Requirements

Minor in Urban Studies

The minor in Urban Studies is designed to complement a variety of majors throughout the curriculum.  Prospective minors are strongly encouraged to declare early and consult with a member of the Urban Studies committee in order to tailor their minors to the rest of their program of study. No major is available.

Requirements for the Minor:

• Core course for all students: Urban Studies 120 /  History 235: American Cities
• One methodology course: Minors are expected to take one methodology course that is related to the types of research they are likely to do in Urban Studies. The following methodology courses are already approved. Other methodology courses may be taken to meet this requirement in consultation with the chair of Urban Studies.  NOTE: many of the courses below have prerequisites or are restricted to majors.
  • ARTH 485: Seminar: Means and Methods of Art Historians
  • COMM 256: Communication Research Methods
  • ECON 180: Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business OR ECON/BUSN/FIN 130 Applied Statistics
  • HIST 300: The Historian’s Workshop
  • MATH 150: Introduction to Probability and Statistics
  • POLS 200: Methods of Political Research
  • PSYC 221: Research Methods and Statistics I
  • PSYC 222: Research Methods and Statistics II
  • SOAN 310: Quantitative Methods
  • SOAN 320: Qualitative Methods
• One internship, equivalent to one credit (150 hours), covering urban work. (Internships must have approval of the Urban Studies chair in order to receive credit.)

• Three electives from at least two different disciplines with a significant focus on urban issues. The electives may be from the following list, or as approved by the Urban Studies chair. A second internship (equivalent to one credit) may replace one of the three electives:

  • AFAM 110: Intro to African American Studies
  • AFAM 228: History of Hip Hop
  • AFAM 275/HIST 275: Black Diaspora Freedom Struggles
  • AFAM 305: Women and Gender in Hip Hop
  • AFAM 361/HIST 306: Civil Rights Movement
  • AFAM 317/HIST 317: History of Black Television
  • AFAM 325/ENGL 325: Black Literature of the 60s
  • AMER 226: Chicago: Local and Global
  • AMER 238: Religion and Place in Chicago
  • ART 261: Art of Social Change
  • ARTH 189: Public Art in Chicago
  • ARTH 217: 19th Century Art
  • ARTH 218: 20th Century Art
  • ARTH 221: Modern Architecture
  • ARTH 225: American Architecture
  • ARTH 226: Colonial Latin American Art
  • ARTH 280: Architecture in East Asia
  • ARTH 323: Monuments and Memory
  • ARTH 360: Contemporary Art
  • BUSN 240/340: Chicago Business and Industry
  • BUSN 341: Global Cultures & Intnl Bus-Chgo
  • COMM 274: Visual Chicago
  • COMM 283: Race, Class, Gender, and the Media
  • COMM 285: Modern Media History
  • COMM 287: Media Systems and Institutions
  • COMM 374: Rhetorical Chicago
  • COMM 383: New Media & Society
  • COMM 385: The Public Sphere
  • COMM 389: Political Economy of Media
  • ECON 280: The Mexican-American Border
  • ECON 320: Labor in the American Economy
  • ECON 325: Economy of Land
  • ECON 340: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
  • ECON 489: Globalization and Its Impact
  • EDUC 212: Educational Reform in the U.S.
  • EDUC 309: Immigration and Education
  • EDUC 320: Comparative and International Educ
  • EDUC 310: Equity and Social Justice in Education
  • ENGL 219: Malcolm & Martin
  • ENGL 312/AFAM 312: Black Metropolis: A Study of Black Life in Chicago
  • ES 117: Geography and Demography
  • ES 218: American Geographies
  • ES 315: The Social Ethics of Energy Production and Use
  • ES 323/AFAM 323: African American Environmental Culture
  • ES 335: Environmental Justice
  • FIN 337: Real Estate Finance
  • HIST 201: Inequity, Rights, Reaction: Modern US
  • HIST 203: African American History 1865-2016
  • HIST 239: History of Education in American Society
  • HIST 259: Immigration in France 1945 to Today
  • HIST 260: Modern China
  • HIST 262: Modern Japan
  • HIST 284: Epidemic Disease in Western History
  • HIST 290: Capitalism: A Global History
  • HIST 308: Sport and Spectacle Modern America
  • HIST 312: Immigration in U.S. History
  • HIST 319: Protest and Police in U.S. History
  • POLS 233: Chicago Politics
  • POLS 234: Urban Politics
  • POLS 239: Chicago: Local and Global
  • POLS 265: Immigration Law and Policy
  • POLS 219: Politics of Latin America
  • POLS 316: Global Cities
  • SOAN 237: City, Space and Place
  • SOAN 290: Social Problems and Social Policy
  • SOAN 230: Anthropology of Sports
  • SOAN 239: Social Movements and Society
  • SOAN 244: Anthropology of Education
  • SOAN 363: Globalization, Modernity, Culture
  • SPAN 325: U.S. Latinx Literature and Culture
  • SPAN 380: Cine, Literatura y Sociedad América Latina
  • SPAN 425: Latin American Culture
  • THTR 250: Exploring Chicago Stages

  Some of the electives noted above may be offered as part of Lake Forest College’s In The Loop program. Courses from other off-campus programs may be eligible to count as electives toward the minor with the approval of the Urban Studies chair.