{"id":9820,"date":"2022-03-10T16:29:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T21:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/149.4.100.129\/academics\/us\/?page_id=9820"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:49:54","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row make_equal=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_image=&#8221;https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2022\/03\/36343385791_3a883c2fac_k-1024&#215;730-1.jpg&#8221; parallax=&#8221;on&#8221; parallax_method=&#8221;off&#8221; width=&#8221;100%&#8221; max_width=&#8221;100%&#8221; min_height=&#8221;400px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; text_font=&#8221;Open Sans||||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; header_2_font=&#8221;Open Sans|700|||on||||&#8221; header_2_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; header_2_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; header_3_font=&#8221;Open Sans|700|||||||&#8221; header_3_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; header_3_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; header_4_font=&#8221;Open Sans|700|||||||&#8221; header_4_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">About Urban Studies At QC<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Mission Statement.<\/strong><\/span> Urban Studies is a field of study that creates innovative, real-world knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of city life. Both inside and outside the classroom, the Urban Studies Department reaps the advantage of the immense complexity and diversity both of New York City as a preeminent global city, and Queens as one of the most diverse counties in the United States. In Urban Studies, we emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach and offer perspectives and faculty expertise in anthropology, sociology, political science, urban planning, history, and other fields.<\/p>\n<p>The theme of social justice is woven throughout our curriculum which is centered on understanding historic and contemporary forms of urban inequities, transnational migration and related demographic change and inter-group dynamics, social movements and activism, and current public policy debates in environmental, food, and economic justice, public health, social welfare, land use and public space, criminal justice, and urban infrastructure including transportation, housing, and education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Our mission is to help students to understand cities and think critically about them and their environs, to prepare students for active and engaged participation in civic life, and to provide students with the knowledge and skills they will need for successful careers in the public, non-profit, and private sectors, as well as for advanced studies.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Department History.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Common to other urban studies departments across the country, our Department grew out of the social movements of the 1960s with the goal of addressing, in our teaching and our research, critical challenges that face American cities and formulating policy and planning solutions.\u00a0 The late Marilyn Gittell, a scholar and activist who spearheaded the movement for school equity and democratic schooling, and Matthew Edel, an urban economist who pioneered urban political economy research, established the Department of Urban Studies in 1971.\u00a0 Another notable early member of our faculty was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pauldavidoff.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Paul Davidoff<\/a>\u00a0who founded the practice of advocacy planning which is the foundation of community-based planning and progressive planning practices that engage those typically marginalized or excluded from official planning processes and decision-making.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>The Faculty.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0The faculty has expertise in a variety of fields including urban anthropology, environmental policy, geography, health policy, history, political science,\u00a0public administration, sociology, and urban\u00a0planning. \u00a0Practitioners with extensive experience in city government and non-profit\u00a0organizations, advocacy groups, community planning agencies, public policy organizations and\u00a0labor unions teach many of our\u00a0courses.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Experiential and Service Learning.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0Many of\u00a0our courses\u00a0give students opportunities to participate in community organizations, advocacy\u00a0groups, social service providers, and\u00a0government agencies. We believe that classroom teaching\u00a0works best when combined with real-world experience. \u00a0A generous grant from the Hagedorn Fund allows us to offer limited support to undergraduate majors in urban and environmental students who take our service learning course.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>Collaborations across Queens College.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0 Urban Studies faculty participate in QC and CUNY-wide collaborations across disciplines to develop innovative areas of study and curriculum that address key urban issues.\u00a0 Our Environmental Studies program is based on an interdisciplinary foundation that emphasizes both the School of Earth and Environmental Science\u2019s orientation toward environmental science and the\u00a0Urban Studies Department\u2019s emphasis on social justice and public policy.\u00a0 We continue to work with a number of other academic programs on campus including Social Practice Queens (SPQ) MFA and certificate program at QC\u2019s Art Department, the Labor Studies Program, the Africana Studies\u00a0Program, the Asian-American Community Studies Program, and the Honors in the Social Sciences Program.<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; 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header_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; header_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;||7px||false|false&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/dsm_text_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=&#8221;1_3,1_3,1_3&#8243; make_equal=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||||false|false&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color=&#8221;#FFFFFF&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;20px||20px||true|false&#8221; border_radii=&#8221;on|10px|10px|10px|10px&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_blurb title=&#8221;Call Us at:&#8221; use_icon=&#8221;on&#8221; font_icon=&#8221;&#xe090;||divi||400&#8243; icon_color=&#8221;#E71939&#8243; image_icon_width=&#8221;40px&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; header_level=&#8221;h3&#8243; header_font=&#8221;Open Sans|600|||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; body_font=&#8221;Open Sans||||||||&#8221; body_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>(718) 997-5130<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color=&#8221;#FFFFFF&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;20px||20px||true|false&#8221; border_radii=&#8221;on|10px|10px|10px|10px&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_blurb title=&#8221;Come visit us at:&#8221; use_icon=&#8221;on&#8221; font_icon=&#8221;&#xe01d;||divi||400&#8243; icon_color=&#8221;#E71939&#8243; image_icon_width=&#8221;40px&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; header_level=&#8221;h3&#8243; header_font=&#8221;Open Sans|600|||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; body_font=&#8221;Open Sans||||||||&#8221; body_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>Powdermaker Hall, Room 250 65-30<br \/>Kissena Blvd. Flushing, NY 11367<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=&#8221;1_3&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color=&#8221;#FFFFFF&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;20px||20px||true|false&#8221; border_radii=&#8221;on|10px|10px|10px|10px&#8221; box_shadow_style=&#8221;preset1&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_blurb title=&#8221;Email us at&#8221; use_icon=&#8221;on&#8221; font_icon=&#8221;&#xe010;||divi||400&#8243; icon_color=&#8221;#E71939&#8243; image_icon_width=&#8221;40px&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; header_level=&#8221;h3&#8243; header_font=&#8221;Open Sans|600|||||||&#8221; header_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; header_text_color=&#8221;#000000&#8243; body_font=&#8221;Open Sans||||||||&#8221; body_text_align=&#8221;center&#8221; body_font_size=&#8221;16px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"mailto:jeanne.chan@qc.cuny.edu\">jeanne.chan@qc.cuny.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_blurb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About Urban Studies At QC Mission Statement. Urban Studies is a field of study that creates innovative, real-world knowledge of the challenges and opportunities of city life. Both inside and outside the classroom, the Urban Studies Department reaps the advantage of the immense complexity and diversity both of New York City as a preeminent global [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"page_category":[],"wf_page_folders":[],"class_list":["post-9820","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"page_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/page_category?post=9820"},{"taxonomy":"wf_page_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qc.cuny.edu\/academics\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_page_folders?post=9820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}