URBST-BA - Urban Studies (BA)
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Program Overview
The Program on Urban Studies treats urbanism as an interdisciplinary field; it brings together students, faculty, and outside specialists concerned with cities and the impacts of cities on society and people’s lives. The Urban Studies major encourages students to inquire deeply into the nature of cities and the techniques used to modify urban environments. It prepares students to address urbanization, and gives students a knowledge base and theoretical, analytical, and practical skills to understand urban social systems and effect social change.
Mission of the Undergraduate Program on Urban Studies
Cities are now home to more than half of humanity. The mission of the undergraduate Program on Urban Studies aims to develop students' understanding of the nature of cities and their impact on the world. The dynamic and complex nature of cities challenges traditional disciplinary boundaries, so the program is interdisciplinary, drawing from fields in the social sciences, the humanities, engineering, and education. Courses in the program focus on issues in contemporary urban society and the forces and practices that shape urban life. Courses also address how cities have changed over time and how they continue to change today in cultures around the world. Through a comprehensive program that includes course work, community engagement, and independent research, a major in Urban Studies prepares students for careers and graduate study in fields including architecture, business, education, environmental planning, law, public policy, real estate development, social services, urban design, and urban planning. It also prepares students to be critical thinkers, engaged citizens, and informed leaders who can help to transform cities for the better.
Preparing for the Major
Declaring the Major
Students interested in declaring Urban Studies as a major must meet first with the co-director or another of the program’s advisors; they then declare the Urban Studies major on Axess.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
19 units in the core
9 units (minimum) of skills courses in at least three courses of three units each
20 units (minimum) in an area of concentration (see Depth section)
3 units (minimum) of an internship or Cardinal service-learning course approved by Urban Studies to meet this requirement
10 units in the capstone sequence (see Capstone section)
If units in these categories total less than 70, the remaining units may be fulfilled by courses in other concentrations or Urban Studies courses numbered 100 or higher (except course, Community-Engaged Scholar's Program Seminar or course Senior Honors Thesis).
Majors must complete one prerequisite: course Principles of Economics. This prerequisite course may be taken S/NC, as the units for this course do not count toward the 70 units required for the major. course, Senior Research in Public Service, course Senior Honors Thesis, and prerequisites for required courses and electives also do not count towards the 70-unit minimum.
Urban Studies students interested in graduate school in business or urban planning are advised to obtain basic quantitative skills by completing course Calculus, course Calculus, and course Calculus, preferably before the junior year.
A course in statistical methods, such as course Introduction to Statistical Methods: Precalculus, course Introduction to Statistical Methods (Postcalculus) for Social Scientists, or course Data Science for Politics, is recommended for students interested in business or urban planning.
Urban Studies students are encouraged to spend at least one quarter studying overseas to learn how cities vary across societies. Some Urban Studies concentration courses and electives can be satisfied at Stanford’s overseas campuses. Courses offered overseas differ from year to year, and students should check in advance with Overseas Studies and Urban Studies concerning which courses meet Urban Studies requirements. Students may arrange to fulfill the service learning requirement through an internship placement at one of Stanford’s overseas locations.
Courses counted toward the 70-unit graduation requirement for the major must be taken for a letter grade, and a minimum grade of C is required. The only exceptions are Urban Studies courses numbered 100 and higher offered only on an S/NC basis, such as course Capstone Internship in Urban Studies. Students may count up to three non-Stanford courses, for a maximum of 15 units, toward the major. These units must first be approved by the Office of Transfer Credit in the Registrar’s Office and subsequently approved by the Urban Studies program. Transfer credit is not awarded for an internship. Students may not count more than five units of course Directed Reading toward the major without permission of the Director.
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The additional skills courses vary depending on a student's needs and interests. Students consult with an advisor to determine the best choice.
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Urban Studies students must participate in a community-engaged learning experience as part of their study. Students can fulfill this requirement in one of four ways:
Enroll in an approved course such as those listed above.
Complete an independent internship with a government agency or non-profit/community organization relevant to the major while enrolled in course Capstone Internship in Urban Studies before autumn quarter of the senior year.
