Why I'm majoring in Urban Studies: I'm majoring in Urban Studies because I wanted a nuanced understanding of the ways that people connect. In my experience, that is best illustrated in the experience of cities and urbanism. Cities house the centers of power directly alongside centers of oppression, wealth alongside poverty - if we can figure out how to create spaces that support the needs of these diverse communities, we can begin to dismantle the reproductive nature of poverty and marginalization. I'm interested in doing that work and that brought me to Urban Studies.

What I like best about Urban Studies: I like that Urban Studies makes me go out into the world and learn from experience. I love that I have to intern and the flexibility of the major to support different forms of learning other than the typical lecture-reading-exam format.

Favorite class / professor (and why): URBANST 171 with Danno (Dehan Glanz). I loved this class because it made me take ownership of a single project for the entire quarter. I felt very engaged and responsible for my project, and that made me produce really great work. The project itself was a really authentic assessment that made me develop a concrete skill with urban design that I have since used in actual professional practice.

Career goal / Future plans: Right now, I'm interested in the intersection of informal learning and community planning. I want to figure out how informal learning in communities interacts with formal learning in schools and how we can design places/spaces to develop communities of lifelong learning.

Other academic interests: Minor in Education (Teaching and Learning)

Extracurriculars: Stanford Taiko, RA in Junipero House

For more information: http://jazlynarcher.com