Urban Studies

Chair: Leonard S. Rodberg

Graduate Advisor: William A. Muraskin

Department Office: Powdermaker Hall 250, 997-5130

Department Website: http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Degrees/DSS/UrbanStudies

The MA program in urban affairs is designed to prepare the student for professional work and career advancement in the areas of urban and public administration, social policy, and community organization and development. Graduates of the program work in government agencies, community-based and nonprofit organizations, health care and education institutions, and enterprises such as real estate firms concerned with urban issues. Studying with faculty who have extensive knowledge and experience in contemporary urban affairs, students gain training and expertise in the design and administration of programs addressing issues of social and urban policy.

Faculty

Rodberg, Leonard S., Chair, Professor, PhD 1957, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: health policy, employment policy, urban data analysis

Muraskin, William A., Graduate Advisor, Professor, PhD 1970, University of California at Berkeley: social/urban history, health policy, international health

Checker, Melissa, Assistant Professor, PhD 2002, New York University: social movements, urban anthropology, environmental anthropology, race, class, and ethnicity

Davis, Dana, Associate Professor, PhD 2001, City University of New York: urban anthropology, gender, race, public policy, participatory action research, black studies, feminist theory

Hanlon, Martin D., Associate Professor, PhD 1979, Columbia University: health policy, public management, public policy evaluation, workforce issues

Hum, Tarry, Associate Professor, PhD 1996, UCLA: immigrant communities, economic development

Ioannides, Christos, Associate Professor, PhD 1977, University of Pennsylvania: Greek-American community, Greek-American relations

Khandelwal, Madhulika S., Associate Professor, PhD 1992, Carnegie-Mellon University: Asian-American issues, immigrant communities

Lawson, Ronald L., Professor, PhD 1970, University of Queensland, Australia: housing, tenant activism, protest and religious movements, urban sociology

Maskovsky, Jeff, Associate Professor, PhD 2000, Temple University: Urban ethnography, social movements, difference and inequality

Sardell, Alice, Professor, PhD 1980, New York University: health policy, community health planning, urban and community politics

Seley, John E., Professor, PhD 1973, University of Pennsylvania: urban and regional planning, public policy, geography, computer mapping

Smith, Marcia, Associate Professor, DSW 1990, Columbia University: health services and education, social welfare policy, immigration, social work

Steinberg, Stephen, Professor, PhD 1971, University of California at Berkeley: racial and ethnic minorities, public policy, urban sociology

Program for the Master of Arts Degree

Requirements for Matriculation

Applicants must demonstrate aptitude for completing a graduate program in urban affairs either through previous academic performance or through performance in relevant life situations. Applicants’ experience in urban policy or administration or in community service jobs or activities will be evaluated along with the academic record in the admissions decision. Inquiries should be addressed to: Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of Urban Studies.

Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree

Thirty credits are required for the MA degree, including four required courses (12 credits). Students not employed in an urban-related field are encouraged to take 3 to 6 credits of fieldwork. Where appropriate, 3 to 12 graduate credits may be taken in other departments, subject to the approval of the graduate advisor.

Students must submit and obtain approval for at least two research papers prepared in connection with two of their courses. These papers will be used to evaluate the student’s ability to investigate and analyze urban issues and policies. Students also have the option of preparing a thesis or capstone paper. Completion of the course of study involves a comprehensive examination in the area of the student’s course of study after at least 24 credits have been completed.

Required Courses

The following 12 credits are required of all graduate students in urban affairs:

URBST 620. Urban Research Writing (3 cr.)

URBST 724. Introduction to Public Policy (3 cr.)

URBST 725. Urban Research Methods (3 cr.)

and either:

URBST 727. Public Management (3 cr.)

or

URBST 745. Community Organization (3 cr.)

In addition to the core sequence, students must take 18 elective credits. Students are encouraged to develop a concentration in either urban administration and socialpolicy or community organization and development. The former prepares students for work in local, state, or federal agencies concerned with urban policy. The latter prepares students for professional work in community organizations, including private agencies, poverty programs, and other community functions. A student may also choose to develop a concentration in a specific policy area such as health, housing, or welfare.

