MA Concentrations

Students in the M.A. Program typically choose one of four exciting areas of concentration. This area of expertise then associates you with a Research center and will help link you up with an appropriate Research Assistantship. Looking for program curriculum?

Descriptions of Concentrations:

· Community Development and Nonprofit Leadership
· Energy, Environment, and Equity
· Historic Preservation
· Urban and Regional Planning

Community Development and Nonprofit Leadership

The Community Development and Nonprofit Leadership concentration provides professional training for those who desire careers with public, nonprofit, community-based or private organizations involved in efforts to build the social, economic, cultural and political infrastructure of communities. It also prepares individuals for further graduate training. Drawing on the City of Wilmington and its surrounding region as a laboratory for research and analysis, the concentration focuses on the conceptual and analytic skills necessary to identify and build resources, and design and assess strategies that improve the quality of life in communities, particularly those that are impoverished. The Center for Community Research and Service (formerly Center for Community Development and Family Policy) plays a key role in supporting this concentration by providing students opportunities to engage in research that addresses a wide array of issues, including: local/community based economic development, housing, poverty, neighborhood planning and governance, and utilization of nonprofit and private resources. Check out A Day in the Life of Michael Rasmussen, an MA student with a concentration in Community Development and Non-profit Leadership.

Energy, Environment, and Equity

The concentration in Energy, Environment and Equity (formerly Energy and Environmental Policy) provides students the opportunity to focus on a wide range of critical issues, including comparative energy and environmental policy; sustainable development; political economy of energy, environment and development; environmental justice; conservation and renewable energy policy; integrated resource planning; and technology, environment and society. Students within this concentration are internationally diverse and have backgrounds in an array of fields, including: political science, economics, sociology, geography, philosophy, environmental studies, history and engineering. This concentration is supported by the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP). The Center conducts interdisciplinary research in the areas of energy policy, environmental policy and sustainable development. Collaborative research and exchange agreements have been established with Asian, African, Latin American and European universities and research institutes to foster opportunities for international research and graduate study.

The concentration in Energy, Environment, and Equity has been modified to better serve the needs of students who hope to work within this field by giving them increased opportunities to acquire critical knowledge and skills required by professional roles. Specifically, the changes increase opportunities for student exposure to coursework in GIS, qualitative methods and environmental economics, and expand electives to allow for more individualized options. Check out A Day in the Life of Brian Jefferis, an MA student with a concentration in Energy and Environmental Policy.

Historic Preservation

The Historic Preservation area of concentration provides professional training for those who desire careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors of historic preservation. It also prepares individuals for further graduate education in the field of preservation. Drawing on the Delaware Valley and the surrounding region as a laboratory for research and instruction, the program explores preservation issues in a variety of cultural, ethnic, and settlement contexts. The concentration focuses on the interface between understanding the evolution and significance of the historic architectural landscape from a scholarly perspective and designing effective public policies to conserve significant historical resources. The Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) provides research and internship opportunities for students to pursue interdisciplinary graduate research and professional development through the study of historic preservation planning and public policy design, and the documentation of architectural and cultural resources. Recently CHAD has begun to incorporate the increasing emphasis in the field on landscapes, to broaden the offerings in architectural and landscape analysis, and to incorporate methodological advances in GIS-which has become an essential tool for analyzing historic landscapes. Check out A Day in the Life of Rochelle Bohm, an MA student with a concentration in Historic Preservation.

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Urban and Regional Planning

The concentration in Urban and Regional Planning focuses on the role of land use and the built environment in obtaining a range of planning goals within municipal, metropolitan and regional contexts. Emphasizing the spatial structure of development, students are provided with a comprehensive framework for analyzing and planning for a range of issues related to land use including comprehensive planning, sustainable urban design, community development, transportation, environmental planning, historic preservation, and growth management. The planning concentration provides graduates with a generalist background for working in various contexts including metropolitan areas, smaller cities, older inner suburbs, small towns, and the larger suburban and rural areas experiencing sprawl. Students can also study thematic crosscutting issues ranging from transportation to telecommunications, from inner city community development to agricultural preservation. These topics and themes reflects the planning interests and work of the faculty and research and public service centers affiliated with the graduate program in Urban Affairs and Public Policy. All students in the urban and regional planning concentration have the opportunity to work on planning projects ranging from state to regional to local and neighborhood levels through research and public service centers such as CHAD, CEEP, CCRS, and IPA. The student develops expertise in urban and regional planning through 15 credits of course work. Check out A Day in the Life of Amardeep Dhanju, an MA student with a concentration in Urban and Regional Planning.

School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy
184 Graham Hall | University of Delaware | Newark, DE 19716
phone 302 831 1687 | e-mail suapp@udel.edu | fax 302 831 3296