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Bachelor of Arts: Course Descriptions

TURB 101 Exploring Cities (5) I&S

Introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of Urban Studies. Exposes the complexity of everyday life in metropolitan areas. Explores how the various disciplines of sociology, anthropology, geography, economies, and political science have studies and made sense of cities. Special attention given to issues of class, race, and gender.

TURB 110 Introduction to Digital Urban Data Analysis (5)

Provides a methodological foundation to digital research and data analysis technologies to build a unique set of urban analytical tools.

TURB 205 Images of the City (3) I&S (formerly TURB 405)

Examines how the city is portrayed through various media and how those portrayals affect society's perception of urban places. Discusses imagery from films, literature, television, newspapers, and magazines. Considers images linked to such elements as crime, ethnic enclaves, downtown areas, and suburbia.

TURB 210 Urban Society and Culture (5) I&S (formerly TURB 310)

An examination of the social structure of cities. Discusses issues related to class, race, ethnicity, and gender. Considers the impact of societal differences on urban form, residential patterns, and labor markets.

TURB 220 Introduction to Urban Planning (5) I&S (formerly TURB 320)

Introduction to the planning process. Presents and discusses the major planning sub-fields. Includes topics in housing, transportation, recreation, environmental planning, and preservation planning. Examines techniques associated with growth controls and land use management. Introductory course for students with planning emphasis.

TURB 301 The Urban Condition (5) I&S

An overview of the city as a place of residence, commerce, and industry. Consideration is given to urban form and function. Social, economic, and political factors affecting urban life and development are discussed. Issues related to social justice and equity are emphasized.

TURB 310 (see TURB 210)

 

TURB 312 Race and Poverty in Urban America (5) I&S

Examines current research, policy, and debate surrounding race and poverty in urban America. Includes affirmative action, the changing family, cultural identity, the inner-city crisis, interracial relationships, residential segregation, and the working and non-working poor.

TURB 314 Gender and the Urban Landscape (5) I&S

Examines linkages between cultural, physical, and symbolic urban landscapes and gender ideologies, structures, and practices. Major themes from gender and urban studies include domestic/public divisions, sexuality and city spaces, consumption, and urban design. Emphasizes integration of theoretical positions an ideas into students' work.

TURB 315 Homes, Housing, and Homelessness (3) I&S

Provides a hands-on introduction (field trips and research projects) to issues of housing and homelessness, focusing on the South Puget Sound Region. Includes the political economy of public housing, the rise and expansion of suburbia, the cultural significance of gated communities, and the persistence of homelessness.

TURB 316 Cities and Citizenship (5) I&S

Addresses inequality in urban spaces through the concept of citizenship and ideas about rights to the city. While the course is traditional in its concern with urban poverty, race, ethnicity, and immigration, it offers a vocabulary of citizenship and rights to investigate urban inequalities and how various populations experience them.

TURB 318 Organizing Communities (3) I&S

Examines social, economic and political problems from an organizer's perspective. Examines problems and issues associated with organizing, and introduces the basic tools required to design successful organizing efforts. Particular attention will be given to communities facing issue-oriented organizing.

TURB 320 (see TURB 220)

 

TURB 321 History of Planning Theory and Practice (5) I&S

An examination on planning theory and practice with an emphasis on twentieth-century theorists and advocates. Examines the impacts of planning theories and movements on planning practice and urban form in Europe and America. Prerequisite: TURB 320 or permission from instructor.

TURB 322 Land Use Planning (5) I&S

Examines the land use planning process at the local level with a focus on the contemporary United States. Review of theories of land use change, arguments for and against planning intervention, and the role of the land use planner in the local land development arena. Prerequisite: TURB 320 or 321 or permission of instructor.

TURB 323 Sustainable Urban Development Policies (5) I&S

Examines how public policy mechanisms are used to support and accomplish sustainability through the interweaving of social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. Encourages the development of both critical and constructive perspectives on policies of sustainability.

TURB 325 Urban Transportation: Problems and Prospects (3) I&S

Provides an overview of urban transportation, its challenges and prospects. Examines historical and contemporary issues such as the relationship of mobility to the urban form, environmental concerns, climate change impacts, and the challenges of sustainable urban transportation.

TURB 326 Climate Change within the Urban Context (3) I&S

Provides an understanding of the nexus of urbanization and climate change. Covers international standards, the urban carbon footprint, and mitigation strategies such as urban forests, urban agriculture, green buildings, and sustainable transportation. Also considers climate justice and climate change adaptation.

TURB 330 City Worlds (5) I&S

Examines world urbanization and the shifting geographies associated with economic restructuring and globalization. Ethnicity, gender, urban form, local governance strategies, and resistance to those strategies are considered. Includes examples from cities in both the developed and developing world.

TURB 335 Community Development (3) I&S

Examines theories, policies, and practice of community change and development in American cities. Explores ways to assess community conditions, the contributions of various community institutions, impacts of regional, national, and global political economies, community-oriented development strategies, and methods to evaluate community development initiatives.

TURB 345 Urban Government and Organizations (5) I&S (formerly TURB 415)

Examines the structure and workings of urban government and non-governmental agencies and organizations. Considers the responsibilities and challenges of governmental and non-governmental organizations along with their impact on the physical and social development of the city.

TURB 350 Introduction to Urban Research (5) I&S

Introduction to research methods pertinent to the study of urban issues, society and culture. Emphasizes the logic of the scientific method, understanding the interrelated stages of the research process, understanding and critiquing quantitative and qualitative research literature, and learning strategies for gathering and analyzing data.