Fieldwork (3 to 6 credits)

Field placements will be given in areas of urban activity of interest to the student. Fieldwork shall include participation in courses related to the field placement and in seminars where the experience will be discussed and analyzed. Students will be placed in an outside organization or will participate in a group project or workshop organized by the department. The department will assist students in finding field placements. Students should enroll in courses related to the field placement to receive maximum benefit from the experience. Fieldwork will be under the direction of a faculty advisor, who shall hold regular conferences with students. Papers on fieldwork are required. Fieldwork courses are URBST 780 and 781.

Thesis or Capstone Paper (3 credits)

Students may prepare a thesis or capstone paper. A thesis generally involves primary research in which students undertake an original field project. A capstone paper typically consists of a critical review of an existing body of knowledge on a topic related to social or urban policy. Students have the option of enrolling in a 3-credit tutorial while working on the thesis/capstone paper. Each student works with a faculty advisor, and the final product is subject to the approval of both the faculty advisor and the graduate advisor.

Courses in Urban Studies

URBST 620. Urban Research Writing. 3 hr.; 3 cr. This course will assist students in developing the skills necessary for graduate level writing in urban affairs. The focus will be on developing writing skills in three specific areas: (i) writing in response to texts; (ii) writing across texts (comparing and contrasting); and (iii) writing a research paper on a topic in urban studies. In each instance original drafts will be revised for clarity of content. The course will review the steps in writing a research paper including choosing topic, developing a cogent thesis, using the library and Internet for research note taking, and drafting and revising the finished paper.

URBST 626. Computer Methods in Urban Policy Analysis. 3 hr.; 3 cr. This course introduces the student to various methods for performing urban policy analyses using microcomputers, including the use of spreadsheets, database systems, graphics programs, mapping systems, and statistical packages. Students will be introduced to essential file management functions and will learn to use these computer-based tools to analyze, interpret, and display demographic, economic, and geographic data. Students will carry out and present projects using their own data or data provided by the instructor.

URBST 640. Public Administration. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course offers a comprehensive survey of the field of public administration, from the philosophical underpinnings of government activities to the structure and function of present-day state and local government programs and agencies.

URBST 701. Urban Politics. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the historical development of local government structures, political parties, machine politics and reform movements. The current forms of government in U.S. cities, especially New York City, and their relationship to states and the federal government will be analyzed. Theories of power in the urban setting, and the role of advocacy groups, ethnic organizations, business, labor, and other interest groups will be discussed.

URBST 702. Urban Protest Movements. 2 hrs. plus conf.; 3 cr. The course analyzes social change movements impacting urban institutions or policies, especially the mobilization of groups without ready access to power through normal political channels. Student will analyze one movement and use its experience to test the prevailing theories concerning protest movements.

URBST 703. Protest Movements in Film. 3 hr.; 3 cr. This course examines the dynamics of urban-centered protest movements in the U.S., such as the labor movement, the African-American, feminist, and gay and lesbian civil rights movements, and the anti-Vietnam war, and pro-life and pro-choice movements through a combination of reading books about such movements and watching film footage featuring the activities of movements.

URBST 704. Religion, Politics, and Urban Society. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course weighs recent examples of both left- and right-leaning endeavors by religious groups, in the United States and abroad, to impact political decisions, testing them against theories that attempt to understand such attempts. Guest speakers whose political actions are rooted in their religious faith will present their views to the class.

URBST 710. Urban Environment Policy. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will examine the theory and practice of American urban environmental policy in the second half of the twentieth century. We will focus mainly on the natural, social and political forces that have shaped New York City’s urban environment, but will also look at comparative case studies of other American and European cities. This course will be of interest to graduate students in urban planning, sociology, and environmental policy and science.

URBST 713. Urban Cultural Diversity. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3cr. This course explores the rich and diverse subcultures and communities that dot the urban landscape. In recent years, new patterns of cultural belonging and new forms of identity have displaced earlier forms of community organization and neighborhood life. This course traces the emergence of urban subcultures from “Hippies to HipHop.” It will expose students to a number of studies by professional ethnographers and prepare them to undertake an original field study on a topic of their choice.

URBST 714. Social Welfare Policy. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines our society’s efforts to address socioeconomic problems relating to poverty. After an historical overview of the development of welfare programs in this country, the course focuses on measures taken to combat poverty in the contemporary context. Issues such as the relation between welfare and work, out-of-wedlock childbearing, privatization, and immigrant access to public benefits are addressed. While the course primarily emphasizes basic income maintenance, it also provides a survey of social welfare policies and programs that comprise our current social safety net.

