Global Urban Futures (Graduate Minor)

Overview

The Global Urban Futures graduate minor is offered through the New School for Social Research.

Students enrolled in this graduate minor will be introduced to current debates and policy issues related to the future of cities in both industrialized and developing countries. Global Urban Futures addresses the multiple challenges of rapid urban demographic growth, urban poverty and inequality, and the consequences of climate change for cities.

By 2030, 70 percent of the world's people will be living in urban areas. The urban population produces about 80 percent of GDP while generating more than 70 percent of greenhouse gases. Cities are sites of both opportunity and despair, with growing slums, unemployment, and insecurity. How can these "facts on the ground" be transformed into sources of hope?

Courses provide overviews of urban issues, explorations of selected subjects such as slums, smart cities, and global images of metropolitan futures, and opportunities for field experiences in selected countries through the International Field Program.

Curriculum

This graduate minor requires successful completion of 9 credits. The required core course for this minor is Urban Century. In addition to the core course, students must select two electives from the chart below.

Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework in other subject areas to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.

Subject Area	Course Options	Requirements
Core Course	NINT 5191 Urban Century	3 credits
Urban Infrastructure	GPOL 6120 Cities and Urban Mobility  NINT 5163 Pipeline Politics	0-3 credits
Slums and Housing	PSDS 5516 Empowered Neighborhoods: Community Advocacy and Housing Justice NEPS 5022 Environmental Justice: Race, Class, and the Environment NURP 5004 Housing Finance and Real Estate Development	0-6 credits
Urban Futures	PGAR 5513 Theories of Urban Form PSCE 5053 Writing About the City PGUD 5020 Urban History Lab	0-6 credits
Urban Policy	NURP 5008 Political Economy of the City NINT 5155 Tools for Urban Environmental Management NPUP 6002 Rules and Regulations: Studying Urban Institutional Arrangements	0-6 credits

Learning Outcomes

A student who has completed this graduate minor should be able to demonstrate:

• Understanding of the linkages between cities, policy, and global issues such as the global economy, climate change, poverty, inequality, migration, and gender equality.
• Familiarity with major urban thinkers and practitioners such as Saskia Sassen, Richard Sennett, Enrico Moretti, David Harvey, Charles Correa, Sheela Patel, and Edgar Pieterse.
• Familiarity with "reading neighborhoods" through field research exercises in diverse neighborhoods of New York and other cities designated for international practice, such as Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, and Havana.

Faculty

Michael Cohen, Professor of International Affairs
Margarita Gutman, Professor of International Affairs​ and Urban Studies
William Morrish, Professor of Urban Ecologies, Parsons
Antina von Schnitzler, Associate Professor of International Affairs

Eligibility

The Global Urban Futures graduate minor is available to graduate degree students across The New School. 

Students can retroactively apply successfully completed courses toward a minor upon declaring or applying.

After a student successfully completes a minor's requirements, the minor will appear on the student's academic transcript at graduation.

For questions about this minor, please contact Michael Cohen, Professor of International Affairs, at cohenm2@newschool.edu.