Georgia State University Announces State’s First Urban Studies Doctorate

ATLANTA—Applications open January 2019 for the first Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies offered by the University System of Georgia. The new degree program, developed by the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies’ Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University, will welcome its inaugural class of students in the fall of 2019.

“The Ph.D. in Urban Studies is a multidisciplinary advanced degree designed to prepare graduates for careers as faculty, researchers and policymakers,” said institute director Jan Nijman, a Distinguished University Professor of Geosciences. “We’ve developed it to shape the leaders our world needs in facing both the challenges and opportunities found daily in our complex urban environments.”

The Urban Studies Institute, which was developed with the support of Georgia State’s innovative Second Century initiative in 2016, first offered Georgia State students an undergraduate minor in urban studies. It expanded the Andrew Young School’s degree programs with its new Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Urban Studies in 2017.

“Urbanization continues to grow, and with that growth comes increasing challenges for policymakers,” said Sally Wallace, dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. “The new graduate programs in our Urban Studies Institute add to our school’s strength in meeting the needs of policymakers and practitioners in this complex environment.”

To learn more about Georgia State’s new Ph.D. in Urban Studies and its curriculum go to https://theandrewyoungschool.gsu.edu/phd-urban-studies-2019/.