Location:

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Program Type:

Full Degree

Degree Level:

Master

Specialty:

Sociology

Program Overview

Program Description:

Globalisation, de-industrialisation and the rise of information technology have changed the outlook of the Western world. Cities have become metropolitan areas, internally divided social worlds but at the same time important socio-economic nodes in world-encompassing networks and flows. The master's programme introduces students to this complex reality by offering theoretical as well as research training focused on the problems of metropolitan development. The core courses approach these problems from different angles: an institutional point o view (metropolitan governance and spatial planning), and a social point of view (social challenges in a globalising world). An individual research cum thesis project is part of the programme. The master's programme in Urban Studies provides the student with a solid theoretical, conceptual, and methodological foundation in urban and regional development. It offers students an interdisciplinary approach to the main challenges facing 21st-century cities. The historical and comparative dimensions emphasized in the majority of the courses train the student to analyse urban issues from various perspectives and to put them in their wide-ranging sociological, political and cultural contexts. The combination of empirical studies with theoretical reflection and reading will provide the intellectual tools and abilities that students need to better understand, analyse and cope with the contemporary problems and complexities of urban development across the globe. Upon completion of the programme, students will have acquired profound knowledge of theories and concepts used to research and analyse specific social and/or political problems. They will have learned how to critically analyse and evaluate social science theories, research methods, and results.

Additional Program Information

Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Commission on Technical and Career Institutions