Program Goals

The Master of Arts Degree in Urban Studies Program prepares students to work in a wide range of service areas as Christian leaders and change agents, such as: organizational development, growth management, environmental concerns, neighborhood revitalization, educational programs, health and human services, social welfare, and infrastructure management.

Graduates of the program become members of a global network of partners in continuous learning, who enhance the knowledge base underlying urban transformation in a variety of specializations. Students network with others around the globe to continue to find new ideas and solutions to urban issues, mentor new students, and engage in continuous lifelong learning. In the truest sense, students learn that holistic, lifelong learning means to become a steward of one’s discipline.

Within the Arts in Transformation Concentration, the goals are to prepare artistic community leaders and leaders of arts organizations who:

• Articulate a clear philosophical and theological basis for the arts in community service
• Write and implement a strategy and goals for utilizing the arts in community service and mission
• Define and evaluate critical indicators for a successful community arts program
• Demonstrate the role the arts play in the spiritual and psychological development of children and youth
• Evaluate the impact of the arts on learning and cognition
• Demonstrate a professional level of the foundations of one art form
• Develop networks for support in developing a community arts program
• Develop and initiate an arts-integrated church or community program (including business, personnel, strategic and development plans).

At the end of the program, students will be able to

• Initiate a new arts-integrated community program within a church or community organization
• Write a strategic plan
• Supervise artists as teachers and community workers
• Write communication and educational curricula for specific learning goals
• Write and implement a finding development plan
• Manage arts-integrated projects including financial and personnel oversight, and program evaluation
• Integrate their personal faith as a citizen of the community.

Contact Us

Urban Studies Department
Campolo College of Graduate and Professional Studies
Eastern University | Philadelphia
3300 Henry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19129

P: 215-769-3121
F: 215-848-2651
E: urbanma@eastern.edu