URBST 715. Urban Religious Movements. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Religious movements centered in urban areas are radically altering the face of religion, both globally and in the United States. This course examines the dynamics and consequences of such movements, including the role of religious movements in acting as bridges to immigrants entering the U.S.

URBST 719. Applications of Social Psychology to Urban Problems. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr.††

URBST 720. Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course combines historical and sociological approaches in a broad survey of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, tracing their disparate origins and trajectories to the present. Differences between African Americans, with their roots in slavery, and immigrant minorities are emphasized. The course also examines recent trends in immigration, including patterns of incorporation into American society and enduring transnational links to countries of origin.

URBST 721. Perspectives on the Labor Movement. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will examine theories of industrial relations systems; the philosophy and political perspectives of labor unions; and the current discussion concerning the state and future of the labor movement. Issues examined will include the meaning of work, its changing nature, and the consequent implications for industrial relations and the trade unions.

URBST 722. Processes of Urbanization. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Provides an overview of (1) the historical growth and economic position of cities as centers of industry or commercial and bureaucratic control; (2) internal differentiation within cities; (3) the experience of urban life at different socioeconomic levels. Fall

URBST 724. Introduction to Public Policy. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course is an introduction to policy-making in public and nonprofit organizations. Students learn the major elements of the policy-making process: defining problems, developing alternative policies, evaluating alternatives, policy implementation, and evaluating policy outcomes. The focus is on policy-making at the local and state level. Substantive policy areas covered in the course include welfare, urban economic development, environmental and land use policy, housing policy, and health policy. The course is intended to provide the theoretical and analytical basis for a series of proposed courses in each of these areas.

URBST 725. Urban Research Methods. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course introduces students to the range of methodological approaches used in urban-related research. These include macroscopic analysis, demography, survey research, historical research, participant observation, community studies, institutional analysis, policy analysis, and evaluation research. Emphasis is placed on the development of critical skills in reading, interpreting, and analyzing social science research, whether this research is encountered in textbooks and lectures, in professional journals, or in the popular media. Spring

URBST 726. The Urban Criminal Justice System in the United States. 3 hr.; 3 cr. The course will deal with the modern criminal justice system as it has developed through time in cities. Special attention will be given to the urban problems that led to the creation and evolution of the professional police, criminal courts, and penal institutions. Emphasis will be placed on the specifically urban influences (demographic, geographic, political, economic, and social) that originally shaped and continue to mold the criminal justice system.

URBST 727. Public Management. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course is devoted to the study of management in local and state government and the nonprofit sector. Defining the unique characteristics of public management is one of the goals of the course. Another is to provide an understanding of what government and nonprofit managers actually do. Finally, the course is intended to develop skills that are essential to effective public management. The course relies heavily on the case method approach, which is intended to simulate the world of actual managers and the processes of management decision-making.

URBST 730. The Urban Economy: Growth and Problems. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr.††

URBST 731. Evaluating Urban Policies. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will focus on strategies and methods for evaluating policies and programs of government agencies and nonprofit social service organizations. It covers the major elements of evaluation research, including evaluation goal setting, outcome measures, research design, policy significance, and the politics of evaluation. Students will review and analyze evaluation research studies drawn from several public policy areas including education, public assistance, health services, criminal justice, housing, and employment training. No formal prerequisite; URBST 725 recommended.††

URBST 734. Women, Health, and Society. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the broad range of health issues confronting women. Using basic information on the health status of women in the United States, the focus is on how this health status is influenced by gender, race, and class. Careful attention is paid to political and economic factors influencing the health of women in our society and to the impact of health policy and social policy on health status. Models of care including the Western medical model as well as some of the new and emerging models are explored. Finally, we examine the latest thinking on specific health issues women face including reproductive health, mental health, peri- to post-menopause, sexually transmitted diseases, and aging.

URBST 735. NYC Land Use Planning Process. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the ways in which New York City has historically exercised its zoning authority and has created a variety of institutions to intervene in the zoning process. It examines the role of real estate interests, the general public, and the city government agencies specifically charged with planning functions.

URBST 736. Urban Epidemics: Tuberculosis to AIDS. 3 hr.; 3 cr. The course will deal with infectious diseases in American cities over time. Severe epidemics of contagious disease are a creation of civilization, requiring as they do the large population that crowded cities provide. A number of devastating diseases will be considered, among them tuberculosis, cholera, syphilis, hepatitis, polio, and AIDS, along with their effect on city life. The social construction of disease and the changing cultural meanings of different diseases will be dealt with. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of stigma and discrimination in how society reacts to those who have a disease.

