Trinity Introduces New Urban Planning Certificate Program

Shawn Olstein ’22

News Editor

Trinity recently announced the college’s new graduate certificate in Urban Planning. This certificate will first become available to students during the fall semester of 2020, as reported by NBC Connecticut.

This new graduate certificate program will make Trinity the first college in Connecticut to offer a graduate program in Urban Planning. The graduate certificate will be offered through the Public Policy master’s program in conjunction with the department of Urban Studies. 

The program will cover both domestic and international urban planning methods, theories and concepts with special attention to practical, applied and empirical work, a rising field of study within academia and urban studies more broadly. 

 The graduate certificate will consist of four courses. Two of these courses will be core courses, and two will be electives. The courses available as core courses are URST 833/ PBPL 833 Intro to Urban Planning, URST 874/ PBPL 874 Public Policy Practicum, and URST 320/820/PBPL 820 Urban Research Practicum. 

Courses taken as a part of the Certificate will count towards a master’s degree in Public Policy if the student chooses to pursue a master’s degree while pursuing the Certificate, or at the completion of the certificate program. 

Trinity’s new graduate certificate in Urban Planning represents the continued expansion of Trinity’s Urban Studies program, which was  first established in 2013.  The program intends to incorporate the City of Hartford as a resource in studying urban environments in an effort to embrace Trinity’s location in an urban setting.

 Director of Trinity College’s Center for Urban and Global Studies and Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Urban International Studies Garth Myers spoke with NBC Connecticut about the college’s new graduate certificate. 

“Planning is something that benefits special efficiency and that can be really beneficial in a city, particularly in cities which have a lot of blight or have a lot of land that’s gone or vacant that can be reconnected with the city in different ways,” Myers explained in his recent interview.