Sustainable Urban Development (SUD)

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SUD 401 | SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT I: PLANNING, POLICY & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

This course addresses the concepts, practices, and tools for sustainable planning and provides an understanding for how to apply these to urban communities. The course is an intensive, topics-based overview of sustainable land use, housing, transportation, infrastructure, and community and economic development practices. The course is largely directed at contemporary policy issues and technical processes within the United States.

SUD 402 | SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT II: APPLIED ANALYSIS OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

This class focuses on the environmental aspects of city planning, including: resource management, environmental policy, transportation, LEED ratings and measures of environmental impact, integration of ecosystems within a land use planning framework, and community-based solutions to historical environmental injustice.

SUD 403 | BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT: PRACTICE AND IMPLEMENTATION | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

Students form a grounded understanding of the Brownfield lifecycle: how and why they were created and the general processes governing their redevelopment. The class will review the current regulatory, economic, environmental, community, public health, and development conditions of brownfields, through site visits and, when possible, discussions with stakeholders from public agencies, community organizations, and the private sector. Through a practice component, class members work in teams to apply their general brownfields knowledge to particular challenges in the field and gain hands-on experience in applied environmental and economic development research and analysis, community brownfield practices, and sustainability planning.

SUD 404 | URBAN DESIGN LABORATORY | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

This course teaches digital methods of creating visual information. Software used may include: Adobe Creative Suite, Google SketchUp, and advanced techniques for Microsoft PowerPoint, which can be applied by students in the SUD 501 and 502 courses.

SUD 420 | SUSTAINABLE URBAN FOOD SYSTEMS | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

SUD 420 offers a critical analysis of the policies and practices that contribute to development of sustainable urban food systems in the North American context. The course surveys current literature on urban food systems and explores ways that cities have become centers for capital investment in (re)localization and regionalization of food production and distribution to serve higher income residents and to encourage community building, enhance education, improve food access and nutrition, and spur environmental restoration in economically distressed neighborhoods. Particular attention is paid to the concept of community food system as it is employed as an alternative narrative and practice to the concept global food system. Attention is paid to the way that historically marginalized groups seek to take control over food as a means to assert self-determination of communities. And a centerpiece of the course is engagement in field service with community groups that engage in local food systems development. Readings, lectures, films, guest speakers, site visits, and field service provide students with an overview of emerging efforts to build sustainable urban food systems within the context of climate change, gentrification, racial segregation, labor exploitation and wage suppression. Emphasis will be placed on (1) for-profit, nonprofit, and community-based food projects within urban contexts in North America; (2) whether or not these projects constitute more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable approaches to provisioning cities; and (3) the degree to which such projects enhance access to and control over food by urban populations. Cross-listed with CSS 320.

SUD 430 | SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORTATION | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

The course introduces transportation geography and explores the characteristics of sustainable transportation systems. From electric vehicles to new services like car and bike sharing, the course examines the role that transportation plays in environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Students will learn about current issues in urban transportation (both passenger and freight), and receive an introduction to tools and techniques used by transportation planners, e.g., Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

SUD 433 | URBAN PLANNING | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

A seminar on the intellectual history and theories of urban planning and design, and their application in urban settings in the U.S. and abroad. Systematic study of case studies leads to the investigation of current urban planning issues in Chicago and other cities globally.

SUD 451 | SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND FOOD JUSTICE | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

While the need for food is universal, geographies of urban food production, distribution and consumption are anything but even. This course critically examines the contemporary global food system with the goal of providing students with skills and knowledge to understand the intersection of food justice activism and the development of sustainable cities. Students explore literature focused on current and past food justice campaigns that focus on how activists create policies and practices in support of more just urban food systems. Through examining--and taking part in--contemporary food justice advocacy campaigns, the course specifically explores urban food justice movements in the U.S. and internationally and guides students to form a critique of how literature on alternative food systems is incorporated into theories of sustainable urban development. Cross-listed with GEO 351 and PAX 351.

SUD 490 | SPECIAL TOPICS | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

A course related to sustainable urban development.

SUD 499 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

Intensive study of a topic of special interest; requires that the student and instructor work together independently on a specific topic or project. Instructor consent required.

SUD 501 | PROFESSIONAL SEMINAR IN SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

SUD 501 seeks to develop professional, communication and consultancy skills of SUD students through exploring transdisciplinary approaches to urban development. Engagement with urban planners, policymakers, community advocates, government employees, and other sustainability practitioners through guest lectures and site visits is combined with a set of assignments that move students toward defining and/or deepening their career or academic interests. Students are guided toward developing a set of questions about their particular specialty areas and then to utilize oral history methods to engage with leaders to learn more deeply about SUD issues and careers. The course culminates in an annual symposium where students present on a topic within SUD to a public audience. During the MA program, students must complete 100hrs of internship or approved off campus work related to Sustainable Urban Development. Therefore, the grade for SUD 501 is awarded after (a) successfully completing the internship and (b) Successfully completing the SUD 501 course requirements.

SUD 502 | CAPSTONE - PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

A discussion seminar that puts the skills learned on site into the wider academic context of the course. Students will draw from their internship to complete a project report as the culmination of this course.

SUD 592 | INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SUSTAINABLE URBAN FOOD SYSTEMS | 4 quarter hours

(Graduate)

A one-quarter, 4-credit class for Non-SUD students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Urban Food Systems. In concurrence with a required 100-hour off-campus internship, the course includes five online or in-person sessions with the SUD Internship Coordinator consisting of: critical analysis and reflection on internship activities in relation to literature on sustainabile urban food systems, discussion on successes and challenges during the internship, discussion of readings and journal entries, development of a final reflective essay, and advising and mentoring on career development in sustainable urban food systems.

SUD 420 or SUD 451 is a prerequisite for this class

SUD 600 | CANDIDACY CONTINUATION | 0 quarter hours

(Graduate)

This 0-credit hour course is available to master's degree candidates who are actively working toward the completion of a thesis, project, or portfolio. Enrollment in this course is limited to three quarters and requires thesis/project advisor and graduate director approval and demonstration to them of work each quarter. Enrollment in this course allows access to the library and other campus facilities. This course carries and requires the equivalent of half-time enrollment status. The student may be eligible for loan deferment and student loans. This course is graded as pass/fail. (0 credit hours)

SUD 601 | CANDIDACY MAINTENANCE | 0 quarter hours

(Graduate)

This 0-credit hour course is available to graduate students who are not registered for a course in a given quarter but need to maintain active university status. Enrollment in this course is limited to three quarters and requires permission of the graduate director. Enrollment in this course allows access to the library and other campus facilities. This course does not carry an equivalent enrollment status and students in it are not eligible for loan deferment or student loans. This course is not graded. (0 credit hours)