Urban Studies and Sociology

专业介绍

Urban studies is an established and interdisciplinary area of inquiry—focusing on cities and their regions, urban social life, cultures, the built and natural environment, economics, politics, and policy—that is strengthened when students are strongly grounded in a traditional academic discipline. Sociology is organized around a series of problems and broad social, political, and economic forces that profoundly affect urbanization and shape the lives of urbanites, including racial and ethnic structures, labor and social class, power and inequality, demography and population mobility, neighborhoods and families, and organizations and institutions. Social theory and sociological methods—especially quantitative analysis and social statistics; demography; and ethnography—provide valuable tools for urban inquiry (many of which were forged by sociologists’ engagement with urban life and society). The joint major in Urban Studies and Sociology introduces students to different approaches to the study of cities and metropolitan areas and provides an overview of the diversity of social scientific and humanistic theories that inform much urban research. 

The major takes full advantage of NYU’s location and builds on the University’s long-standing relationships with key urban institutions, both public and private, ranging from planning agencies to urban arts and culture institutions. 

This program of study trains students in geographic information systems (GIS), a powerful mapping tool for quantitative analysis that many will find useful in their future careers. The major prepares students for careers in urban policy and planning; community organization and advocacy; civic affairs; immigration policy and social justice; housing and real estate; scholarly research in the social sciences; statistical and data analysis; and careers in teaching and academia. 

Students should consult with advisers in both the Department of Sociology and the Program in Urban Studies.