{"id":522,"date":"2013-09-26T20:25:54","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T20:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/ebuckhor\/?page_id=522"},"modified":"2013-09-26T20:25:54","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T20:25:54","slug":"all-about-cities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/features-2\/all-about-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"All About Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michele Jacklin<\/em><\/p>\n

Trinity\u2019s new urban studies major, first offered this fall, was specifically designed to provide an interdisciplinary understanding of how urban dynamics and changes shape both global interdependence and local spaces. According to the architects of the program\u2013Xiangming Chen, dean and director of the Center for Urban and Global Studies and Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Global Urban Studies and Sociology, and Garth Myers, Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies\u2013the major stresses \u201cthe way in which cities and communities are increasingly critical to the organization of economic, social, and cultural activities that shape and transform human experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new major, the 39th to be offered at Trinity, is a logical extension of the urban studies minor, which was introduced in 2010.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>

Professor Garth Myers (left) tours the streets of Dakar, Senegal, with Major Tom Hanlon of the United States Military Academy at West Point during a study-abroad trip the two led for West Point students last winter.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe are really doing something unique,\u201d says Myers, adding that as of now, a student can
\nmajor in urban studies at only a handful of liberal arts colleges in urban environments in the country and at no other school in Trinity\u2019s NESCAC cohort. Students are able to take advantage of the College\u2019s commitment to urban studies by enrolling in courses on the Trinity campus and with local partner schools, engaging in community learning projects in Hartford, studying in international cities, and doing internships in a variety of urban settings.
\nThe major is \u201cinherently interdisciplinary,\u201d says Chen, in that roughly 30 faculty members are affiliated with it from an array of academic fields. Last spring, several students were involved in self-designed majors, and Myers says that at least 14 then-sophomores were
\nprepared to declare urban studies as their major. \u201cI view it as a major that really starts with the Class of 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Will Morrison \u201914, planned to file the necessary papers to graduate with a co-major in political science and urban studies for which he has already taken many
\nof the required courses. A native of New York City, Morrison says he always wondered about how he could improve the area that he lived in and that he\u2019s always had a fascination with the \u201cins and outs of urban environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCities are the places where people all over the world live,\u201d says Morrison. \u201cThey\u2019re the centers of cultural and economic growth. There\u2019s no more important place to know about than cities.\u201d Both Morrison and Will Kaplan \u201913 have participated in the Cities Program, a special program for entering first-year students that views cities from a range of perspectives in the humanities and social sciences, drawing on insights from history,
\narchitectural history, literary and cultural studies, anthropology, economics, environmental
\nscience, geography, politics, sociology, and urban planning.<\/p>\n

For Morrison, it culminated in a trip, \u201cThe River Cities of Asia,\u201d in the summer of 2012 in
\nwhich faculty and students traveled along the Yangtze and Mekong rivers through China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Kaplan graduated in May with a self-designed urban studies major. A resident of Chicago, Kaplan considered attending other liberal arts colleges but ultimately decided that he wanted to be able to study in a city.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A group from Trinity gathers on the platform of the cable car across the Yangtze River in the City of Chongqing, China, in June 2012. Front row: Nicky Thai \u201915, Mariah Wachtman \u201915; back row: Duncan Grimm \u201915, Hanh Linh Ho \u201915, Dominic Carbone \u201915, Rosangelica Rodriguez \u201915, Avery Dwyer \u201914, Gaurav Toor \u201914, Professor Xiangming Chen<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI loved the Cities Program,\u201d says Kaplan, adding that he could pick and choose courses that fit his interests. Kaplan made an effort to get involved in Trinity\u2019s local community, even going to meetings of the Maple Avenue Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, where Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra, City Council members, and neighborhood activists have been in attendance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great to interact with people on the ground level,\u201d he says. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine
\nmajoring in anything else.\u201d Kaplan\u2019s senior thesis was titled \u201cNeighborhood Organizing, Community Policing and Crime: The Power of Community in Hartford.\u201d Both Chen and Myers view the urban studies major as important and timely for several reasons: It highlights Trinity\u2019s location in Hartford as a distinctive asset; it provides a boost to the College\u2019s urban-global mission; and it builds off the College\u2019s urban-global curricular focus
\nand the momentum from the 2012-13 Mellon Foundation-funded co-curricular initiative on
\ncities and from the new grant given by the Henry Luce Foundation that will run from 2013 through 2016.<\/p>\n

To maintain the vibrancy and sustainability of the new major, it resides in a formally organized and autonomous programmatic structure similar to other interdisciplinary programs at Trinity in international studies, environmental science, and public policy and law.<\/p>\n

Myers, who has coordinated the urban studies minor since his arrival at Trinity last year,
\nwill serve as the founding director of the program through 2016.<\/p>\n

To complete the major, a student must take at least 12 courses in three disciplines. Students must complete the four core courses, four courses in three thematic clusters
\n(urban architecture and the built environment; urban culture, history, society, and economy; and environmental policy and sustainable urban development), and four
\nother urban studies courses.<\/p>\n

Students also are required to complete an integrating exercise that synthesizes earlier
\nurban studies work in the major. Options include taking an advanced, research-oriented
\nurban studies course that requires a seminar paper, or its equivalent, or the completion of an independent study involving a paper or project of similarly significant scope focusing
\non the student\u2019s chosen topic. An internship may qualify if it includes an independent study paper.<\/p>\n

To supplement the on-campus courses, students may take classes at one of Trinity\u2019s eight global programs or affiliated programs. With approval, students may also take courses through Trinity\u2019s partner universities in countries around the world.<\/p>\n

Myers says an urban studies major will prepare students for a wide variety of career paths,
\namong them geography, city government, urban planning, sustainability, emerging markets, and academia. \u201cIt\u2019s a bedrock background to any number of careers in the public or private sector,\u201d he says. \u201cWith our mission of urban and global so entrenched,\u201d says Chen, \u201cthis major is critical and timely and positive. It\u2019s going to send a message to the outside world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michele Jacklin Trinity\u2019s new urban studies major, first offered this fall, was specifically designed to provide an interdisciplinary understanding of how urban dynamics and changes shape both global interdependence and local spaces. According to the architects of the program\u2013Xiangming … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/522"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/522\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-fall2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}