Glossary
UW Bothell Course Descriptions
UW Seattle Course Descriptions
Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for
T URB 101 Exploring Cities: An Introduction to Urban Studies (5) SSc
Introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of Urban Studies. Exposes the complexity of everyday life in metropolitan areas. Explores how the various disciplines of sociology, anthropology, geography, economies, and political science have studied and made sense of cities. Special attention given to issues of class, race, and gender.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 101
T URB 102 Cities in World Development (5) SSc
Focuses on "urban world history" and the urban impacts on economic and cultural history. Explores the contemporary world urban system as part and parcel of the global economy, the origins and long history of cities that "constructed" this world system, and the internal structure of cities.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 102
T URB 103 Urban Studies in Practice (1-2, max. 4)
Introduces students to the field of urban studies as it is practiced at the University of Washington Tacoma campus. Through a variety of faculty research presentations, guest lectures, public forums, debates, workshops, and other events, students learn to navigate the vast intellectual terrain of urban studies. Credit/no-credit only.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 103
T URB 110 Introduction to Digital Urban Data Analysis (5) DIV
Provides a methodological foundation to digital research and data analysis technologies to build a unique set of urban analytical tools.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 110
T URB 200 Introduction to Urban Research (5) SSc
Introduction to research methods pertinent to the study of urban issues, society and culture. Emphasizes the logic of the scientific method, understanding the interrelated stages of the research process, understanding and critiquing quantitative and qualitative research literature, and learning strategies for gathering and analyzing data. Prerequisite: a minimum grade of 2.0 in T URB 101.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 200
T URB 201 Urban Change and Development (5) SSc
Examines relationships that shape the development of cities under conditions of globalization. Overview of key terms and concepts, examples of changing urban social and economic conditions, and analysis of connections among global processes, urban experiences, and the production of urban space in the United States.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 201
T URB 205 Images of the City (5) A&H/SSc
Examines how the city is portrayed through various media and how those portrayals affect society's perception of urban places. Discusses imagery from films, literature, television, newspapers, and magazines. Considers images linked to such elements as crime, ethnic enclaves, downtown areas, and suburbia.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 205
T URB 210 Urban Society and Culture (5) SSc, DIV
An examination of the social structures of cities. Discusses issues related to class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Considers the impact of societal differences on urban form, residential patterns, and labor markets.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 210
T URB 211 Digital Cities (5) SSc
Examines the impact that information technology has had on the spatial form and socio-economic processes of contemporary metropolitan areas. Covers the information economy; the digital divide; and placemaking applications of mobile technology.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 211
T URB 220 Introduction to Urban Planning (5) SSc
Introduction to the planning process. Presents and discusses the major planning sub-fields. Topics include housing, transportation, recreation, environmental planning, and preservation planning. Examines techniques associated with growth controls and land use management. Introductory course for students with planning emphasis.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 220
T URB 225 Statistics for Urban Analysis (5) RSN
Introduces basic methods of both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, and applies them to topics common to the field of urban planning and community development. Develops a critical perspective on how such methods relate to public discourse and urban policy-making.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 225
T URB 235 Community Development (3-5) SSc
Examines theories, polices, and practice of community change and development in American cities. Explores ways to assess community conditions, the contributions of various community institutions, impacts of regional, national, and global political economies, community-oriented development strategies, and methods to evaluate community development initiatives
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 235
T URB 250 Immigration, Race, and American Cities (5) SSc, DIV
Discusses the history of immigration and peopling of the U.S., focusing primarily on issues related to race, class, ethnicity, and gender in American cities since the nineteenth century.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 250
T URB 290 Special Topics in Urban Studies (1-5, max. 15)
Engages students on specialized subject matter in a seminar or studio-style learning environment and provides an opportunity to complement existing courses. Topics will vary and will be based on emergent and topical issues in Urban Studies.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 290