Conduct research with the guidance of a faculty mentor, or
Complete Haas Center for Public Service requirements for the Cardinal Service notation.
Students planning to participate in an internship should consult with the Urban Studies Co-Director no later than winter quarter of their junior year and complete the internship before autumn quarter of their senior year or three quarters before graduation. Students who intern for a private sector organization may receive credit for course, but cannot use course credits to meet the capstone requirement. Urban Studies majors who wish to receive academic credit for additional internship work may enroll in course. Students may not count more than seven units of internship credit toward their major, including course Internship in Urban Studies and course Capstone Internship in Urban Studies. Students can consult the Haas Center for Public Service for other courses with internship placements at community organizations.
Not all Haas Center fellowships or Cardinal Courses automatically fulfill the Urban Studies major community-engaged learning requirement. Other classes with a significant community-engaged learning component may count towards the requirement. Requests should be submitted through the course substitution petition and approved by the Program Co-Director. Before enrolling in the course, we recommend that you confirm whether it can meet the community-engaged learning component.
Global Urban Culture and History
Race, Ethnicity, and Urban Life
Urban Education
Urban Society and Social Change
Urban Sustainability
Self-Designed
Courses may not be double-counted within the major.
Students should consult an advisor to develop a program that meets their academic goals; relevant courses not listed here may be counted toward the concentration with the prior consent of an advisor.
These pathways are declared to the department; they are not declared on Axess and do not appear on the transcript or diploma.
Approximately half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the proportion grows every day. Urban issues cannot be understood in the context of a single nation or a single moment in time. This concentration draws on disciplinary approaches, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, and history, to help students understand how cities have developed and relate to each other today. By placing urban issues in perspective, students improve their comprehension of the United States, the world, and the present and the past.
Students in this pathway are encouraged to study off-campus, preferably overseas, for at least one quarter. Many courses offered through the Overseas Studies Program can be counted toward the concentration. Similarly, internships offered at many of Stanford’s overseas locations can be used to fulfill the Urban Studies internship requirement.
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Race and ethnicity are central organizing categories shaping virtually every aspect of city life. This concentration focuses on race and ethnicity’s role in city formation, development, and change. Through a range of courses from across the university, students engage with how race and ethnicity shape where people live; relationships with law enforcement; neighborhood change; access to institutions; local politics; social movements; identity formation; and health care access; and health outcomes, among other themes.
Students who elect this pathway will come away with the analytical tools to assess the causes and consequences of racial and ethnic inequality in cities and to make informed judgments about which policies bring about racial and ethnic justice.
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CSRE 100 - formerly CSRE 196C
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Providing education that is both high in quality and fair to all is one of the most significant challenges facing cities today. This pathway prepares students for careers in educational policy and practice. It is a popular choice for students who the Stanford School of Education has admitted to pursue a coterminal master’s degree in the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) or the Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies Program (POLS). Stanford undergraduates can apply to the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) in their junior or senior year.
Coterminal students applying to STEP are encouraged to take course Introduction to Teaching and Learning before applying. Additionally, students interested in STEP Secondary (Single Subject) must demonstrate subject matter competency in their intended teaching area. Transcripts should reflect coursework in the intended teaching subject, even if it were not a student’s undergraduate major.
For additional information, contact the STEP Admissions Officer at 723-2110, or consult the STEP website.
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Many students are drawn to Urban Studies by their desire to understand and address the unique problems confronting cities today. This pathway focuses on issues in contemporary urban society and the tools and concepts that can bring about change to improve urban life. Courses focus on diverse issues, from public health crises to racial and class inequality. Students also learn how community action, urban planning and design, and organizations in nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors address these challenges. This concentration prepares students to enter graduate programs concerned with urban affairs, community service, and public policy and to work with local governmental agencies and for-profit and nonprofit organizations engaged in community service and development.
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The Urban Sustainability pathway provides the basis for a holistic understanding of cities through the lens of environmental and social sustainability. By combining coursework in urban studies, history, sociology, and design with the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), students in the Urban Sustainability concentration are exposed to the environmental and infrastructural aspects of cities, as well as to issues of human development, public policy, and social equity.
