College of Architecture
Curriculum in Urban and Regional Sciences
The Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Sciences (BS/URSC) degree program emphasizes the social, economic, cultural and natural factors that govern how communities and society are shaped. Course work provides students with the knowledge and skills needed to develop solutions to community and regional growth and development issues that face our state and nation. Students have an opportunity to specialize in specific aspects of community and regional planning and development issues along with internship and service-learning experiences locally, nationally, and/or internationally.
The BS in Urban and Regional Sciences degree program is based in the Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning (LAUP) within the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University. The BS-URSC program equips students for entry-level positions and prepares them for graduate studies in fields such as Urban Planning and Land Development. The core curriculum, designed to equip students with knowledge and skills to deal effectively with the opportunities and challenges inherent in the development, growth and culture of neighborhoods, cities, and regions, is based on theoretical training in the natural, physical, and social sciences. Students acquire skills that enable them to apply these theories to develop communities, cities, and regions which are safe, healthy, and sustainable.
Critical thinking and analytical skills are emphasized for problem-solving at the community and regional scale. Classroom service-learning experiences enable graduates to more reliably and realistically assess complex community problems, design solutions for overcoming those problems, and evaluate the outcomes of programs and policies in meeting community and regional needs. Specialized Emphasis Area electives are tailored to help students further specialize their career goals in:
- Hazard and emergency planning
- Housing, economic and urban development
- Health and human services planning and policy
- Land development
- Sustainable landscape planning and urban design
- Spatial analysis and planning
| First Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | Second Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 104 Comp. and Rhetoric* | (3-0) | 3 | ENDS 150 History of Architecture or ARCH 345 History of Building Tech. |
(3-0) | 3 | |
| MATH 141 Business Math* | (3-0) | 3 | ENGL 210 Science and Tech. Writing* | (3-0) | 3 | |
| PLAN 365 Introduction to Planning* | (3-0) | 3 | MATH 142 Business Math* | (3-0) | 3 | |
| POLS 206 American National Govt.* | (3-0) | 3 | POLS 207 State and Local Govt. * | (3-0) | 3 | |
| History elective* | 3 | History elective | 3 | |||
| 15 | *KINE 198 Health and Fitness Activity | 1 | ||||
| 16 |
SOPHOMORE YEAR
| First Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | Second Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLAN 360 Intro. to Urban Plan. Function* | (3-0) | 3 | ECON 202 Principles of Economics* | (3-0) | 3 | |
| RENR 205 Fundamentals of Ecology* | (3-0) | 3 | RENR 375 Conservation of Nat. Resources | (3-0) | 3 | |
| STAT 201 Elem. Stat. Inference* | (3-0) | 3 | Humanities elective | 3 | ||
| URSC 325 Intro. to GIS* | (2-3) | 3 | Natural science elective | 4 | ||
| Social science elective or SOCI 205 Intro. to Sociology |
3 | Sociology elective: SOCI 230, 312, 314, 321, or 324 | 3 | |||
| 15 | 16 | |||||
JUNIOR YEAR
| First Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | Second Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDEV 467 Principles of Land Dev. | 3 | PLAN 489 Intro. to Planning Law | 3 | |||
| RENR 215 Fundamentals of Eco. Lab | 1 | URSC 336 Public and Private Infrast. Fund. | (3-0) | 3 | ||
| URSC 305 Analytical Methods | (3-0) | 3 | URSC 469 Urban Infrastructure | (3-0) | 3 | |
| URSC 405 Urban and Regional Eco. Dev. | 3 | Directed elective | 3 | |||
| Directed elective | 3 | Elective | 3 | |||
| Directed elective | 3 | * KINE 199 Required Physical Activity | 1 | |||
| 16 | 16 |
SENIOR YEAR
| First Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | Second Semester | (Th-Pr) | Cr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLAN/LAND 494 Professional Internship or Study Abroad | 6 | URSC 458 Policy Implementation | (3-0) | 3 | ||
| Elective | 3 | URSC 493 URSC Capstone Course | 5 | |||
| Elective | 3 | Directed elective | 3 | |||
| 12 | Elective | 3 | ||||
| 14 |
Note: Semester Away (PLAN/LAND 494): May be satisfied by study abroad, at another university, internship, or special arrangement by advisor or instructor. Electives may be taken during summer, online, distance education, at another university or college, or at study abroad university.
* See University Core Curriculum, item 7.