T URB 301 The Urban Condition (5) SSc
An overview of the city as a place of residence, commerce, and industry. Consideration is given to urban form and function. Social, economic, and political factors affecting urban life and development are discussed. Issues related to social justice and equity are emphasized.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 301
T URB 305 Data and the City (3) RSN
Studies the intersection of data and everyday urban life. Prepares students to understand what is and is not captured in data and how said data come to represent themselves and their communities.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 305
T URB 312 Race and Poverty in Urban America (5) SSc, DIV
Examines current research, policy, and debate surrounding race and poverty in urban America. Includes affirmative action, the changing family, cultural identity, the inner-city crisis, interracial relationships, residential segregation, and the working and non-working poor.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 312
T URB 314 Gender and the Urban Landscape (5) SSc
Examines linkages between cultural, physical, and symbolic urban landscapes and gender ideologies, structures, and practices. Major themes from gender and urban studies include domestic/public divisions, sexuality and city spaces, consumption, and urban design. Emphasizes integration of theoretical positions and ideas into students' work.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 314
T URB 316 Cities and Belonging (5) SSc, DIV
Addresses inequality in urban spaces through the concept of belonging and ideas about cultural belonging and legitimacy. While the course is traditional in its concern with urban poverty, race, ethnicity, and immigration, it offers a vocabulary of citizenship and rights to investigate urban inequalities and how various populations experience them.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 316
T URB 322 Land-Use Planning (5) SSc
Examines the land-use planning process at the local level with a focus on the contemporary United States. Review of theories of land use change, arguments for and against planning intervention, and the role of the land use planner in the local land development arena.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 322
T URB 324 Urban and Regional Economics (5) SSc
Uses economic frameworks to introduce the determinants of regional economic growth or decline, location of economic activities within urban areas, operation of urban labor markets, and implications of income inequality on urban form and urban growth. Students gain familiarity with major sources of subnational economic and demographic data.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 324
T URB 325 Urban Transportation: Problems and Prospects (5) SSc
Provides an overview of urban transportation, it challenges and prospects. Examines historical and contemporary issues such as the relationship of mobility to the urban form, environmental concerns, climate change impacts, and the challenges of sustainable urban transportation.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 325
T URB 340 Urban Social Change (5)
Examines issues that directly affect the strength and vulnerabilities of urban communities and organizations and institution within those communities. Uses case studies to consider how creative participatory approaches can and do influence change.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 340
T URB 345 Urban Governance (5) SSc
Examines the structure and workings of urban government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Considers the responsibilities and challenges of governmental and non-governmental organizations along with their impact on the physical and social development of the city.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 345
T URB 360 The African American Urban Experience (5) SSc
Places African Americans at the center of the American urban condition from the colonial era to the 21st century. Interdisciplinary study of U.S. urban history, contemporary social, cultural and policy research, and comparative perspectives on race and ethnicity, to illuminate the growth and evolution of African-American urban communities.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 360
T URB 379 Urban Field Experience (5-15, max. 15)
Urban field course based in a metropolitan area. Examines urban problems, issues, and developments through site visits, presentations by local experts, and student research and reports. Includes visits to U.S. and foreign cities. Topics vary, depending on city visited.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 379
T URB 403 Professional Development for Urban Careers (2)
Develop and explain the knowledge and skills gained in the Sustainable Urban Development and Urban Studies majors. Make informed decisions about careers and graduate programs. Develop self-assessments, professional portfolio, resume, and/or goals statement for graduate or professional school.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 403
T URB 410 Environmental Equity (5) SSc
Explores relationships between environmental issues and people of color and low-income communities from both local and global perspectives. Emphasizes issues of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and policy and politics in environmental equity. Offered: jointly with T HLTH 410.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 410
T URB 425 Spatial Statistics (5) RSN
