Urban Studies Program

Columbia's Urban Studies program is actually housed at Barnard, which may be appropriate, considering its intellectual credentials.

Students majoring in the subject take most of their classes in other departments, giving the concentration a bit of a patchy, thrown-together air. The department seems to attract many a Speccie, as they like to play fast and loose with their interests, and typically prefer the urban beat over campus, anyway.

Urban Studies aficionados whined and opined when popular professor Owen Gutfruend was recently denied tenure, but his teaching method demonstrates his, and his department's faults to a T: homework included instructions to "play Sim City" and "explore the internet".