Temple University
AC-4: Graduate Program

The complexity and pace of economic, environmental, and social change require that students are trained in interdisciplinary and spatially integrative analytical frameworks and specialized skills to apply to real-world conditions. As an integrative graduate program, the curriculum connects these processes, giving students strong analytical foundation that stresses spatial relations, scale transitions, place and context, and nature societal relations. The graduate program in Geography and Urban Studies focuses on the themes of globalization, social justice, and sustainability as lenses through which to examine the development of urban regions. Our emphasis on globalization focuses on capital and labor flows, welfare state restructuring, identity, culture, and concepts of citizenship. In the realm of social justice, interest lies in how globalization exacerbates uneven development and contributes to increasing inequalities both between and within places, including economic inequalities, gender, and race/ethnicity. Our work on sustainability encompasses comparative dimensions of environmental sustainability on the national and global scales, environmental justice, land use/land cover analysis, sprawled development patterns, and urban ecology. As an integrative graduate program, the curriculum connects these processes, giving students a strong analytical foundation that stresses nature and societal relations, place and context, scale transitions, and spatial relations.

The graduate City and Regional Planning program prepares students to be professional planners with skills and knowledge to address the complex challenge of improving neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Students graduate with strengths in sustainability, environmental planning, community engagement, and advanced methods as well as a broad-based understanding and awareness of the physical and economic aspects of planning, sensitivity to the social and environmental impact of planning decisions, and a knowledge of governmental structures as they apply to planning.

Understand and interpret the dynamics of man-made and natural pollutants, environmental systems, and the sustainability of natural resources in the Environmental Engineering Master of Science (MS) program in the College of Engineering at Temple University. Prepare to execute projects that model the flow, use and disposal of resources to address climate, environmental and sustainability issues. Combine in-class learning with research and practical work for a robust educational experience.

The graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Planning is available to non-matriculated students and students in other Temple University graduate programs, with the approval of their graduate advisor. The courses introduce students to the broad range of issues and topics relevant to planning for the sustainable development of our cities and regions. Elective courses provide the opportunity to deepen knowledge and training in specific areas of sustainability and environmental planning. Undertaking the graduate certificate in Sustainable Community Planning allows students to: understand the discourse of theory and practice of sustainable development at the local, regional, and global levels; develop indicators to monitor and evaluate the sustainability of site, community, and regional actions, plans, and designs; recognize models of sustainability and know how to use such models to inform their professional practice; and understand how to incorporate sustainability principles into planning practice to address the interrelationships between social, economic, and environmental factors. This certificate meets the needs of public and private sector employees who work to improve the sustainability of neighborhoods, cities and regions and to address the adverse impacts of climate change without academic degrees in planning.

The Graduate Certificate in Stormwater Management in the College of Engineering helps you develop the graduate-level expertise to address the effects associated with stormwater management without enrolling in a graduate degree program. Increased stormwater runoff, causing flooding and erosion in urban stream ecosystems, is a growing environmental issue. You’ll study the effects of urban runoff on stream channels in this certificate program and learn best practices to prevent the degradation of ecosystems.

Updated as of Fall 2019