Message from the Director

Melinda Lucka Kelley, Director

Welcome to the urban studies major at the College of Charleston.  If you love cities or are concerned about urban issues, such as poverty and transportation, and you want to learn about some of the tools that you and others can use to make cities even better places to live, then read on! 

Urban studies concerns itself with the culture, health, quality of life, and environmental sustainability of urban places.  Whether you are interested in cities or suburbs and whether you are curious about environmental, land use, housing, economic, urban design, or other issues, this program of study is for you.  The URST major has the faculty, the courses, and the experiential programs to meet your needs.  URST has three concentrations (the Urban Planning and Administration concentration, the Urban Policy and Social Problems concentration, and the Sustainable Urbanism concentration) that enable students to craft their major to their specific career goals.  The professors who teach in the URST program represent a wide variety of exciting and diverse areas from political science and sociology to historic preservation and community planning, and many more.  Most importantly, the tools and knowledge gained from an URST education will earn you a distinct set of qualifications for a range of employment and future graduate study in public, private, and nonprofit sector careers.  For instance, you will be prepared to work as city planners, nonprofit organizers, and as consultants/administrators for development related organizations.