The Area of Study
Once a student is admitted to Phase II, they form a Supervisory Committee to oversee their progress through the rest of their academic program. The committee must consist of at least three faculty members in the Interdisciplinary Group representing at least two academic departments; one member must be from the Department of Urban Design and Planning. Students requiring a committee of a different composition should submit a request to the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee recommends (but does not require) that students have at least four faculty members on their committee and that two of these be from the Department of Urban Design and Planning. Students will develop with their supervisory committee a description of their proposed areas of study. These will define areas of scholarship that must demonstrate an interdisciplinary research approach to an application within urban planning and policy. The description should develop a curriculum proposal approved by the supervisory committee that addresses the following advanced study requirements.
Phase II Curriculum Requirements
Students are required to complete five courses that satisfy broad categories of urban theories and urban design & planning. Many approved courses for each requirement draw on courses outside the URBDP program. Based on their own research program and agenda, students may select courses that align closely with one research cluster or may choose courses across research clusters. These requirements provide opportunities to establish relationships with faculty with whom they may wish to work as dissertation advisors or supervisory committee members. In addition, to complete this phase of the program, students must complete two additional advanced research design and methods courses, as well as a teaching methods seminar.
Phase II requirements involve 7 (total) courses and a teaching seminar, in addition to advanced courses directly related to the area of study selected by the student. Some of these courses may be taken in the first year.
Note: Coursework completed prior to Autumn 2020 may meet the requirements of either the current curriculum on these pages or of the Legacy Curriculum. All Phase I and II course requirements can be tracked with this spreadsheet.
Urban Processes and Patterns
Students must complete at least three courses that satisfy the urban processes and patterns requirement. This requirement is designed to ensure a deeper understanding of the bio-physical and socio-economic forces that shape urban areas, and to draw on urban theories from multiple disciplines. Students who have a well-defined research direction that requires them to take other courses must first carefully explore other alternatives with their adviser and then apply to the steering committee for review and possible approval as an exception.
Choose three of the following:
Urban and Environmental Design and Planning
The disciplines of planning and urban design draw upon the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and other applied fields, for the distinctive purposes of institutional and spatial transformation.
This requirement consists of two or more courses to ground interdisciplinary pursuits within the distinctive subfields of planning, design, and the governance of place.
Advanced Research Design and Methods
All students must complete two additional courses that satisfy the advanced research design and methods requirement. The purpose of this requirement is to help students develop more focused and targeted research designs based on their own research interests, and to build their methodological capacity to implement this research. These courses may be either quantitative or qualitative in nature, depending on the student’s research interests.
Choose two of the following. (Note: Students who have already mastered material offered in Phase 1 [Quant/Qual] courses, may also select an additional quantitative and/or qualitative course from this section to count toward those respective Phase 1 requirements.)
Teaching Methods
One URBDP Progam Office approved teaching seminar before completion of phase III.
- The Center for Teaching and Learning Symposium
- C ENV 555 Teaching Right – Best Practice Pedagogy In Environment Courses
General Examination
A critical review of the literature in the area of study must be developed by the student, which integrates interdisciplinary research on the area of study selected by the student, and identifies areas of potential research opportunity that may subsequently form the basis for a dissertation proposal. The review should demonstrate broad familiarity with relevant research in the chosen area, and with the range of theory and methods applied within the reviewed literature. The committee will provide feedback to the student at this stage about areas of additional study that may be required before a suitable dissertation proposal may be developed. Once advanced coursework in the area of study and critical review of the literature are completed, the student and committee schedule a General Examination, in which the Supervisory Committee evaluates the preparedness of the student to advance to doctoral candidate status, and to begin developing a dissertation proposal. It will be designed and evaluated by the student’s supervisory committee.