences and humanities to examine how spatial processes, embodiments, mobility and affect shape the built environment. While urban geographers approach these questions from a variety of angles, in this course we will focus on the symbolic, affective and discursive creation of cities as places of meaning, of socio-spatial inclusion and exclusion, everyday life and spatial experience. This course presents its theories and concepts on three levels. First, it engages students with some of the classic theoretical texts about how cities are experienced, focusing on issues of embodiment, mobility, and the habitus of space, including texts by Michel de Certeau (Walking in the City), Pierre Bourdieu (Outline of a Theory of Practice), Jane Jacobs (The Death and Life of Great American Cities), David Harvey (The Right to the City), Henri Lefebvre (Rhythmanalysis), and Gernot Böhme (Atmospheres). Second, it examines concepts currently used by urban geographers to think about how cities and their inhabitants' situational identities are delineated, including limits and margins, the phenomenology of space, sound environments, mapping, mobility, embodiment, and more. Third, it surveys specific case studies in which scholars have applied these concepts to real-world examples in global cities.
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Global Urban Studies/Urban Systems Research Methods Core (14 credits)
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26:977:TBD;48:977:791
Urban Systems Colloquium (1)
This course discusses and reviews degree requirements and current research activities in the subject area of Urban Systems. Students are required to participate in two one-credit colloquia.
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49:977:631
Quantitative Methods I (3)
This is an advanced course in quantitative social science research methods. Together, the students and instructor will critically examine a large number of peer-reviewed journal articles with the goal of enhancing each student's understanding of the logic and application of quantitative research methods.
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26:977:620
Qualitative Methods I (3)
This course introduces the history, philosophy, and methods of qualitative research. By examining critically the evolution of qualitative methodology, forms of qualitative research, ways to conduct and report qualitative inquiry, as well as examples and critiques of qualitative studies, you will understand how to choose a qualitative method for your research inquiry.
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26:977:621
Qualitative Methods II (3)
In this doctoral-level course, through the readings, assignments, and discussions, students: (1) study different qualitative inquiry approaches; (2) create a rationale for a qualitative inquiry that will be the basis for the dissertation study (or a hypothetical one), by developing a qualitative research design, including data production, data analysis and representation, and validation; and (3) use information and communication technologies (ICT) for producing, analyzing, and presenting qualitative data. Students produce data from a focus group interview and interpret it using content or another discourse analytic technique.
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26:977:624
Applied Quantitative Methods (3)
This course will discuss survey research methodology and secondary data analysis. Basic computational methods for analysis will be taught alongside a strongly tailored emphasis on individual projects with concrete analyses from empirical, quantitative data sources. We will incorporate a larger discussion of survey and sampling methodology as well. Depending on our needs, we may incorporate how to clean and manage data and workflow. Students will use the statistical package STATA, available on lab PCs and through remote access.
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26:977:TBD
Ethnographic and Qualitative Field Research Methods (3)
This course is a graduate-level introduction to studying and writing about the world ethnographically. Because it relies on the method of "participant observation," ethnography may appear to be an easy task. We spend our whole lives embedded in and thinking about our social worlds; how hard can it be to participate and observe? But, while the work of ethnography relies on our basic abilities as social beings, it has broader aims that require theoretical and methodological understanding, as well as practice: to understand how human communities work, and to translate and make those communities comprehensible both to ourselves and to others who stand outside those communities.
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48:977:613
Research Methods for Environmental Design (3)
This course focuses on the understanding and application of a variety of research methods used in architectural and urban research that could be used to make design choices and recommendations. Our purpose is to understand these methods and to learn to use them through hands-on exercises. A key focus throughout the course is developing and examining the logical connections between: given research question or research objective, the method devised to address the questions or objectives and the interpretation of findings.
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20:834:561
Applied Statistics (3)
Statistical tools and techniques used to inform policy analysis and management decision-making. Covers descriptive statistics, graphing data, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, correlation cross-tabulation, mean comparison with significance testing, and an introduction to multivariate linear regression. Encourages hands-on work with real data, use of statistical software, and the effective presentation of statistical information.
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20:834:562
Applied Research Design
Covers issues central to understanding and conducing applied policy and management research. These issues include identifying research questions, developing logic models, selection of appropriate quantitative methods, measuring outcomes, survey research and other sources of primary and secondary data, experimental and non-experimental strategies for evaluating programs, and the ethical and political issues involved in producing and using evidence to inform policy and practice.
