SBS Geography, Planning & Recreation
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  • Community Design, Minor


Community Design, Minor

The field of community and urban design puts you in the driver's seat to help redesign poorly functioning places or to create fresh designs for more livable and sustainable neighborhoods and cities. With this minor you learn about the environmental, political, and social aspects of places and how to improve community designs through 2-D and 3-D modeling tools. Classes include a mixture of academic and theoretical perspectives, coupled with applied, real-world projects that challenge you to design better places in Flagstaff and beyond.

Communities have evolved in adaptation to environments, geography, political pressures, food production, or simply population sprawl. This minor provides a useful foundation for those interested in land-use planning, historic preservation, as well as the legal and ethical components of contemporary community design.

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Requirements Accordion Open

University Requirements

  • A minor is earned in conjunction with a bachelor's degree.

    To receive a minor (18 to 24 units) at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject matter areas with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0. At least 12 units of the minor must be unique to that minor and not applied to any other minor.

Overview Accordion Closed

Overview

In addition to University Requirements:

  • Complete individual plan requirements.

Please note that you may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

No more than 50% of the units used to satisfy minor requirements may be used to satisfy major requirements.

Minimum Units for Completion20
Major GPAC

Purpose Statement

This minor provides community design background for those in the fields of civil engineering, historic preservation, community advocacy and sustainability, and public administration. The minor in community design prepares students to redesign poorly functioning places or to create fresh designs for more livable and sustainable neighborhoods and cities and to communicate with the public. With this minor you learn about the environmental, political, and social aspects of places and how to improve community design. You will understand legal, ethical and process aspects to community design projects, work on solving problems related to the built environment, create community designs and gain skills in public participation and facilitation.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to: 

  1. Relate urban economic, social, political, built environment and legal considerations to past, present and future land use patterns
  2. Understand the issues of design, sustainability and livability in regard to human and physical landscapes
  3. Apply critical thinking skills to design or redesign areas or spaces using various visual technologies, research and justifications
  4. Effectively work in teams to produce quality and relevant projects

 

Details Accordion Closed

Details

Minor Requirements
  • Take the following 20 units with a Grade of "C" or better in each course:

    • GSP 201, GSP 206, GSP 303, GSP 371, GSP 401, GSP 421 (17 units)

    Select one from the following courses with your advisor's approval (3 units):
    • GSP 432, GSP 501, GSP 514

    Contact the Geography, Planning, & Recreation department to be assigned a minor advisor.
  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also take. For prerequisite information click on the course or see your advisor.
     

Availability Accordion Closed

Campus Availability

  • Flagstaff

directory photo
Rebecca Dawn Hawley
Professor
Geography, Planning and Recreation
D.Hawley@nau.edu
+1 928 523-2383
Social Behavioral Sciences (West) , room 254
Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation
Location
Room 201 Building 70
Social and Behavioral Sciences West
19 W McConnell Drive
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Mailing Address
PO Box 15015
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Contact Form
Email
geog@nau.edu
Phone
928-523-2650
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