At Urban Studies, we teach our students to analyse, discuss, and solve the issues arising from cities and the rapid urbanisation in a unique way. By merging together expertise from humanities, social sciences, law, science and language for the first time, we mirror the interdisciplinarity and complexity of urban issues.
| Course | EC | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 1 |
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| The City in Long-term and Conceptual Perspectives | 5 | ||
| Academic Writing and Presenting | 10 | ||
| Cultural Diversity in Urban Contexts | 5 | ||
| Governance of Cities and Citizens | 5 | ||
| Individuals, Groups, and Urban Institutions | 5 | ||
|
Semester 2 |
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| Philosophy of Science and the City | 5 | ||
| Urban Economics and Planning | 5 | ||
| The Material City | 5 | ||
| Imagining the City | 5 | ||
| Introduction to Methodology | 5 | ||
| Data Collection Methods | 5 | ||
| Course | EC | Semester 1 | Semester 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mandatory Courses |
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| Multicultural City Lecture Series | 5 | ||
| Safe City Lecture Series | 5 | ||
| Professional Orientation | 5 | ||
| Healthy City Lecture Series | 5 | ||
| Sustainable City Lecture Series | 5 | ||
| Advanced Qualitative Methods | 5 | ||
|
Thematic Electives: pick one each semester |
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| The Production of Belonging: Claiming Urban Space through Cultural and Linguistic Practices | 10 | ||
| Crime, Criminalisation and the Right to the City | 10 | ||
| Population Health Management and Health Behaviour Change | 10 | ||
| Biodiversity in the City | 10 | ||
|
Methodological Electives: pick one each semester |
|||
| Exploring Archival Sources | 5 | ||
| Inferential Statistics | 5 | ||
| Spatial Analysis and Modelling in the Urban Environment | 5 | ||
| Learn a Language | 5 | ||
During the first year the programme will focus on the basic concepts and knowledge of cities and urbanization, as well as skills in academic writing and presenting, and basic methodology. Group mentors will give intensive supervision.
The second year focuses on four key themes: Multicultural City, Safe City, Healthy City, and Sustainable City. You will have the opportunity to discover each of the four themes, by following compulsory introductory lectures alongside electives (knowledge-based and methodological) in two of the themes. Apart from this theme-based research, there is a course in the first semester specifically aimed at stimulating students to think about their own interests, strengths and prospective career.
In the first semester of the third year you can make your own choices in the Elective Credits Space: studying abroad, a minor, an internship or electives. Your focus and thesis will be on one of the four themes. By choosing electives that fit your chosen theme, you can determine your own career path. You will also be able to work towards fulfilling the entry requirements of your preferred master’s programme after the BA Urban Studies.
In the second semester, there is an integrated component focused on introducing the student to the job market by setting up a project for an external partner. Students conclude the programme by writing an interdisciplinary thesis combined with a thesis seminar.
The student
1) has a general understanding and orientation of the foundations of Urban Studies (urbanisation, governance, urban economy, urban sociology) and its specialisations (multiculturalism, well-being and health, safety, and sustainability);
2) has basic knowledge and general understanding of the reciprocity between international, national and local aspects of socio-cultural urban issues;
3) has knowledge and understanding of the long term perspectives of urbanisation processes;
4) has basic knowledge and understanding of state-of-the-art methods and techniques used in at least two of the following disciplines: Humanities, Social sciences, Sciences.
The student
5) is able to apply and compare knowledge and understanding of at least two of the following specialisations within Urban Studies: multiculturalism, well-being and health, safety, sustainability
6) is able to systematically search and select relevant literature;
7) is able to apply basic qualitative and quantitative research methods and techniques in humanities, social sciences and (environmental) sciences and more advanced methods and techniques in at least one of these disciplines;
8) is able to analyse and conceptualise phenomena in a comparative perspective;
9) is able to formulate coherent solutions for urban problems based on existing scientific theories and contemporary research;
10) is able to set up and conduct research with limited complexity within the interdisciplinary context of Urban Studies.