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26:220:507
Econometrics (3)
Econometrics, literally "economic measurement," is a branch of economics that attempts to quantify theoretical relationships. This course presents topics in econometrics including a classical linear regression model and some advance topics. This course will have both theoretical and applied econometrics components. There will be a focus on using econometrics software in estimating econometrics models learned during the semester and interpreting the results. Students will also learn to read journal articles applying various econometric models and presenting the findings.
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20:834:561
Data Analysis for Decision Making (3)
(Through School of Public Affairs and Administration)
This course covers the essentials of research design, methods of data collection, and data analysis tools for policy evaluation and management decision-making. The course trains students in data visualization, descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and correlation and regression analysis. The course encourages hands-on work with real data, use of statistical software, and the effective presentation of graphical and numerical results.
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20:834:518
GIS for Public and Nonprofit (3)
This course introduces geographic information systems (GIS), applied visual data systems and analytics and its use in the public and non-profit sectors. Students will learn database management and design and digital cartography using popular GIS software, and how to combine the two to enhance analytic capacity. Integrating database management and spatial analysis allows students to go beyond simple mapping exercises to analyze complex public and nonprofit management problems.
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26:834:607
Quantitative I (3)
This course covers the design, production and analysis of quantitative data for research in public affairs and administration. It reviews quantitative theory and models, measurement, sampling, and the logic of causal inference. The course will focus attention in particular on multiple regression as a tool for data analysis as well as a framework for answering substantive, causal questions. The course will introduce students to some additional multivariate methods, such as reliability analysis, factor analysis, path analysis, and the basics of structural equation modeling. Emphasis will be on the use of statistical software and the interpretation of results, with applications to substantive research questions.
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26:835:608
Quantitative II (3)
This course covers various advanced, multivariate statistical techniques used in public administration and policy research. It begins with regression models for limited dependent variables, i.e., models for nominal outcomes, ordered outcomes, and count outcomes, using maximum likelihood estimation techniques. The course then covers the basics of panel data analyses and selection models. Throughout, students will be given hand-on training in the use of statistical software, the interpretation of results from real data, and the translation of results into useful summaries through tables and figures. Students are encouraged to apply the methods learned to their own datasets, including data from their on- going projects or dissertation research.
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27:202:605
Crime Mapping and GIS for Public Safety (3)
This course is an examination of techniques associated with the collection, display, analysis, and storage of spatial data, and the use of geographic information systems (GIS) for mapping crime patterns and understanding related public safety issues.
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16:920:541-542
Analysis of Sociological Data I and II (3,3)
Application of classical and modern statistical techniques to the analysis of sociological data. Problems of optimal fitting of technique to level and quality of data emphasized. First term: bivariate techniques, up to and including the analysis of variance. Second term: multivariate techniques, multiple regression, and the general linear model. Laboratory exercises required.
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34:970:591
Introduction to Geographic Information Science for Urban Planners (3)
Introduces basic concepts of geographic information science and its computer applications.
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Global Urban Studies/Urban Systems Electives (15 credits)
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26:977:611
History of Urban Education (3)
Provides an examination of the history of urban education in the United States. Through an exploration of the development of urban school systems in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, through the rise and decline of urban schools by the 1960s, to the development of urban educational policies designed to improve urban schools from the 1990s into the 21st century, the course provides a historical foundation for understanding urban educational policy. Among the topics discussed are the urbanization of city education; the rise of bureaucracy and scientific management; the Progressive Era and urban education; suburbanization and its effects on urban schools; desegregation and urban schooling; deindustrialization and its effects on urban schools; issues of equity versus excellence; urban educational reform from the 1990s to the present; issues of race, class, gender, and ethnicity in historical perspective.
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26:977:613
Urban Educational Policy and School Improvement (3)
Provides an overview of major issues and controversies in urban educational policy. Through a historical, sociological, and political analysis of educational problems, the course explores a variety of policy initiatives and reforms, including curriculum and learning standards, school choice, tuition vouchers, charter schools, privatization, and whole school reform. Through an analysis of case studies of urban Abbott districts in New Jersey, including the three state takeover districts--Jersey City, Paterson, and Newark--this course provides prospective administrators with an understanding of the complexities of urban school reform and improvement.
