Joint PhD Program in Urban Systems
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Rutgers University Newark
- University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
- Urban Health Overview
- Urban Health Curriculum
- Registration
- Urban Health Forms
- Health Requirements
- Academic Calendar
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The program admits students for the Fall semester only. However, applicants can send their application at any time. There is provision for non-matriculated student enrollment.
Urban Health Coordinator:
Dula F. Pacquiao, EdD, RN, CTN
Professor
Director, Stanley S. Bergen Center for Multicultural Education, Research and Practice
973-972-8536 · pacquidf@umdnj.edu
Urban Health
Curriculum (72 credits)
The Urban Systems core curriculum provides a strong background in the history and social organization of U.S. cities, while the Urban Health core examines the complex interrelationships among social, cultural, political, economic, geographic, organizational, and bioenvironmental factors that influence the health status and health behaviors of urban populations. The Urban Health faculty are committed to training students who can make a difference, and seek to educate doctoral students who will be capable of conducting independent research that has a strong potential to improve the health of individuals in the nation's cities.
Urban Systems Core |
Core Curriculum (18 Credits) |
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3 |
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Research Core |
Research Core (12 Credits) |
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3 |
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3 |
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Advanced statistics |
3 |
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Research elective by advisement |
3 |
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Specialization Requirements |
Urban Health (9 credits) |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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Electives (9 credits) in consultation with Dissertation Committee |
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Electives |
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3 |
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3 |
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3 |
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Dissertation Sequence |
Continuing dissertation preparation (24 credits) |
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Course Descriptions
Urban Systems I: Evolution of the American Metropolis (3 Credits)
Urban Systems I encompasses the growth and development of American communities from early stages of European settlement to the present, with emphasis on the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines the historical evolution of cities, including the social, demographic, political and economic forces which shaped them. The primary unifying theme is the expanding role of government over the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including public sanitation, health, education and city planning. The course will strive to develop a historically based conceptual foundation on which to ground studies of contemporary issues and concerns in urban health, urban environment and urban education. In this regard it will consider factual and descriptive elements of urban and metropolitan history as well as examination of a number of theoretical and explanatory theses. For example, the transition from Jeffersonian and Jacksonian notions of laissez faire capitalism to the Keynesian concepts of the social welfare state will be investigated. A fundamental pedagogical purpose of the course is to instill in doctoral students an effective grasp of the ways in which historical scholarship informs our knowledge of the contemporary dynamics of urban and metropolitan growth and change.
Urban Systems II: The Development of U.S. Urban Populations and Trends(3 credits)
The overriding goal of this course is to provide Urban Systems doctoral students with a social science based understanding of the past, present and future of today’s demographically and culturally diverse population in the U.S. cities. The course builds on prior content provided in Urban Systems I. At the core of the course are the affluent urbanites, migration, culture, politics and economics. The focus is on the micro-level phenomena (including crime, the “code of the street”, neighborhood politics and community building) and how these relate to the macro-level factors (economics, political and ideological). The course examines how culture, migration, civil rights and welfare policies, and economics have influenced the demographic composition of American cities and the capacity of city residents to create and maintain vital and productive places to live.
Urban Systems III: Globalization, International Migration and Contemporary Cities (3 Credits)
This course examines the process of globalization and how it affects both the form and function of cities worldwide. Since 1970’s, globalization has affected major changes in the world in forms of technology, communications, and function of cities. While similar physical, cultural, and social patterns have been developed in cities around the world, there have also been new and distinct cultural and economic spaces that have been created in various global cities. Based on historical, economic, and sociological analysis, this course will compare globalization process in cities from countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It will investigate what characteristics of globalization affect cities, how they operate in historical context, and what benefits and harms they produce in contemporary cities. Using theories developed in fields such as history, sociology, political science, urban studies, health, and architecture, we analyze where, why and how such new globalization patterns emerge. Moreover, the course will explore and critique the impact of globalization on cities as well as investigate policy implications for improving the housing, health, and education systems in global cities.
The Good City: Environmental Design and The Quality of Metropolitan Life (3 credits)
As we move into the 21st century, the “good city” is as illusive as ever. Yet now, planners, architects, urban designers and many citizens recognize that what was once deemed good, and was widely built, has generated serious problems. For example, neither low density, single-use, residential suburbs dependent on the automobile nor high density residential towers in urban open space have proved to be the ideas envisioned. Why is that? Why were they considered good? What are the alternatives? And what are other aspects of the “good city” that are being proposed and implemented today? In addressing these questions, it is essential to examine the goals and values that always shape both our vision of the good city and our critiques of the visions of others.
The purpose of this course is to introduce all Urban Systems doctoral students to the various ways in which architects, urban designers and planners have sought to improve the quality of everyday life in urban and suburban environments through the design of the built environment, both at the scale of neighborhoods and communities and at the scale of buildings. The emphasis is on the manipulation of built form, transportation, and public space as responses to perceived problems. Key topic areas are housing and neighborhoods, public space, schools, hospitals, transportation. Students will come to understand what problems were recognized, the design solutions proposed and /or implemented, and the critiques and consequences that ensued.
