Adjunct majors: Urban Studies & Int'l Studies

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm an incoming freshman planning on majoring in Econ as my primary major, but I'm also genuinely interested in Int'l Studies or, more recently, Urban Studies, after having read the program description actually. I'm not quite decided on what I'd like to do after college; consulting would be an option with an Econ and Int'l/Urban studies background, but I'm also considering working for international NGO.</p>

<p>I'm not so sure on how an "adjunct" major is perceived by employers and recruiters, and I'm also pretty clueless on where these programs stand in terms of reputation and quality. </p>

<p>So, are any of you in the Urban or Int'l Studies programs?
Do you happen to know someone in either of the two programs?
If so, could you let me know what you've heard about these programs?</p>

<p>Having been on these boards for a while, I know these programs aren't topics that are brought up on a usual basis as opposed to popular programs like MMSS and IEMS, but if you know anything, I'd appreciate your feedback.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Alright, this already says a lot about these programs haha.</p>

<p>I was an int'l studies major until recently. being an adjunct major, it has fewer course requirements than a major .... somewhere between a minor and a major, really. it's intended to compliment your chosen primary major. I ended up dropping it in favor of a more traditional double-major because I wasn't that happy with the courses that satisfied the int'l studies requirements. but i know tons of ppl doing int'l studies that love it.</p>

<p>don't know much about urban studies.</p>

<p>in terms of how employers view it, i suppose they would view it the same as having a minor or perhaps a double-major.</p>

<p>I see, thanks for the input.</p>

<p>I came in very interested in Urban Studies. I started working on the requirements but found out that it's not really a major anymore. They don't have a coordinator so its future is up in the air. I started off as an Econ major, but I've since switched over to History with a minor in Sociology. A lot of classes that I have to take for these two concentrations fall under the requirements for urban studies. For example, next quarter I'm taking Soc 207 (Problems of Cities) and winter quarter I plan on taking History 322-2 (Development of the Modern American City) and Poli Sci 221 (Urban Politics). I think that I'm going to keep taking the classes because if they do find a coordinator, then I'll have the courses necessary. If worst comes to worst, they'll still count as distros. </p>

<p>I also would suggest contacting Henry Binford...urban studies is sort of his thing. He's a professor in the history department and is my advisor; he answered all of my questions and helped me sort everything out. Al Hunter, in Sociology, is also a good person to talk to. </p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

<p>^ That's kind of disappointing. I was actually interested in Urban Studies myself. So if there isn't even a coordinator, I'm guessing there aren't that many students in the program?</p>

<p>^ No, there aren't many people in the program. I think that's part of the reason why they're not rushing to find a new coordinator. Back in the day, Urban Studies used to be an actual major and not adjunct, but when enrollment numbers started to decline, its status was downgraded.</p>