The interdisciplinary program in metropolitan studies, housed in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (SCA), studies urban spaces in relation to the rural and suburban contexts that help to define them. With the New York metropolitan area as their laboratory, students use course work, internships, and research investigations to examine how social institutions and policy initiatives address demographic concerns and matters of infrastructure. Studying with faculty and scholars active in government, community, and nonprofit agencies, students develop a critical understanding of the way cities, suburbs, and rural areas are produced, as well as key problems they experience in tension with each other.<br><br>An accelerated B.A./M.P.A. and B.A./M.U.P. arrangement exists with NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. For more information, see the section on preprofessional, accelerated, and specialized programs in this Bulletin.