Urban Studies
Administrative Information
Program Director: David Weiman, 5A Lehman; 854-5755; dfw5@columbia.edu
Program Associate Director: Flora Davidson, 416B Lehman; 854-6181; fsd3@columbia.edu
Columbia College Adviser: Dean Kathryn B. Yatrakis, 208 Hamilton; 854-2441; kby1@columbia.edu
Program Assistant: Mike Placito, 236 Milbank; 854-4073
Interdepartmental Committee for Urban Studies
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Flora Davidson (associate director) Political Science and Urban Studies Karen Fairbanks Architecture Ester Fuchs International and Public Affairs Kenneth T. Jackson History Kimberley Johnson Political Science Lorraine Minnite Political Science Randall Reback Economics |
Maria Rivera-Maulucci Education Jacqueline Olvera Sociology Elliot D. Sclar Urban Planning and Public Policy David Smiley Architecture and Urban Studies Greg Smithsimon Urban Studies Sudhir Venkatesh Sociology David Weiman (director) Economics Kathryn B. Yatrakis Dean of Academic Affairs |
The Urban Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program drawing on faculty and courses from departments throughout the University. It focuses on the examination of cities using a multidisciplinary curricular lens. Most faculty come to the study of cities through their own particular disciplines so that political scientists are fascinated with such issues as political power and participation, policy development, and decision making, while historians are asking questions about the evolution of the urban form and structure, as well as examining the events on a particular site and the reasons for its evolving historical prominence; sociologists focus on such questions as the habits of urban groups and the character of individual activities; and economists study local fiscal and budgetary trends and patterns while anthropologists are investigating the archaeology of cities.
Regardless of the discipline in which students choose to specialize, the interdisciplinary nature of this major provides students with an intellectual foundation that can lead to a wide array of career opportunities. In their junior and senior years, Urban Studies majors are encouraged to engage in a wide variety of internships available in the public, non-profit or private sectors. Students graduating with an urban studies major pursue many different careers - from a municipal bond office of any investment banking firm to Capitol Hill - and enroll in various professional and graduate programs, such as law, business, urban planning, architecture, and public affairs. Some of our recent graduates are working in local government, planning, urban design, communications, and non-government organizations, while others are going to law school and business school. Many urban studies majors find that their internships during their study at Columbia result in offers for permanent employment in the agencies and offices where they interned.