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What is Urban Studies?

Stanford students tour San Francisco by bicycle.

Students take a bicycle tour as part of Urban Studies 150, From Gold Rush to Google Bus: The History of San Francisco.

An interdisciplinary, undergraduate program at Stanford that combines academic approaches with real-world experience to understand cities.  

Why the Urban Studies program?

If you’ve ever wondered why people live in cities (or suburbs), how the physical environment influences behavior, or how to address seemingly intractable problems like urban poverty, homelessness, or troubled schools, Urban Studies may be for you. 

Classes Types and Concentrations

Our students take a common set of prerequisite and core classes, as well as skills classes in research methods and Geographic Information Systems.  This work provides the basis for a specialization in one of our five concentration areas

Service Learning and Capstone

Students also complete an approved service-learning course or internship, as well as an original research capstone project.

Careers

Our graduates go on to graduate schools in urban planning, architecture, law, business, education, and public policy; others go into careers in the non-profit sector, consulting, government, and real estate development.

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