The information listed below is a direct excerpt from the current Course Catalog.
Published annually, the Course Catalog sets out the requirements of the academic programs--the majors, minors, and concentrations. Each Bryn Mawr student must declare her major before the end of her sophomore year. Students may also declare a minor or a concentration, but neither is required for the A.B. degree. Students must comply with the requirements published in the Course Catalog at the time when they declare the major, minor and/or concentration.
The Course Catalog also sets out the College requirements. Students must comply with the College requirements published at the time they enter Bryn Mawr College.
For the entire current and archived copies of the Course Catalog, please visit: http://www.brynmawr.edu/catalog/
Students may complete a major or minor in Growth and Structure of Cities. Complementing the major, students may complete a concentration in Environmental Studies or Latin American, Latino, and Iberian Peoples and Cultures. Students also may enter the 3-2 Program in City and Regional Planning, offered in cooperation with the University of Pennsylvania.
The interdisciplinary Growth and Structure of Cities major challenges students to understand the dynamic relationships connecting urban spatial organization and the built environment with politics, economics, cultures and societies worldwide. Core introductory classes present analytic approaches that explore changing forms of the city over time and analyze the variety of ways through which women and men have re-created global urban life through time and across cultures. With these foundations, students pursue their interests through classes in architecture, urban social and economic relations, urban history, studies of planning and the environmental conditions of urban life. Opportunities for internships, volunteering, and study abroad also enrich the major. Advanced seminars further ground the course of study by focusing on specific cities and topics.
A minimum of 15 courses (11 courses in Cities and four allied courses in other related fields) is required to complete the major. Two introductory courses (185, 190) balance sociocultural and formal approaches to urban form and the built environment, and introduce cross-cultural and historical comparison of urban development. The introductory sequence should be completed with a broader architectural survey course (253, 254, 255) and a second social science course that entails extended analysis (217 or 229). These courses should be completed as early as possible in the first and second years; at least two of them must be taken by the end of the first semester of the sophomore year. Students are encouraged to use other writing intensive classes within the major to develop a range of skills in methods, theory, and presentation. In addition to these introductory courses, each student selects six elective courses within the Cities Department, including cross-listed courses. At least two must be at the 300 level. In the senior year, a third advanced course is required. Most students join together in a research seminar, CITY 398. Occasionally, however, after consultation with the major advisers, the student may elect another 300-level course or a program for independent research. This is often the case with double majors who write a thesis in another field.
Each student must also identify four courses outside Cities that represent additional expertise to complement her work in the major. These may include courses such as physics and calculus for architects, or special skills in design, language, or regional interests. Any minor, concentration, or second major also fulfills this requirement. Cities courses that are cross-listed with other departments or originate in them can be counted only once in the course selection, although they may be either allied or elective courses.
Both the Cities Department electives and the four or more allied courses must be chosen in close consultation with the major advisers in order to create a strongly coherent sequence and focus. This is especially true for students interested in architecture, who will need to arrange studio time (226, 228) as well as accompanying courses in math, science and architectural history; they should contact the department director or Daniela Voith in their first year. Likewise, students interested in pursuing a concentration in Environmental Studies should consult with Ellen Stroud early in their career, and those interested in pursuing Iberian, Latin American, and Latino/a themes should consult with Gary McDonogh. All students will be asked to provide a statement of their interests and goals to enrich the advising process.
Finally, students should also note that many courses in the department are given on an alternate-year basis. Many carry prerequisites in art history, economics, history, sociology, or the natural sciences.
Programs for study abroad or off campus are encouraged, within the limits of the Bryn Mawr and Haverford rules and practices. In general, a one-semester program is strongly preferred. The Cities Department regularly works with off-campus and study-abroad programs that are strong in architectural history, planning, and design, as well as those that allow students to pursue social and cultural interests. Students who would like to spend part or all of their junior year away must consult with the major advisers and appropriate deans early in their sophomore year.
Cities majors have created major plans that have allowed them to coordinate their interests in cities with architecture, planning, ethnography, history, law, environmental studies, mass media, social justice, medicine, public health, the fine arts, and other fields. No matter the focus, though, each Cities major must develop a solid foundation in both the history of architecture and urban form and the analysis of urban culture, experience, and policy. Careful methodological choices, clear analytical writing, and critical visual analysis constitute primary emphases of the major. Strong interaction with faculty and other students are an important and productive part of the Cities Department, which helps us all take advantage of the major's flexibility in an organized and rigorous way.
Students who wish to minor in the Cities Department must take at least two out of the four required courses and four cities electives, including two at the 300 level. Senior Seminar is not mandatory for fulfilling the cities minor.
Over the past two decades, many Cities majors have entered the 3-2 Program in City and Regional Planning, offered in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania. Students interested in this program should meet with Carola Hein early in their sophomore year.
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