URBST 737. U.S. Health System. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course describes and analyzes health care delivery and financing in the United States using concepts and data from sociology, economics, history, philosophy, and political science. It begins with the history of American medical practice and education, tracing the ways in which scientific ideas, technological innovation and the politics of professional competition shaped the current U.S. health care system. Next, the patterns of illness in the U.S. population are described in relation to the distribution of health care resources and other social and economic resources. Issues of health services access, quality, financing, and cost are discussed, including the ethics of resource distribution. The U.S. health care system is then compared to systems in Canada, Japan, and several European countries. The recent history of health care reform in the U.S. is analyzed and students engage in a debate over current and future policy options.

URBST 738. Emerging Diseases and Public Policy. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course deals with the problem of “Emerging Diseases” and the policy implications that they entail. Emerging diseases are broadly defined to include (1) new diseases that have not been seen before (e.g., HIV, SARS, Lyme); (2) diseases that are spreading into geographic areas from which they have been absent (e.g., dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever), and (3) older diseases that were in significant decline but have now reversed direction (e.g., tuberculosis itself, and also in its antibiotic-resistant form) and pose a major threat to the public’s health. The course emphasizes the social causation of infectious disease (i.e., the political, economic, social, and cultural practices that inadvertently favor the emergence of disease) and the social construction of disease (i.e., how diseases and their victims are perceived, and how that helps or hinders measured aimed at controlling them). The course entails reading both theoretical and descriptive material and emphasizes learning a body of factual material.

URBST 739. Health Policymaking. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the process of health policy making at the city, state, and federal levels of government, from agenda-building through policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation of health policies. The relationships among government executives, legislators, bureaucrats, advocates, and other participants will be analyzed.

URBST 740. Delivery of Public Services. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the theory and practice of public service delivery by urban government within the context of budgetary constraints and the politicization of issues relating to public services. New York City’s practices are compared with public service delivery in other political jurisdictions in the United States and other countries.

URBST 741. Labor Unions and Industrial Relations. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will examine labor-management relations in the contemporary United States, considering both the internal dynamics of management, and the structure, governance, and goals of labor unions. Particular emphasis will be given to comparing and contrasting labor relations in unionized and nonunionized workplaces, and in different sectors of the economy (manufacturing, services, and government). Topics to be covered include the development of management’s industrial relations policies, the impact of the changing international economy on labor, the dynamics of collective bargaining, decision-making processes within unions, and problems of union democracy.

URBST 742. Public Budgeting. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines contemporary government budgeting practices within the context of urban politics, public administration, collective bargaining, and federal and state impacts on local budgeting. The emphasis is on the budgeting process in New York City, beginning with the role of the fiscal crisis of 1974–75 in reforming city government budgeting.

URBST 744. Human Resource Management. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines personnel management, including the legal issues associated with the day-to-day employment related decisions and actions of managers. The human resources function is divided into major areas of personnel, labor relations, equal employment opportunity, and discipline. Students will openly discuss topics associated in the context of problems that most typically arise in the work place. The framework for studying the topics will be reading federal, state, and local laws, along with reviewing the government policies and court decisions.

URBST 745. Community Organization. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Analysis of the structure and organization of urban communities and how community resources can be mobilized to solve social and economic problems.

URBST 746. Urban Transportation Policy. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course provides an overview of urban transportation policy in the United States. Course topics include the historical relationships between transportation innovations and urban development; the evolution of federal transportation policy; the impact of the Interstate highway system on U.S. metropolitan areas; the decline and revival of mass transit in U.S. cities; policies for combating traffic congestion, metropolitan sprawl, and air pollution; the impact of current transportation policies on women, the elderly, and the poor; and recent efforts to encourage the development of pedestrian-friendly cities.

URBST 747. Human Resources and Law. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course introduces the principles of employment law. Students are introduced to the principal theories, policies and literature concerning federal and state regulations in the private and public sectors, in the context of problems that typically arise in the work place. Students will be exposed to statutes and substantive case law using a case study approach. The statutes and case law examined encompass employment discrimination, New York State employment law statutes and regulations, sexual orientation, Fair Labor Standards Act, American with Disabilities Act, and Family and Medical Leave Act. Lastly, this course will also address issues such as termination-at-will, negligent hiring and retention, wrongful discharge, privacy, and drug-free workplace.