Determinants and Consequences of Urban Health (3 Credits)
This interdisciplinary course examines the complex interactions among the physical and social environment, health status, education, and human capital in the community. Quality of life is the outcome of micro and macro-factors that operate at the level of the individual, family, neighborhood, community, state and nation. A multidisciplinary framework is used for examining the evidence on the linkage between quality of life, development of human capital, poverty, sociopolitical organization and community organization. Students are expected to: (a) Synthesize anthropological and sociological perspectives on health and illness; (b) Analyze epidemiological concepts within the context of social science perspectives; (c) Evaluate the state of health disparities in national and global contexts; (d) Describe macro- and micro-level factors that influence the health of individuals and communities; (e) Examine theoretical perspectives on the health of individuals and communities; and (f) Examine the effects of poor health on the development of human capital and community.
Urban Educational Systems: Schools & Communities in the Contemporary World 26.977.608 (3 Credits)
This course provides an examination of urban educational systems both in the United States and internationally. Focusing on the organizational structure and processes of urban schools and districts, the course examines the ways in which educational systems affect students living in cities. Using sociological, historical, political and economic analyses, students will explore the interrelationship among educational, political, economic, and cultural systems. This course will analyze how urban education is related to larger structural processes such as de-industrialization, globalization, immigration, and demographic changes. Finally, students will explore how federal and state policies and legislation affect urban education.
Research Seminar I: Qualitative Research (3 credits)
The purpose of this course is to introduce doctoral students to the philosophy and methods of qualitative research. Through an examination of the evolution of qualitative methodology, the various forms of qualitative research, the ways to conduct qualitative inquiry and examples of various qualitative methods, students will understand how to conduct qualitative inquiry
Research Seminar II: Quantitative Methods (URB 6103, 3credits)
This is an advanced course in quantitative, social science research methods. Together, the students and instructor critically examine a large number of peer reviewed journal articles with the goal of enhancing the student’s understanding of the logic and application of quantitative research methods.
Advanced Quantitative or Advanced Qualitative Research or Geographical Information Systems (3 credits)
Geographical/land information systems GIS/LIS is a computerized system capable of storing, manipulating and using spatial data describing location and significant properties of the earth’s surface. GIS is an interdisciplinary technology used for studying and mapping land use issues, land resource assessment, environmental monitoring and hazard/toxic waste control. Introduces this emerging technology and its application
Urban Health Systems: History, Structure and Challenges(3 Credits)
This course focuses on social and political forces in the development of urban health systems, primarily in the United States. The course is organized into three major sectors: the development of the health care system, critique of the health care system, and key issues in urban health. Beginning with a survey of historical forces leading to the creation of the current system, the course focuses on concepts derived from sociology, political science and economics that facilitates the analysis of current issues in the organization, structure and functioning of the current system as well as the outlook for the future. Such concepts include but are not limited to professionalization and deprofessionalization, social stratification, power, professional dominance, deviance and social control. Current issues such as inequality in access to health care, distribution of health manpower, quality and funding of health care institutions, and the impact of changes in population size, distribution and structure will be used to illustrate and test basic theoretical understandings and approaches.
Social and Cultural Construction of Health and Illness (3 Credits)
This PhD level seminar describes the social and cultural factors that influence how individuals in the U.S. organize, define and experience illness; engage in illness prevention; seek treatment; and engage with the formal and informal medical systems. Specific course objectives include: (a) provide an introduction to anthropological and sociological perspectives on health and illness; (b) describe the social and cultural production of health; (c) describe how people conceptualize illnesses and make decisions concerning treatment; (d) describe major and minor folk traditions concerning the diagnosis and treatment of illness; (e) describe the nature of interactions between “patients” and the formal and informal medical systems focusing on health care practitioners; (f) describe the information sources that people use when confronting illness; and (g) describe the nature of individual perceptions of risk.
Urban Health Program Evaluation (3 Credits)
This course is designed to provide students with a framework for understanding program evaluation and facilitating integration of evaluation in health services programs. Content will address both the science of evaluation and topics will include goals, methodologies, standards, and address misconceptions regarding the evaluation process. The emphasis is on practical, ongoing evaluation strategies that involve all program stakeholders, not just evaluation experts. Students are expected to: (a) describe the social and cultural context of health program development; (b)describe components of and steps in program development; (c) discuss appropriate theories/models guiding program development and implementation and evaluation; (d) describe how program implementation and evaluation address macrosocial and microsocial process and effects; (e) identify various evaluation methods of programs; (f) analyze appropriateness of evaluation design and methods in monitoring process and outcomes of the program; and (g) interpret evaluation data to determine program impact, cost and decisions about the program.