Urban and Metropolitan Studies

The Urban and Metropolitan Studies certificate program combines interdisciplinary academic approaches with real-world experiences to enable students to develop expertise in how cities and their metropolitan areas are built, change over time, and impact both residents and their environments.

Applicants to this certificate program must be degree-seeking University of Georgia students and will be required to satisfy the requirements of their chosen major in addition to earning this certificate.

Why Urban and Metropolitan Studies at the University of Georgia?

Meeting the goals for this certificate will help equip UGA students and graduates for career paths and/or graduate study in fields impacted by urban and metropolitan processes.  These might include urban planning, the non-profit sector, real estate, law, architecture and urban design, business and finance, education, government, medicine and health, as well as arts and design.

Inquiries, Application and Completion

There are no prerequisite courses required for the certificate program.  If you have any inquires on the program, please contact the certificate program coordinator (Dr. Steven Holloway, holloway@uga.edu). To apply, please request to be admitted to the Urban and Metropolitan Studies Certificate Program from UGA’s Athena system online. 

Total required course requirements: 12 credits

Required core courses, 6 credits:

GEOG 3630/E, Introduction to Urban Geography or GEOG 3633, Cities and Nature

Please note, students are welcome to take either GEOG 3630/E or GEOG 3633 as their core course. Students can then use the other course (3630 or 3633) towards their elective credit.

One of the following courses :

GEOG 4630/6630, Advanced Urban Geography
GEOG 4631/6631, Race, Inequality, and the American City
GEOG 4632/6632, Urban Social Movements
GEOG 4633/6633, Urban Political Ecology
GEOG(INTL)(HIST) 4634, Paris and Modernity: Power, Politics, and Identity in the City - Study Abroad
GEOG 4635, Cities and Film

Electives, 6 credits (at least one course must be from outside Geography):

No more than one additional course from the GEOG 46xx sequence listed above, and no more than 3 total Geography courses
Upon approval by the Program Director, no more than one instance (3 credit maximum) of ONE of the following may be used:

4xxx-level discipline-specific independent or directed readings
Internship (for credit)
Supervised research (e.g., CURO or Honors Thesis)

ECON 4160, Urban Economics
EDES 4270/6270, Environmental Design Uses of Geographic Information Systems
EDES 4640/6640, The History of Urban Planning
EDES(PLAN) 4650/6650, City Planning
FHCE 3300, Housing in Contemporary Society
FHCE 4300/6300, Advanced Housing Theories
FHCE 4310/6310, Housing Policy
FHCE 4340S/6340S, Housing and Community Development
FHCE 5310/7310, Managing Nonprofit and Special Community Housing
GEOG 4160/6160, Applied Climatology in the Urban Environment
GEOG 4380/6380-4380L/6380L, Transportation Modeling and GIS
GEOG 4385S/6385S, Community GIS, undergoing review
GEOG 4890/6890, Athens Urban Food Collective (AUFC) Service Learning
HIST 3170, History of American Cities
HIST 3690, East Asian Cities: Urban Life in Premodern and Modern China and Japan
LAND 4120/6120, Designing Healthy Places
POLS 4640, Urban Politics

POLS 4641, Science of Cities 
REAL 4000, Real Estate
SOCI 3140, Social Control of Crime
SOCI 3150, Criminal Punishment and Society
SOCI 3810, Criminology
SOCI 3820, Communities and Crime

These courses are grouped into several suggested themes for students (students may design their own themes in consultation with their advisor):

Culture, Society, and Politics: FHCE 3300, FHCE 4300/6300, GEOG 4631/6631, GEOG 4632/6632, GEOG(INTL)(HIST) 4634, GEOG 4635, HIST 3170, HIST 3690, POLS 4640, SOCI 3140, SOCI 3150, SOCI 3810, SOCI 3820
Policy and Planning: ECON 4160, EDES 4640/6640, EDES(PLAN) 4650/6650, FHCE 4310/6310, FHCE 4340S/6340S, GEOG 4631/6631, LAND 4120/6120
Cities and Nature: GEOG 4160/6160, GEOG 4633/6633, GEOG 4890/6890
Community Engagement: FHCE 4340S/6340S, FHCE 5310/7310, GEOG 4385/6385, GEOG 4632/6632, GEOG 4890/6890
Urban and Community GIS: EDES 4270/6270, GEOG 4380/6380-4380L/6380L, GEOG 4385S/6385S