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26:977:617
Globalization, International Migration, and Contemporary Cities (3)
his course focuses on how global processes affect both the form and function of cities in the United States and worldwide. It examines the cultural, social, economic, and spatial features of cities in historical and comparative contexts. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it will analyze theories of international migration and globalization, as well as how urban governance and built systems can create and limit opportunities for various individuals and collectives in cities. The course will investigate what characteristics of global processes affect cities, how they operate in historical context, how urban actors respond, and what benefits and problems they may produce in contemporary cities. Using theories developed in interdisciplinary fields such as sociology, anthropology, political science, geography, urban studies, health, and environment, the students will learn to apply concepts and methods from more than one social science discipline to analyze urban issues and problems. Readings will draw from specific case studies of cities from countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
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26:977:619
Race, Place, and Space
In this seminar, we start with the basic premise that race matters. How do we understand the relationship between race, space, and power? How have complex dynamics of race shaped urban transformations and temporalities? How has the production of racial difference shaped our own experiences and relationships to urban space? Together we will survey the literature in urban studies, political science, sociology, critical geography, ethnic studies, anthropology, and other disciplines to explore how race and racialization processes are articulated in the production of urban life and entangled with other structures including class, gender, sexuality, nation, and colonialism. Topics include but are not limited to spatial segregation and urban renewal, slow violence and ecological degradation, displacement and gentrification, criminalization and immigrant detention, urban sanctuary and abolitionist futures.
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26:977:624
Foundations of Social Theory (3)
This course provides a graduate level introduction to the works of the classical theorists who laid the foundations for modern social thought with additional coverage of theorists who have developed and expanded upon classical theoretical themes. Students will acquire competence in concepts, methods and critical visions of modernity that are the lingua franc across many otherwise disparate fields in the social sciences today. Major emphasis will be given to the thought of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.
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26:977:635
Postcolonial and Queer Feminist Perspectives on Global Cities (3)
This is an interdisciplinary course that draws on social science and feminist, queer, and trans theoretical perspectives to explore how notions and realities of class, gender, sexualities, gender identities, religious identities, cultural productions, citizenship, inequality, migration and their social and political expressions are deployed, articulated and intertwined in a world structured by postcolonial global capitalism and settler colonialism The course will explore multiple urban contexts both in the global North(s) and the global South(s) and dynamics of transnational migration and diasporas.
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26:977:TBD
Writing the Dissertation Proposal (3)
The course provides doctoral students with a structured process to complete their dissertation proposal. The course provides in-depth discussion and readings on the components of a dissertation proposal, and a workshop setting in which students receive regular feedback from the instructor and from their peers. During the semester they will identify a Dissertation Chair, assemble their committee, draft several versions of the proposal, and practice delivering a verbal presentation in preparation for the proposal defense
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26:220:614
Urban Economics for Global Urban Studies (3)
This course will cover the causes and consequences of urbanization from the point of view of economics. The main goal is to learn how to apply concepts, such as supply and demand, and welfare and utility theory, to understand how and why cities form and grow (or decline or collapse), and the role that government policy plays in the functioning of cities. Students are assumed to have a minimal background in economics and the course will review and cover key economic concepts that they apply to cities. Students are expected to have some basic understanding of statistical analysis, though these concepts.
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48:977:612
Extraordinary Life in the Public Realm (3)
Urban public space is the scene of diverse but largely ordinary activities including all manner of circulation, recreation, athletics and commerce. However, sidewalks and streets, parks and squares also host collective events outside of the everyday routine such as parades, festivals and demonstrations. In this seminar we will examine those events that have either a religious or a political dimension. We will take a historical and an international perspective, drawing from existing scholarship as well as from media accounts in text, photographs and film. We will pay particular attention to the choreography of the event in relation to physical design features of the space, the signs and other items participants carried, what they wore particular movements or gestures they adopted and slogans or songs that were used. All of these features help to bring the event out of the ordinary into the extra-ordinary. Students will make in-class presentations of a particular case of a demonstration parade or festival and will pursue a course-long research project on a topic of their choice.