TURB 360 The African American Urban Experience (5) I&S

Places African Americans at the center of the American urban condition from the colonial era to the 21st century. Interdisciplinary study of U.S. urban history, contemporary social, cultural and policy research and comparative perspectives on race and ethnicity to illuminate the growth and evolution of African American urban communities.

TURB 379 Urban Field Experience (5-15, maximum 15)

Urban field course based in a metropolitan area. Examines urban problems, issues, and developments through site visits, presentations by local experts, and student research and reports. Includes visits to U.S. and foreign cities. Topics vary, depending on city visited. Offered: Summer.

TURB 380 Comparative International Perspectives on Cities and the Environment (15) I&S/NW

Interdisciplinary approach to integrating urban and environmental issues in two or more world cities. Includes site visits and interactions with foreign scholars and practitioners. Topics may include coastal development, transportation, parks, marine conservation, indigenous cultures, environmental planning, gentrification, urban governance, and watershed management. Offered: jointly with TEST/ENVIR 380.

TURB 399 International Urban Studies (3-15)

Urban Studies courses taken though UWT Urban Studies foreign study program for which there are no direct UWT course equivalents.

TURB 401 Urban Change and Development (5) I&S

Examines relationships that shape the development of cities under conditions of globalization. Overview of key terms and concepts, examples of changing urban social and economic conditions, and analysis of connections among global processes, urban experiences, and the production of urban space in the United States.

TURB 405 (see TURB 205)

 

TURB 410/THLTH 410 Environmental Equity (3) I&S

Explores the relationships between environmental issues and people of color and low-income communities from both local and global perspectives. Emphasizes issues of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and policy and politics in environmental equity.

TURB 420 Cities and the Constitution (5) I&S

Examines Constitutional rights to freedom of expression in public institutions and public places of cities. Considers rights to freedom of expression as they exist in a variety of forums -- streets and parks, schools, shopping malls, university sporting events, and property surrounding prisons. Analyzes interactions among rights and community interests.

TURB 430 Pacific Rim Cities (5) I&S

Examines links between urbanization and globalization on the Pacific Rim and connections between events and social/economic processes in places that seem distinct (e.g., China, Canada, Mexico, Philippines). Case studies and discussion topics include questions of class formation, political change, migration patterns, and gender/family dynamics.

TURB 440 City and Nature (5) I&S

Examines connections between urban and environmental conditions by investigating the social and material production of urban nature. Challenges conceptual barriers between nature and the city that have evolved over time and considers new strategies for achieving both environmental sustainability and social justice in the city.

TURB 445 Urban Ecology (5) I&S

Multidisciplinary approach to the study of dynamic interactions among human and ecological systems in urban settings. Covers processes of urbanization and urbanization's impacts on the earth's ecology. Specific themes include how socioeconomic factors and human preferences drive human patterns and how these patterns affect ecological processes and cause ecological change.

TURB 450 Planning for Sustainability (5) I&S

Examines the growing impact of global sustainability on local spatial planning systems, especially in the US, UK, Europe and South Africa. Specific topics include the philosophies, theories, goals, techniques, and institutional politics of sustainability planning.

TURB 460 Urban Issues in the Developing World (5) I&S

Examines challenges associated with urban development and societal change in developing countries. Examines topics such as mega cities, squatter housing, and informal labor. Adopts a geographical perspective and focuses on local governance issues.

TURB 475 Community & Economy (5) I&S

Explores the connections between economic practices and local community development under conditions of global political and economic interconnectedness. Critically examines the spatial character of capitalist economic behavior and considers a range of challenges confronting efforts to build sustainable and equitable local economies.

TURB 479 Planning and Development in the Puget Sound Region (3-12, max. 12) I&S

Examines the problems and prospects associated with rapid growth in the Seattle-Tacoma urban region. Includes site visits and discussions with public officials, planners and developers. Topics/sites vary and include such issues as growth management, sprawl, transportation, sustainable development, land use, and environmental protection.

TURB 492 Urban Studies Capstone Seminar (5) I&S

Interdisciplinary approach to the study of urban issues and problems. Designed for an in-depth analysis of selected issues. Focuses on one aspect of the city (e.g., gentrification, housing, segregation, sprawl).

This course is required for Urban Studies seniors in their final quarter at UWT. It requires that students undertake a major project involving research. Goals are to strengthen skills in research design, improve student understanding of appropriate application of research techniques and methodologies, and enhance writing skills. The course is packaged as an in-classroom setting meeting at least once a week. It begins with students working in small groups and with the faculty member to develop research topics and then evolves into independent research with regular faculty interaction.

TURB 494 Undergraduate Research (1-15, maximum 15)

Individual research project carried out under the supervision/direction of an Urban Studies faculty member.

TURB 496 Community Service Project (3-15, maximum 15)

In conjunction with faculty adviser, students develop and implement a community service-learning project. Involves activities such as assistance to disadvantaged populations, community outreach programs, policy analysis, or related work intended to improve the quality of life in the community. Includes academic study designed to integrate practical applications with learning and theory. Credit/no credit only.

TURB 498 Urban Internship (3-15, maximum 15)

Provides opportunities to gain experience and apply concepts taught in the Urban Studies classroom. Involves learning skills and applying knowledge by working directly with public, non-profit, and private sector organizations concerned with urban issues. Credit/no credit only.

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