Urban Studies & Design Course Information
The Urban Studies Minor has been temporarily suspended
Urban Studies Course Information
George Wittenberg, Program Director
Urban Studies is an academic field that examines how urban areas work, how they are planned and designed, how cities contribute to civilization, and how people, government and institutions serve or detract from the goals/possibilities of high population densities. Urban issues which the program studies include urban democracy and citizen participation, local government structure and policy making, metropolitan planning, land use and economic development policy, intergovernmental relationships, urban demographics and population movement including neighborhood growth and decline, urban and social history, geography and spatial form, and physical design.
The Urban Studies minor at UALR is designed to develop the critical thinking skills of students, preparing them for the workplace and graduate school. The minor encourages student internships and service learning opportunities as ways to immediately apply academic learning and critical thinking skills and to gain the practical experience and necessary contacts for the workplace.
The Urban Studies minor is joined to an Urban Design mission that works directly on projects in the areas of community development, small town assistance, and downtown and neighborhood planning. Students are encouraged to participate in these various design projects, incorporating their critical faculties and substantive learning.
These courses have been temporarily suspended.
Minor in Urban Studies
Required courses in Urban Studies: (3 hours)
URST 3305 Study of the City
Three courses (9 hours) from the following:
URST 4305 Urban Design
URST/POLS 4355/5355 Urban Planning and Land Use
URST/POLS 4356/5356 Urban Government and Policy
URST/POLS 4308/5308 Topics in Urban Studies
Two courses (6 hours) from the following (with coordinator’s approval)
POLS 3348 Internship I or POLS 4348 Internship II
URST 4302 Independent Study
POLS 3350 Arkansas Government and Politics
POLS 4343 Seminar in Local Politics
HIST 4359 American Urban History
PADM 3331 Public Administration
GEOG 3320 Urban Geography
SOCI 4332 Population Analysis
PSYC 3308 Urban Environmental Psychology
Courses in Urban Studies (URST)
URST 3305 Study of the City
Investigation of the city from the vantage of time (ancient to modern) and various academic disciplines, such as politics, sociology, anthropology, and history. Course explores the function of cities, both the changing and constant meaning of cities for humankind, and compares the modern American urban experience with others. Course offers methodological and substantive urban perspectives. Three credit hours.
URST 4302 Independent Study
Prerequisite: consent of the instructor. Focuses multidisciplinary backgrounds on the problem of the urban area. Projects reflect interests and career objectives along with departmental objectives. Three credit hours.
URST 4305 Urban Design
Analyzes the evolution of the physical city with particular focus on issues surrounding livability. The planning and urban design factors which have influenced the city’s growth and change through time will also be emphasized. Three credit hours.
URST 4308/5308 Topics in Urban Studies
In-depth analysis of selected urban topics and themes. Course emphasizes multidisciplinary nature of urban issues and various approaches used to characterize, investigate and understand urban phenomena. Three credit hours.
URST 4355/5355 Urban Planning and Land Use
A view of urban planning and land use from critical, analytical urban studies perspective. The course inquires into the meaning of planning for communities and cities. Course uses case studies to explore positive and negative impacts of planning technique and professionalism. Considers historical and modern alternatives to planning and subsequent land use and how urban planning and land use relate to quality of urban life. Three credit hours.
URST 4356/5356 Urban Policy and Government
Course explores urban policy-making and urban government from a critical, analytical urban studies perspective. Considers historical and modern variations of urban government and intergovernmental relations and how this relates to urban policy making, political will and quality of urban life issues. Three credit hours.