Provides advanced training in spatial statistics, ranging from descriptive spatial statistics to methodologies focusing on spatial patterns and relationships. Course overlaps with: GEOG 426. Prerequisite: T URB 101; T URB 102; either T URB 200 or T URB 350; and T URB 220.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 425
T URB 430 Pacific Rim Cities (5) SSc
Examines links between urbanization and globalization on the Pacific Rim and connections between events and social/economic processes in places that seem distinct (e.g., China, Canada, Mexico, Philippines). Case studies and discussion topics include questions of class formation, political change, migration patterns, and gender/family dynamics.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 430
T URB 432 Understanding Metropolitan Regions (5) SSc
Explores patterns and policy problems associated with managing large U.S. metropolitan regions, especially shifting city-suburb relationships and major development challenges. Includes discussion of demographic change, socioeconomic trends, public policies, and political programs link cities and suburbs at multiple scales of governance.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 432
T URB 460 Urban Issues in the Developing World (5) SSc
Examines challenges associated with urban development and societal change in developing countries. Examines topics such as mega cities, squatter housing, and informal labor. Adopts a geographical perspective and focuses on local governance issues.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 460
T URB 470 Creating the Urban Narrative (5) SSc
Dissects the axiom "history is written by the winner". Examines how cities' narratives are created, sustained, and reinvented. Focuses on the assumptions and accepted histories of institutions, issues, conflicts, and cultures and their interconnectivity - through exposure to diverse tools used to create urban narratives. Prerequisite: T URB 101; T URB 102; either T URB 200 or T URB 350; and T SUD 222.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 470
T URB 479 Planning and Development in the Puget Sound Region (3-12, max. 12) SSc
Examines the problems and prospects associated with rapid growth in the Seattle-Tacoma urban region. Includes site visits and discussions with public officials, planners and developers. Topics/sites vary and include such issues as growth management, sprawl, transportation, sustainable development, land use, and environmental protection.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 479
T URB 480 Housing in the United States (5) SSc
Examines the principles, concepts, and tools central to housing in the United States. Acquire a broad knowledge base of state and federal housing markets, policies/programs. Identify appropriate policies to suit multiple urban contexts. Develop an understanding of at least one innovative approach to address the need for affordable housing.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 480
T URB 485 South Africa in Transition: Community Development and Education As Transformation (5) SSc
Hands-on look at NGOs and schools in an under-resourced and struggling township located in South Africa. Critical exposure to, and examination of, the role and challenges of organizations attempting to lead community development and education efforts within a globalized, new democracy which itself struggles with post-apartheid racism and inequities. Credit/no-credit only. Offered: jointly with T EDUC 485.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 485
T URB 489 Advanced Urban Field Experience (5-15, max. 15) SSc
Examines urban development and issues through site visits, presentations by local experts, and student research and reports; carry out original research; and analyze primary data. Topics covered will vary depending on the city visited.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 489
T URB 490 Special Topics in Urban Studies (5, max. 15) SSc
Examines specific issues of interest in a seminar-style learning environment. Topics include issues in urban geography, cultural anthropology, urban sociology, community development, urban political economy, planning theory, environmental equity, and critical policy studies that are significant to the growth and development of cities Prerequisite: T URB 101; T URB 102; either T URB 200 or T URB 350; and T URB 220.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 490
T URB 494 Urban Research (1-15, max. 15)
Individual research project carried out under the supervision/direction of an Urban Studies faculty member. Prerequisite: T URB 101; T URB 102; either T URB 200 or T URB 350; and T SUD 222.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 494
T URB 496 Community Service Project (3-15, max. 15)
In conjunction with faculty adviser, students develop and implement a community service-learning project. Involves activities such as assistance to disadvantaged populations, community outreach programs, policy analysis, or related work intended to improve the quality of life in the community. Includes academic study designed to integrate practical applications with learning and theory. Course equivalent to: BIS 496. Credit/no-credit only.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 496
T URB 498 Urban Studies Internship (3-15, max. 15)
Provides opportunities to gain experience and apply concepts taught in the Urban Studies classroom. Involves learning skills and applying knowledge by working directly with public, non-profit, and private sector organizations concerned with urban issues. Credit/no-credit only.
View course details in MyPlan: T URB 498
