Urban Studies concentrators can choose from programs in dozens of countries, each offering an enriching complement to their urban studies curriculum back at Brown.
Students interested in studying abroad should check out Brown's Study Abroad website for more information about the over 130 programs available through Brown or other approved partners.
During the Fall of 2019, I traveled with IHP’s Cities in the 21st Century: People, Planning, and Politics to Buenos Aires, Argentina, Barcelona, Spain, and Cape Town, South Africa. Spending a month in each country, the curriculum was urban studies focused, examining issues relating to housing, labor, transportation, tourism, urban citizenship, municipal governance, and more specific to each city we were in. Our classes were complemented by field trips, guest lectures, and meetings with local actors such as government officials, non-profits, business, and activists. Outside of the classroom, I got to live with three host families, one in each country that truly made by experience unique, and introduced me to three amazing families. Overall, this experience expanded my understanding of contemporary urban problems on a municipal scale as well as in a greater global context, and the range of actions and policies that the public, private, and non-profit sectors are taking across the globe to tackle the most pressing urban challenges.
I studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark through the DIS - Copenhagen Study Abroad Program. My "core course", the thematic focus of my semester, was called the European Urban Experience: Why Cities Matter. I learned about human-centered design and tactical urbanism from faculty who work in diverse positions within the field of urban studies. My Strategies of Urban Livability course was taught half of the time in a traditional classroom, and half outside via bicycle tours to illuminate real-life concepts we got to experience firsthand. The built-in travel of the program allowed me and my coursemates to study the superblocks of Barcelona and to analyze public space and waterfront developments in Hamburg. This substantial practice in comparative thought was incredibly beneficial to my abroad experience. I biked, tried leverpostej, and learned a little bit of Danish to make the Scandinavian city feel like home. I credit my semester abroad (which was my first time leaving the United States) as one of the most important things I did at Brown. As a first-generation college student on financial aid, this opportunity was only possible thanks to Brown's support: the cost of my semester abroad was the same as a semester at Brown would have been.
