Major: Bachelor of Arts

Majors must complete one prerequisite: ECON 1 Principles of Economics.

Approximately half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the proportion grows every day. Urban issues cannot be understood in the context of a single nation or a single moment in time. This concentration draws on disciplinary approaches, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, and history, to help students understand how cities have developed and relate to each other today. By placing urban issues in perspective, students improve their comprehension of the United States, the world, and the present and the past.  

Students in this pathway are encouraged to study off-campus, preferably overseas, for at least one quarter. Many courses offered through the Overseas Studies Program can be counted toward the concentration. Similarly, internships offered at many of Stanford’s overseas locations can be used to fulfill the Urban Studies internship requirement.

Race and ethnicity are central organizing categories shaping virtually every aspect of city life. This concentration focuses on race and ethnicity’s role in city formation, development, and change. Through a range of courses from across the university, students engage with how race and ethnicity shape where people live; relationships with law enforcement; neighborhood change; access to institutions; local politics; social movements; identity formation; and health care access; and health outcomes, among other themes.

Students who elect this pathway will come away with the analytical tools to assess the causes and consequences of racial and ethnic inequality in cities and to make informed judgments about which policies bring about racial and ethnic justice.

CSRE 100 - formerly CSRE 196C

Providing education that is both high in quality and fair to all is one of the most significant challenges facing cities today. This pathway prepares students for careers in educational policy and practice. It is a popular choice for students who plan to pursue a coterminal master's degree at the Graduate School of Education in the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) opens in a new tab or the Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies Program (POLS) opens in a new tab. Stanford undergraduates can apply to the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) in their junior or senior year. 

Coterminal students applying to STEP are encouraged to take EDUC 101 Introduction to Teaching and Learning before applying. Additionally, students interested in STEP Secondary (Single Subject) must demonstrate subject matter competency in their intended teaching area. Transcripts should reflect coursework in the intended teaching subject, even if it was not a student’s undergraduate major.

For additional information, contact the STEP Admissions Officer at 723-2110, or consult the STEP website opens in a new tab.

Many students are drawn to Urban Studies by their desire to understand and address the unique problems confronting cities today. This pathway focuses on issues in contemporary urban society and the tools and concepts that can bring about change to improve urban life. Courses focus on diverse issues, from public health crises to racial and class inequality. Students also learn how community action, urban planning and design, and organizations in nonprofit, for-profit, and government sectors address these challenges. This concentration prepares students to enter graduate programs concerned with urban affairs, community service, and public policy and to work with local governmental agencies and for-profit and nonprofit organizations engaged in community service and development.

The Urban Sustainability pathway provides the basis for a holistic understanding of cities through the lens of environmental and social sustainability. By combining coursework in urban studies, history, sociology, and design with the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), students in the Urban Sustainability concentration are exposed to the environmental and infrastructural aspects of cities, as well as to issues of human development, public policy, and social equity.

Students in the pathway acquire a foundation in sustainability concepts and skills for research and professional practices. The Urban Sustainability concentration helps prepare students to serve as social change agents in future roles as scholars, urban planners, designers, entrepreneurs, public servants, and advocates to address the most pressing issues of urban development and its human impacts in cities worldwide.

The following courses may be counted toward the Urban Sustainability Pathway. Students must select at least one course from each of the following categories:

• Environmental sustainability

• Social sustainability

• Project-based courses.

Students interested in pursuing the pathway in urban sustainability should meet with an Urban Studies advisor to determine an appropriate course of study.

Environmental sustainability refers to the biosphere, environmental planning and policy, natural resource planning and development, sustainable building design, and urban infrastructure systems.

Social sustainability refers to land use planning and its human impacts, distribution of public goods, human-centered design, human and community development, citizen participation, and social equity.

Project-based courses enable students to work on a real-life urban sustainability issue in collaboration with local and international community partners. Students grapple with sustainability concepts while practicing community engagement and capacity building, fluency in cross-cultural collaboration, human-centered design thinking, and developing a sense of one’s place in relation to global society and the praxis of urban sustainability.