Urban Studies Hosts its 7th Career Conversations with Grads Event

On November 6th, the Urban Studies Department hosted its 7th Career Conversations with Grads event, featuring Rachel Pressey (2014), Jenny Velez (2015), and Benjamin Payne (2017). The event was held on Zoom, and with a few dozen attendees present, current undergraduate and graduate students were able to hear from graduates about their experiences in the department and where life took them after they graduated. Rachel, Jenny, and Ben's stories were inspiring, comforting, and useful and offered numerous tips on career development including networking, mentoring, interviewing, and finding a job that aligns with one's interests and values.

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November Fieldwork for the Metro Class

The year's Metro class -- for the uninitiated, "Metro" is Urban Studies-speak for UR 212 American Metropolitan Evolution -- did a little fieldwork in the Canal District today. Walking along Green Street to Kelley Square and about halfway up Water Street, the class took in the city on foot, catching glimpses of all the little things you cannot see when you are driving through the area. This was a practical approach to help them see how to approach the research and writing for their semester term papers, The Neighborhood Paper . At the corner of Green and Winter Streets, for instance, we all wondered, what's the story here? It was a scene in which the build-out of an older house gives the impression that it was just dropped into the middle of an international grocery. We'll have to investigate it more closely in the Worcester House Directories in CityLab. Sometimes we had an easier time making connections across decades as with the building at 97 Water Street. A...

Results of the 28th Manhattan Short Film Festival votes worldwide and at WSU

The results of the 2025 Manhattan Short Film Festival are in! Here's the word from the Manhattan Short website: " We Have Sinned Before You , written and directed by Ifat Nener Orgad (Israel), is the Gold Medal Winner of the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival. We Have Sinned Before You , a family drama set around a game designed to pass the time on Yom Kippur, resonated with viewers around the world." In second place worldwide and winning the silver medal was Passarinho , directed by Natalia García Agraz (Mexico). This film was "about two teenage girls who try to meet their favorite soccer player, but their plan is threatened when one of them gets a red card. The film is dedicated to all the Messi Mums in the world." Finally, winning the bronze medal was Beyond Silence , written and directed by Marnie Blok (The Netherlands). This film "tells the story of two women from two generations who experience a singular trauma. One retre...

Whose Canal District?

On a chilly Tuesday in November, Dr. Murphy’s Public Policy and Cultural Diversity class met at Baystate Cafe and Market on Water Street in Worcester’s Canal District. The objective for the day was for students to wander around the neighborhood taking note of representations of different types of diversity in the built environment that have been discussed in the class - ethnicity, race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status etc. They explored the neighborhood taking photos of store fronts, signs, murals, holiday decorations, advertisements, pavement, sidewalks, buildings, and architectural styles. Afterwards, the class reconvened at Baystate Cafe and Market for some Middle Eastern snacks and sweets as they reviewed their photos and engaged in a discussion of how diversity takes shape in the Canal District's built environment. The class considered which specific groups of Worcester’s residents are visibly represented, which groups appear to be l...

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