Urban Studies and Social and Cultural Analysis (BA)

Department Website

Program Description

Urban studies is an established and interdisciplinary area of inquiry—focusing on cities and their regions, urban social life, cultures, the built and natural environment, economics, politics, and policy—that is strengthened when students are strongly grounded in a traditional academic discipline. It is also an area of inquiry that has traditionally privileged dynamics of class, inequality, and labor. Social and cultural analysis, meanwhile, provides a rigorous framework for thinking about questions of difference along the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and indigeneity. The joint major in Urban Studies and Social and Cultural Analysis introduces students to the study of cities and metropolitan areas as complex sites of difference viewed through the lenses of feminist and postcolonial theory as well as of critical race and ethnic studies. 

The major takes full advantage of NYU’s location and builds on the University’s long-standing relationships with key urban institutions, both public and private, ranging from planning agencies to urban arts and culture institutions. 

This program of study trains students in geographic information systems (GIS), a powerful mapping tool that many will find useful in their future careers. The major prepares students for careers in urban policy and planning; community organization and advocacy; civic affairs; urban arts and culture; immigration policy and racial/social justice; housing and real estate; scholarly research in urban humanities and social science; and careers in teaching and academia. 

Students should consult with advisers in both the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis and the Program in Urban Studies.

Honors Program

This major program of study does not currently offer an honors track.

Admissions

New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply