Take a MetroBridge Course
MetroBridge embeds real-world research projects for cities, towns, and community organizations into classes at Boston University, addressing pressing urban challenges and creating experiential learning opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to gain applied skills through impactful, project-based research.
Are you interested in cities or urban issues, or do you want hands-on, applied, experiential learning opportunities? If so, check out our MetroBridge course listings below!
Questions? Wondering about classes in future semesters not listed below? Please email MetroBridge Program Manager David Gross at davgross@bu.edu.
MetroBridge Courses
Each year, MetroBridge courses are subject to change due to a variety of factors, although many courses typically collaborate with us every semester they are offered (we call these our “core” MetroBridge courses).
Below, is a list of our planned courses for current and upcoming semesters, our core MetroBridge courses that regularly feature projects, and a selection of past courses that incorporated MetroBridge projects in the past. Don’t see classes from your school/college or academic department? We’re constantly working with faculty across the university on new collaborations!
Tentative Spring 2025 MetroBridge Courses
Please note this list is subject to change and is not comprehensive. It does not represent a guarantee, nor does it represent all courses we are working with on potential MetroBridge projects. It is provided for planning purposes and will be updated frequently.
- CAS AN 557: Anthropology of Mental Health (Merav Shohet)
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CAS AA 600: Seminar in African American Studies: Roots of Disparity: Racism, and Pathways to Health Justice (Shannon Whittaker)
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CAS EE 524: Environmental Justice (Anne Short Gianotti)
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CAS HI 528: Engineering Boston (Betty Anderson)
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CAS SO 455/855: Topics in Social Issues: Homelessness (Molly Richard)
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MET UA 505: Urban Management (Rob DiAdamo)
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MET UA 805: Urban Studies Capstone (Luis Santiago)
While we hope that all of the above courses will ultimately incorporate MetroBridge, we are still in the preliminary stages. Additional courses from CAS, Questrom, and Wheelock are possible for the spring 2025 semester, among others!
Fall 2024 MetroBridge Courses
CAS EE 512: Urban Climate — Boston Housing Authority
Faculty: Dan Li
Day/Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45am
Project: Students will research and develop tools to help the BHA understand the health impacts of extreme heat on their properties. Students will also research potential low-cost interventions.
Course Description: Introduction to urban microclimate within the context of global climate change. Basic climate processes in urban systems; urban heat islands; mixing and dispersion; modeling and observational techniques; anthropogenic emissions; climate change impacts on cities; mitigation and adaptation.
Credits: 4
Undergraduate Hub Designations: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy; Research and Information Literacy; Scientific Inquiry I
CAS IR 559: Leadership and Cultural Change in Large Organizations — Transportation for Massachusetts
Faculty: Jack Weinstein
Day/Time: Thursdays 8am-10:45am
Project: Students will evaluate major issues (fare policy, governance and oversight, and human capital) affecting the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to inform Transportation for Massachusetts’ work.
Course Description: Analyzes the determinants of successful leadership and the importance of diversity in large organizations, with focus on how to transform dysfunctional cultures. Using military and corporate case studies, addresses how to identify root causes of problems and impediments to change.
Credits: 4
Undergraduate Hub Designations: Ethical Reasoning; Oral and/or Signed Communication; Teamwork/Collaboration
CAS PO 517: Urban Politics and Policy — Abundant Housing Massachusetts
Faculty: Katherine Levine Einstein
Day/Time: Thursdays 8am-10:45am
Project: Students will research to inform Abundant Housing Massachusetts’ efforts to engage youth by analyzing why (or why not) youth are engaged in local elections and politics in select cities.
Course Description: Explores the impact of American urban politics on the implementation of local policy. Topics include deindustrialization, white flight, neighborhood effects, housing policy, schools, regionalism, and factors that constrain policy-making capacities.
Credits: 4
Undergraduate Hub Designations: The Individual in Community; Teamwork/Collaboration; Writing-Intensive Course
CAS SO 483/883: Gentrification Studies — Boston Climate Action Network
Faculty: Loretta Lees
Day/Time: Tuesdays 3:30-6:15pm
Project: Students will conduct research to understand what defines green gentrification, how it’s measured, whether it is occurring in Boston, and what strategies have been put forth to mitigate displacement caused by green gentrification in cities both in the United States and internationally.
Course Description: This seminar explores the process of urban gentrification from an interdisciplinary perspective, examining the variegated histories, geographies, and sociologies of gentrification globally, thinking through comparative urbanism. It considers definitions of gentrification, how theorizations developed over time, and key concepts.
Credits: 4
CAS SO 490/890: Global Health: Politics, Institutions, and Ideology — Upham's Community Care
Faculty: Joseph Harris
Day/Time: Tuesdays 12:30-3:15
Project: Students will conduct background research and interviews to develop a community needs assessment for a community health center that provides services to disadvantaged communities in Dorchester.
Course Description: What is global health? Who are the main actors in global health debates? This seminar explores the politics of global health, providing students with sociological tools, concepts, and knowledge to help make sense of conflict in contemporary global health debates.