Students in the pathway acquire a foundation in sustainability concepts and skills for research and professional practices. The Urban Sustainability concentration helps prepare students to serve as social change agents in future roles as scholars, urban planners, designers, entrepreneurs, public servants, and advocates to address the most pressing issues of urban development and its human impacts in cities worldwide.
The following courses may be counted toward the Urban Sustainability Pathway. Students must select at least one course from each of the following categories:
Environmental sustainability
Social sustainability
Project-based courses.
Students interested in pursuing the pathway in urban sustainability should meet with an Urban Studies advisor to determine an appropriate course of study.
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Environmental sustainability refers to the biosphere, environmental planning and policy, natural resource planning and development, sustainable building design, and urban infrastructure systems.
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Social sustainability refers to land use planning and its human impacts, distribution of public goods, human-centered design, human and community development, citizen participation, and social equity.
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Project-based courses enable students to work on a real-life urban sustainability issue in collaboration with local and international community partners. Students grapple with sustainability concepts while practicing community engagement and capacity building, fluency in cross-cultural collaboration, human-centered design thinking, and developing a sense of one’s place in relation to global society and the praxis of urban sustainability.
The self-designed portion of the major should concentrate on a particular area of urban study, such as urban health care or urban technologies. Additional units must be approved by the Director of Urban Studies and an academic advisor who is a member of the Academic Council and has expertise in the particular area of interest to the student. A proposal for a self-designed concentration should include a list of courses and a description of how each course meets the student’s educational objectives. A proposal for a self-designed concentration must be accompanied by a letter to the Director of Urban Studies indicating that the academic advisor has examined and approved the student’s plan.
Students pursuing a self-designed pathway must submit proposals for approval by the Director of Urban Studies by the beginning of the third quarter of the student’s sophomore year. Applications received after that deadline are not considered. Students interested in designing their concentration are strongly encouraged to meet with the Director of Urban Studies before the end of autumn quarter of their sophomore year.
The Bing Overseas Studies Program (BOSP) manages Stanford international and domestic study away programs for Stanford undergraduates. Students should consult their department or program's student services office for applicability of Overseas Studies courses to a major or minor program.
The BOSP course search site displays courses, locations, and quarters relevant to specific majors.
For course descriptions and additional offerings, see the listings in the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses, Stanford Navigator, or Bing Overseas Studies.
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All majors are required to complete a sequence of two seminars, totaling ten units, in which students design a senior project and write the results of their project. The capstone seminars can be used to satisfy the Writing in the Major requirement.
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All majors are required to complete a sequence of two seminars, totaling ten units, in which students design a senior project and write the results of their project. The capstone seminars can be used to satisfy the Writing in the Major requirement and to complete some work on an honors thesis. course Junior Seminar: Preparation for Research should be taken in the junior year, and course Senior Seminar in the senior year. Students who plan to be away during winter quarter of their junior year are advised to take course Junior Seminar: Preparation for Research in winter quarter of their sophomore year.
The honors program offers qualified students an opportunity to conduct independent research and to write a thesis summarizing the results. Before being accepted to the honors program in Urban Studies, a student must:
Declare a major in Urban Studies and complete at least 30 of the 70 required units, including all prerequisites and core classes
Complete course Junior Seminar: Preparation for Research (offered winter quarter)
Have an overall GPA of 3.3 and a GPA of at least 3.5 in Urban Studies
Submit an application to the program office no later than April 30 of the junior year, including a one-page abstract and the signatures of an advisor and, if applicable, a second reader; the Director must then approve it for the Urban Studies honors program
If the advisor is not a Stanford Academic Council member, the student must have a second reader who is an Academic Council member.
Honors students are expected to complete some of their honors work in course Senior Seminar. Additionally, they must register for 5-10 units total in course Senior Honors Thesis over their senior year. The units of course Senior Honors Thesis are in addition to the 70 units required for the major. Honors students must present their theses at the Senior Colloquium in spring quarter of the senior year.
To graduate with honors, students must receive a grade of at least A- in the honors work and a GPA of at least 3.5 in courses for the Urban Studies major at graduation.
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