The student
11) is aware of current ethical concepts and principles in the field of Urban Studies and of proper scientific conduct as part of a scientific attitude;
12) is able to judge the value of theories and research practice from a philosophy of science-perspective;
13) is self-critical, is particularly able to put culturally instilled attitudes into perspective;
14) is capable of analysis, conceptualisation, reasoning;
15) is able to formulate problems and (help) find solutions;
16) is able to assess (basic) research methods and research outcomes;
17) is able to judge his or her own research as well as the research of others;
18) is able to reflect on the profession and work of practitioners.
The student
19) is able to report comprehensively, correctly and critically in English on matters pertaining to Urban Studies;
20) is able to present research results in a comprehensive manner both written and verbally to a specialist and non-specialist public;
21) is able to discuss, and come up with arguments;
22) gives feedback to peers in a constructive fashion.
The student
23) is sociable and communicative when working with others;
24) uses feedback and reasoned criticism from peers to revise his/her own point oview or argumentation;
25) takes on board the instructions and criticism of supervisors, and takes previous instructions and criticism into account in comparable situations;
26) is able to make a realistic schedule and to stick to the agreed schedule and prioritisation.
27) is able to make a conscious choice in favour of continued studies (e.g. master’s programme) or of a position in the labour market.
To be issued with a positive Binding Study Advice (BSA), students of the BA Urban Studies must obtain at least 45 EC and meet the additional requirement of passing the course Academic Writing and Presenting (semester 1) in their first academic year.
The curriculum of Urban Studies is characterised by training our students to analyse, discuss, and solve challenges that arise due to rapid global urbanisation. By merging together expertise from humanities, social sciences, law, and science for the first time, we mirror the interdisciplinarity and complexity of urban issues.
How can you use this knowledge and the skills that you acquire? Which specialisation should you choose within your study programme and why? What skills do you already have, and what further skills do you still want to learn? How do you translate the courses that you choose into something that you’d like to do after graduation?
These questions and more will be discussed at various times during your study programme. You may already have spoken about them with your study coordinator, the Humanities Career Service or other students, or made use of the Leiden University Career Zone. Many different activities are organised to help you reflect on your own wishes and options, and give you the chance to explore the job market. All these activities are focused on the questions: ‘What can I do?’, ‘What do I want?’ and ‘How do I achieve my goals?’.
You will be notified via the Humanities website, your study programme website and email about further activities in the area of job market preparation. The following activities will help you to thoroughly explore your options, so we advise you to take careful note of them:
Introductory interview with Coordinator of Studies
Mentoring and Academic Skills
Introduction to the the Humanities Career Service
Activities of study association ASTUS
Study abroad
Workshop ‘Competences in Humanities’ and various other Humanities Career Service workshops
Minor Market (Leiden University)
Master’s Open Day (Leiden University)
Humanities Career Event or the Campus The Hague Career Event
Study abroad information session
Activities of study association ASTUS
Guest lectures of alumni
Master’s Open Day (Leiden University)
Humanities Career Event or the Campus The Hague Career Event
Workshop ‘How to find a job?’ and workshop ‘CV and letter’
Activities of study association ASTUS
Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in the ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation and innovation; intrapersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.
It is therefore important that during your study programme you not only acquire as much knowledge as possible about your subject, but also are aware of the skills you have gained and the further skills you still want to learn. The course descriptions in the e-Prospectus of Urban Studies include, in addition to the courses’ learning objectives, a list of the skills that they aim to develop.
The skills you may encounter in the various courses are:
Collaboration
Persuasion
Research
Self-directed learning
Creative thinking
Courses of the study programme obviously help to prepare you for the job market. As a study programme, we aim to cover this topic either directly or less directly in each semester. Within Urban Studies, this takes place within the following courses:
Elective Credits Space (coming up) allows students to opt for an integrated internship where they gain valuable work experience.
Setting Up a Project (coming up) gives our students the opportunity to turn their experience into practice by collaborating with peers on an actual consultancy project from the field. They will write pitch their findings for the client, and practice with writing an advisory policy document.
If you have any questions about career choices, whether in your studies or on the job market, you are welcome to book an appointment with the career adviser of the Humanities Career Service, or with your Coordinator of Studies, Dennis van Leeuwen.