Recent momentum behind criminal justice reform permitted new discussions concerning incarceration policy and punishment in the United States.  This course takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining the role of crime, incarceration policy, and institutions in driving contemporary discussions on criminal justice reform—with race often being a salient component for many of these public policy conversations.  This course will provide students with an opportunity to critically examine topics such as racial differences in crime, policing, incarceration policy, and prisoner reentry

The field of urban economics addresses a wide variety of questions and topics. At the most general level, the field introduces space into economic models and studies the location of economic activity. Urban economics typically addresses four sets of questions, and this course is organized around these four areas. The first set of questions focuses on the development of urban areas. Why do cities exist and why do some grow more rapidly? How can local governments encourage such growth? The second set of questions addresses patterns of development within metropolitan areas.

This course examines historic and contemporary patterns of racial and ethnic stratification often found at the center of disputes concerning urban development, the allocation of city resources and unequal distributions of power. Also embedded throughout the course are ongoing analyses of the ways in which structural inequalities often function in class and gender-specific ways.