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URBU 6203
Urban Politics and Program Evaluation (3)
This course is designed to provide students with a framework for understanding program evaluation and facilitating integration of those program evaluations. Content will address the science of evaluation and topics will include goals, methodologies, and standards, and address misconceptions regarding the evaluation process. The emphasis is on practical, ongoing evaluation strategies that involve all program stakeholders, not just evaluation experts.
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26:220:553
Urban Economics (3)
Role of cities in the growth of regions; theories of urban growth; models of urban land use; poverty, housing, crime, and transportation; local government tax and expenditure policy.
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26:220:685
Economics of Immigration and Gender (3)
This course will consist of two parts. The first part of the course will focus on the economics of immigration and the second, on the economics of gender. During the first part, we will begin with a brief history of immigration in the United States, including a contrast of immigration in the early 20th century to current immigration. The course will go into detail on the labor market impact of immigration (both theory and empirics), including the effect of high-skilled immigration, and its impact on citizens' employment and wages. Discussions will also cover immigrant assimilation, ethnic capital, and the generation effect. This course will also focus on immigrant networks, their impact on trade creation, and immigrants' employment and wages. We will also compare and contrast United States immigration to European immigration. If time permits, we will focus on one or two contemporary issues such as illegal immigration, the effect of immigration on housing, and immigration's influence on the recent health care reform. In the second part of this course, we will cover some topics on the economics of gender including the economics of marriage and family, female labor participation in developed countries, and the gender wage gap (including occupational segregation and discrimination). Both theory and empirics will be covered. These topics will also be discussed for immigrants as well as citizens. We will end the semester with a discussion on women's progress in the United States and compare it to the other major European countries.
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26:478:541
Global Political Economy (3)
This course offers a global perspective on long term change in the world economy, and the interaction between countries, regulatory systems and organizations. Attention is especially focused on the dynamics of international trade and investment, including the relationship between trade and economic growth, trade imbalances and protectionism, foreign direct investment and the role of MNCs in the global economy. The role of economic, social and political institutions is also a central feature of our discussion, including the international trading and financial systems, national institutional environments, and the interaction between multinational companies and both the state and multilateral institutions.
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26:735:525
Environmental Conflict (3)
Competition over territory and natural resources often leads to social conflict. This course focuses on the ways power dynamics shape landscapes, cause conflict, and exacerbate problems of ecological scarcity and degradation. Historical and ethnographic case studies illuminate the ways environmental conflicts have been framed by policymakers, social scientists, and people on the ground. These include, for example, the forceful displacement of Native Americans for the creation of national parks in the United States, the seizure of African savannah by British colonialists for large-game hunting preserves, the delimitation of rain forest by states and NGOs for biodiversity protection and ecotourism, and the enforcement of international bans against killing endangered species in regions where poverty is acute. Texts explore influential theories of environmental conflict, such as the "tragedy of the commons," scarcity-induced violence, political ecology, postcolonial mindsets, and overpopulation, as well as scholarly critiques of these perspectives.
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26:790:538
Global Environmental Issues (3)
This is a graduate course focused on the global environmental "problematique" and the ways in which it is being played out in a variety of political and policy arenas. Apart from introducing the student to the concepts and literature in global environmental politics, the course is intended to provide students with insights into:
- the political structure and context of transnational environmental issues;
- the ways in which individuals are implicated in these issues;
- the intergovernmental mechanisms established for addressing environmental problems;
- the treatment of environmental problems that occur in many different places but are not necessarily linked; and transnational environmental activity, including that through social movements, nongovernmental organizations, and corporate actors.
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Dissertation Sequence (16 credits)
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26:977:624
Special Topics: Writing the Dissertation Proposal (3)
The course is designed to provide graduate students with an opportunity to complete their
dissertation proposal. A sophisticated research proposal is one of the most important documents for advancing your degree and career. It offers you the opportunity to hone your thinking and help others assess your project's merit. Writing your proposal can be a daunting exercise, you are forced to challenge your assumptions, showcase your merit as a researcher, and defend your choices. While a strong proposal is critical for your committee to assess your project, your proposal is most importantly your roadmap for actions. It helps you clarify your ideas, eliminate tangents, and set your writing goals. Being logical, knowledgeable, and concise are the keys to craft an articulate proposal.
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26:977:701
Dissertation Research (13)
Students enroll while designing and writing their dissertations, under the supervision of an advisor and committee.
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Programs, Faculty, and Courses 