URBST 749. Urban Education. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. May be repeated for credit if topic changes.††

URBST 750. Contemporary Urban Theory. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will explore the principal theoretical perspectives, paradigms, and schools of thought that can help understand such urban phenomena as gentrification, urban poverty, urban activism, neighborhood development, segregation, city politics, suburbanization, economic restructuring, and urban planning. Urban theory encompasses many interdisciplinary points of view, and we will explore the work of geographers, sociologists, economists, historians, political scientists, and anthropologists. The goal of this course is to understand not only how cities have changed in recent decades, but also the theoretical basis for describing these changes. Students will learn to appreciate the importance of theory for making sense of the social world around us and will learn how to think theoretically, a skill that they can bring to bear in their future analyses of urban issues.

URBST 752. Women in Urban Society. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Effects of urban life on the status of women in the family and the political economy. Current changes and future prospects.††

URBST 753. Drugs and Criminal Justice. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will analyze how the U.S. criminal justice system has affected the use of drugs and treatment for drug abuse. It will examine how federal, state, and local police organizations plan, implement, and coordinate policies and procedures for combating the use of illegal drugs. It will focus in particular on the “War on Drugs.” The New York State Penal Laws (Rockefeller Drug) laws will be discussed in depth.

URBST 754. Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course will focus on the operation of the criminal justice system in situations of domestic and family violence. Theories dealing with the sources of domestic violence will be reviewed. The focus will be on the operation of those parts of the criminal justice system having principal responsibility for arresting, prosecuting and adjudicating domestic and family violence cases--the police, prosecution, and courts. The role and effectiveness of contemporary public programs and community remedies for domestic violence will also be analyzed.

URBST 756. The Law and Urban Society. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. This course examines the role of law in relation to a variety of urban issues. It begins with an overview of legal processes within the American constitutional system. It then proceeds to address the relationship of law to issues of welfare, housing, racial discrimination, education, and urban crime.††

URBST 760.1–760.6. Selected Topics in Urban Policy and Planning. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. An intensive analysis of policies and planning in one urban topic in one semester (e.g., health, housing, transportation, education, welfare). May be repeated for credit.††

URBST 762. Jobs and Occupations in Urban Society. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Changing job structures and the labor force are considered in relation to employment and unemployment, education, discrimination, government programs, labor unions, corporation policies, and economic and social change.††

URBST 763. Race, Ethnicity, and Public Policy. 3 hr.; 3 cr. This course begins with an overview of the status of racial and ethnic minorities in contemporary American society. It then examines a number of critical policy issues, such as enforcement of antidiscrimination laws, affirmative action, bilingual education, transracial adoptions, the creation of black-majority Congressional districts, and multicultural education.

URBST 765. Urban Poverty. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr.††

URBST 770.1–770.5. Roots of the Urban Crisis. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. Selected topics in the development of urban institutions in American cities and their problems in meeting individual and social needs. May be repeated for credit (each institution will be dealt with in a separate course).††

URBST 775. Changing Urban Institutions. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr.††

URBST 780. Fieldwork I. Hr. to be arranged; minimum of 12 hr. a week required; 3 cr. Includes fieldwork assignment and seminar sessions. Fall, Spring

URBST 781. Fieldwork II. Hr. to be arranged; minimum of 12 hr. a week is required; 3 cr. Includes fieldwork assignment and seminar sessions. Must be a different assignment from that of Fieldwork I. Fall, Spring

URBST 784. Research Paper Tutorial. Hrs. to be arranged; 1 cr. May be repeated up to 2 credits.

URBST 785. Tutorial. May be repeated up to total of 4 credits. Advanced work involving specialized readings and research on a topic chosen by the student and faculty sponsor. Includes regular conferences with the sponsor and preparation of a paper. May be taken twice if the topics are different.

URBST 785.1. 1 hr.; 1 cr.

URBST 785.2. 2 hr.; 2 cr.

URBST 785.3. 3 hr.; 3 cr.

Fall, Spring

URBST 790. Seminar in Selected Topics in Urban Studies. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. The topic will vary from semester to semester. Fall, Spring

URBST 791. Master’s Thesis Seminar. 2 hr. plus conf.; 3 cr. The required thesis will be the focus of this class. Students will learn to do research and organize and write an original research paper. Fall