The Urban Studies Program has been part of Stanford for over 40 years.
In 1970, the curriculum in Urban Studies was established for students and faculty interested in studying the history, development, and current state of urban areas.
In 1985, the Program on Urban Studies was formalized as a degree-granting program. The Program’s Executive Committee at that time consisted of Claiborne Carson (Associate Professor of History), Nancy Tuma (Professor of Sociology), Paul Turner (Associate Professor of Art), Lyna Wiggins (Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering), and Sylvia Yanagisako (Assistant Professor of Anthropology).
From the early 1990s through 2003-04, Urban Studies was co-located with the Public Policy Program although each program had its own director. At the start of 2004-05, both programs were embedded in the Department of Political Science on a trial basis, meaning that Urban Studies and Political Science shared administrative staff and office space, but each retained its own leadership and curriculum. In 2006-2007, the program was embedded in the Department of Sociology.
