In the City
Toronto, a vibrant, multicultural, and rapidly growing metropolis, provides a robust backdrop for exploring a wide range of city and community-building activities in the face of pressing challenges that range from the climate crisis to affordability to various forms of inequality. Through our teaching and research, we investigate, learn from, and aim to give back to our city. Below you can find information on several USP initiatives as well as opportunities to learn more about our program and how to get involved.
A group of teenage women from Regent Park partnered with students enrolled in URB430H1 to explore the impacts of a changing urban landscape upon local community.
Community-Engaged Learning (CEL)
The Urban Studies program offers various CEL opportunities throughout the Greater Toronto Area for students including short-term placements (URB236H1), courses in collaboration with non-profit organizations (URB430H1) or the City of Toronto (URB338H1), client-based project classes (URB431Y1, URB432H1) as well as one-year internships (URB437Y1). Throughout the site, we’ve marked our CEL courses with this symbol: 
Activating Community Leadership in Toronto
The Urban Studies Program and the Toronto Centre for Community Learning and Development (TCCL&D) co-designed and co-facilitate a nine-week community leadership survey course for Regent Park residents covering the fundamentals of civic participation and political power. You can read more about this initiative, watch videos of course sessions, and learn how to join future iterations of the course here.
Research
USP core faculty members, Dr. David Roberts and Dr. Aditi Mehta, are committed to community-based and community-engaged research in Toronto and have ongoing research projects throughout the city. These include:
Urban Change in Moss Park
Public Spaces of Toronto
Community Partners
One of the hallmarks of the Urban Studies Program is connecting our research, teaching, and students to city builders throughout the GTA and beyond. Reflecting our multidisciplinary approach to studying cities, we work with a wide variety of city-builders on a range of issues that shape cities and urban life. If you are working on urban issues, we would love to hear from you and would be happy to discuss what a partnership between you/your organization and the Urban Studies Program might look like — from community-engaged learning/student placements to research to events or something else.
Have questions about USP?
Need more info? Want to discuss if the Urban Studies Program is right for you? Looking for help in choosing courses? Rima Oassey, our Innis College academic program coordinator, can help!