WSU Urban Studies Blog

Jeffrey Mark Chusid, chair of Cornell's regional planning department, is zooming into Urban Economics and Land Use class on Friday Dec. 03 to teach on plan interpretation from a technical standpoint, specifically how do we interpret historic and current plans both for buildings and urban / public spaces, and how are they used to communicate among architects, planners and other industry partners.  Jeff Chusid is a preservation architect and planner, and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. He has consulted on preservation policy, natural and cultural resource conservation, and urban design for communities including Shanghai; Sevastopol, Ukraine; Levuka, Fiji; and Bastrop, Texas, as well as museums in California, Texas, and New York. Chusid’s research, teaching, and writing have focused on the fate of historic resources in areas of cultural exchange and conflict, the conservation of modernist architecture and planni...

Please join the Department of Urban Studies Faculty for the   Fall 2021 Career Conversations with Grads  Featuring  Deborah Hall, Executive Director, YWCA of Central Mass -- MS Nonprofit Management Peter Peloquin, Assistant Project Manager, Stone and Lime Historical Restoration Services -- BS Urban Studies, 2017.  Naomi Miller, Social Worker, Massachusetts Department of Children and Families  -- BS Urban Studies, 2016.    This zoom event will be held on Monday, November 15 from 6:30-8:00 pm.  E mail urbanstudies@worcester.edu for zoom link. 

Todd Miller (BS, Urban Studies, 2018),  is a town planner for Spencer, Massachusetts focused on community planning, economic development, housing policy, mixed-use development, inclusive zoning and applied New Urbanism concepts. Along with best planning practices, Todd has an innovative approaches to classic municipal issues.  He looks forward to returning to WSU in order to speak to Land Use & Urban Economics students on Friday, November 12 on key land use projects for smaller municipalities, data sources and funding mechanisms. While sharing insight on "humanizing" data in order to make it more compelling, Todd will discuss strategies for effective communication of planning principles, and building consensus on split issues.  Working in collaboration with other departments and regional agencies to resolve challenges on a regular basis, Todd will highlight Spencer's Housing Production and Master Plans to give students a...

Christian Tsetsos works as an insurance authorization coordinator for the head office of LEARN’s Behavioral Concepts (BCI) in Worcester, Massachusetts, while serving, on the side, as a neurodiversity advocate and Asperger’s/autism speaker. He joined us recently to share stories from his professional and personal life with autism, delving into everything from his life growing up and struggling to make friends to his experience using dating apps and revealing autism to suitors.  … Click here to read the full article  

The Department of Urban Studies faculty and staff proudly presents our Academic Achievement Award winners for 2021.   Dr. Vincent E. "Jake" Powers Urban Studies Award This award, in memory of Dr. Vincent “Jake” Powers, a highly respected urban historian and founder of the Worcester State University Urban Studies Department, is given to an undergraduate urban studies student who is an innovative, original thinker, and whose time in the department has emboldened them to pursue personal and professional opportunities they may not have previously considered and to achieve them with determination, grit, and courage. Katherinne Cornejo Katherinne Cornejo’s time as an urban studies major has truly transformed her and her career focus. With a second major in Spanish, she is president of the Spanish Club and the Alpha Mu Gamma Honor Society for foreign languages, the SGA Commuter Senator, and an intern with Ascentria Care Alliance. She is also a student advocate with the Student Clini...

Dr. Thomas Conroy was a panelist for the  third of a series of quarterly meeting regarding diversity, equity, systems of historical oppression, and solution-based planning practices hosted by the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission . The panel, which discussed implementing inclusive planning practices and their community outreach efforts, included:  Khrystian King , Councilor-at-Large, City of Worcester Dr. Conroy , Chair and Associate Professor or Urban Studies, and Director of CityLab Sheila Cuddy , Executive Director, Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation Casey Starr , Main South Community Development Corporation Attendees were CMRPC delegates and alternates that attend the meeting will receive an additional hour of Local Planning Assistance (LPA) for their community.

  December 21, 2020 By: Kristen O'Reilly More than a dozen Worcester State students will be serving as trained advocates for local asylum seekers during the spring semester, helping to untangle the complex process intended to give sanctuary to immigrants fleeing from dangerous situations in their home countries. The training they received is a result of a new partnership between Worcester State and the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice (SCIJ), a Waltham-based non-profit organization. Worcester State is only the second institution to partner with SCIJ, joining Brown University. “This is an amazing opportunity for our undergraduate students interested in immigration law and advocacy to help with real cases in our community, the same way law students might in a law clinic,” says Assistant Professor Adam Saltsman, Ph.D., director of the Urban Action Institute, which is in the Urban Studies Department and hosting the partnership with the clinic. “Statistics show that asylum seek...

December 8, 2020 By: Kristen O'Reilly S tudents are not empty vessels to receive knowledge, but should be full participants in academic inquiry, according to Timothy Murphy, Ph.D., associate professor in the of Urban Studies, and Syamak Moattari, M.D., D.Phil., associate professor of health sciences. The two winners of the 2019 Alden Excellence in Teaching Award gave a joint talk on Friday, Nov. 13, via Zoom, discussing “Community-Based Participatory Learning and Action.” “Students add so much to the educational process. To see them as mere vessels, to absorb knowledge that you are going to give to them, it assumes they are all identical, that they’re devoid of any meaningful life experiences, and it also suggests they have nothing to contribute to the process,” Murphy said. To be effective teachers, “We must meet students where they are. We have to understand the educational process is one you must engage students, not doing unto their students.” Moattari recounted that while a me...

Welcome back three recent graduates who will talk with students about their time in the department, their career choice, and their pathways after graduation.   RSVP here .     

The Lagos Urban Development Initiative (LUDI) has issued a  call for female urban designers.   With a population of more than 13  Million people, Lagos is one of the largest cities in the world.  It is also known for exploring and employing a variety of innovative urban programs and practices.   Click here for  more on LUDI ; and email comms@ludi.org.ng for more on the open call. (Thanks to graduate Chadyn Case for sharing.)