The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs offers undergraduate minor programs in Public Affairs and in Urban and Regional Studies.  Each program offers an excellent interdisciplinary focus on problem-solving, analysis, and serves as an entry point to further graduate studies in law, policy, planning, and social welfare.  Undergraduate students in the minor programs gain insight into current issues such as crime and drugs, the environment, labor policies, national security, and policy issues related to the State of California.

Minor in Public Affairs

Applied public policy is an increasingly important element of any modern education. The Minor in Public Affairs complements a liberal arts or science major through a systematic examination of a broad range of public policy issues, mainly through the analysis of specific social, political and economic problems addressed by each of the three departments in the School of Public Affairs: Social Welfare, Urban Planning, and Public Policy. The underlying questions examined in our classes range from how to design cities to reduce traffic problems, to the complexities of the legislative process, to the problems and challenges of eldercare, among many others.

The Public Affairs Minor requires the completion of seven (4 unit) classes. As shown in more detail below, the requirements for the minor have four parts meant to be taken in more or less this order:

    1.    An introductory course in public policy (Public Policy 10A)
    2.    an applied course focused on a specific policy issue,
    3.    4 upper division electives, and
    4.    a final “capstone” seminar.

While the minor draws on all three departments, students are encouraged to use the 4 electives to “specialize” in one of these departments.

Additional Information:

• Michael S. Dukakis Internship in Public Policy
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Undergraduate course descriptions
• Undergraduate Handbook 

Review of the Free-Standing Minor in Public Affairs

Dear Students:

The Undergraduate Council has completed the review of the Free‐Standing Minor in Public Affairs. The review report has been forwarded to the Chair of the Minor and should be made available to you. We invite you to study the report and to comment, if you wish, on its contents and/or on the review process. Please submit your comments to the Academic Senate Office. All such comments will be kept confidential if so requested; although they may be paraphrased in any discussions or comments to the administration, confidentiality will remain intact. We also encourage you to participate in the Minor's discussions of the report.

Should you encounter any difficulty in accessing the report in the Minor’s office, please do not hesitate to contact Linda Mohr in the Academic Senate Office at x62470 to arrange to read a copy in the Senate Office.

Sincerely,

Richard L. Weiss, Chair
Undergraduate Council

Minor in Urban and Regional Studies

The scale, diversity, balkanized governance, and natural environment of Southern California all contribute to making it an extraordinary natural laboratory for learning about urban and regional issues, whether the focus is on immigration, employment, the built environment, transportation, poverty, natural resources or a host of other challenges. The Minor of Urban and Regional Studies will offer undergraduates a means of addressing some of these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective, offering a balanced mixture of theory, practice, and service learning courses.

The Urban and Regional Studies Minor requires the completion of seven (4 unit) classes. As shown in more detail below, the requirements for the minor consist of three parts meant to be taken in the order listed.

    1.    An introductory course in urban planning (Urbn Pl 120 or 121)
    2.    five upper division electives, and
    3.    a final “capstone” course.

• Undergraduate course descriptions
• Undergraduate Handbook
• Recent Urban and Regional Studies Capstone Projects

View "Rediscovering the Urban River: Los Angeles and Beyond," a capstone project by Urban and Reigonal Planning undergraduates students.

QUESTIONS?

Contact the counselor for undergraduate minors, Stan Paul, 310-206-8966, paul@publicaffairs.ucla.edu.