Credits: 4
Undergraduate Hub Designations: Research and Information Literacy; Social Inquiry II; Writing-Intensive Course
MET UA 703: Urban Research Methods — Fort Point Neighborhood Association and West Broadway Neighborhood Association
Faculty: Yeşim Sungu-Eryilmaz
Day/Time: Wednesdays 6:00-8:45pm
Project: Students will analyze the existing conditions of a 30-acre redevelopment site to help the local neighborhood association gain insight as they work to ensure local interests have a say in development plans.
Course Description: Mixed-Methods Design for Urban Research is intended to develop skills in the evaluation and utilization of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to scholarship in social-science research. The course will explore survey, experimental, observational, interview, ethnographic, and case-study research methods in depth, and students will learn how to collect, organize, and evaluate data in various forms.
Credits: 4
QST SI 250 C1: Ideas to Impact — Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler
Faculty: Ian Mashiter
Day/Time: Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45am (section C1 only)
Project: As part of a sprint project, students will seek to understand why truck operators (and companies that contract with them) in the City of Cambridge do not adopt safety measures for bikers and pedestrians and what could be done to promote the adoption of such measures.
Course Description: This course is required for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor. The goal of this course is to expose students to the conceptual frameworks that guide ideation and innovation. Thus it will include all five learning principles the guide design of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor. The course analyzes the conditions that foster innovation as well as the process by which ideas progress from conception to implementation and execution, and the creation of either economic or social impact. Students will be exposed to theories on the conditions that affect the generation and development of creativity and innovation within individuals, teams, cities, and regions. To foster experiential learning, the whole class will be structured around the process of innovation with a “live case” that focuses on creating social innovations for the City of Boston. When people think about great social challenges, they often look afar to distant countries. Yet, many social problems lie right around the corner from students’ daily lives. Students will develop a toolkit comprised of brainstorming, design thinking, human centered design, prototyping, storyboarding and field research. Students will conduct original field research within the City of Boston and identify a challenge or problem to address which they will focus on for the duration of the course, culminating in final presentations.
Credits: 4
Undergraduate Hub Designations: Creativity/Innovation; The Individual in Community; Social Inquiry I
WED AP 635: Public Policy for Researchers — Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative
Faculty: Ariel Tichnor-Wagner
Day/Time: Tuesdays 5:00-7:45pm (only meets 1st half of semester: 9/03-10/15)
Project: Students will work to better understand how select state tax policies that seek to benefit seniors are implemented at the local/municipal level in order to identify trends and develop policy insights and implications.
Course Description: The purpose of this course is to expose students to the basics of the public policy field in order to be able to conduct research, advocate for issues, and develop careers in policy-related fields.
Credits: 2
Core MetroBridge Courses
We are in the process of developing a list of BU courses that typically incorporate MetroBridge courses every semester in which the course is offered. Our initial list of core MetroBridge courses will be published during the spring 2025 semester. Check back before registering for fall 2025 classes!
Please note: This list is provided as a resource for students to incorporate MetroBridge courses into their planning. We work with BU faculty and our city and community partners to keep this list as up-to-date as possible; however, it is subject to change and we cannot guarantee MetroBridge projects in a given course.
Select Previous MetroBridge Courses
Click here to view a selection of recently completed MetroBridge projects. Look below for a sample of courses that have featured MetroBridge projects in prior years.
Please note, the courses below are a selection of courses that have previously incorporated MetroBridge projects. Not all past MetroBridge courses are listed. These courses may or may not be MetroBridge courses in the future. Please consult the listings above for the most up-to-date course information.
Anthropology
Art
City Planning & Urban Affairs
- MET UA 509 – Public Finance and Urban Infrastructure
- MET UA 703 – Urban Research Methods
Communication
- COM EM 757 – User-Producers 2.0: Developing Interactivity
- COM EM 777 – Masters Collaboratory Project
Computer Science
- CAS CS 501 – Computer Science Practicum
Criminal Justice
- MET CJ 640 – Management & Accountability Analytics
Cross-College Challenge
- HUB XC410 B1 – Spark! Data Science for Good. Topics in Civic Tech: Housing
Earth & Environment
- CAS EE 512 – Urban Climate
- CAS EE 538 – Research for Environmental Agencies 2
Economics
- CAS EC 328 – Urban and Regional Economics
Education & Human Development
- SED AP 635 – Public Policy for Researchers
Health/Social Welfare
- CAS SO 490/GRS SO 890 – Global Health: Politics, Institutions, and Ideology
- SAR HS 348 – Global Mental Health
- SAR HS 349 – Cultural Humility, Racial Justice, and Health
- SSW WP 705 – Mental Health and Social Policy
- SPH PM 755 – Health Care Delivery Systems
History
- CAS HI 190 – History of Boston
Kilachand Honors College
- KHC HC 302 – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Challenges
- KHC HC 401 – Epistemologies and the Process of Inquiry
Management/Strategy & Innovation
- QST SI 250 – Ideas to Impact
- QST MG 737 – Action Learning Capstone
Political Science
- CAS PO 307 – Public Opinion in American Politics
- CAS PO 313 – The Politics and Policy of HBO’s The Wire
- CAS PO 519 – Inequality and American Politics
- CAS PO 524 – Local Policy Analysis Lab
- GRS PO 705 – Special Topics in American Politics
Psychology
- CAS PS 326 – Experimental Psychology: Social
- CAS PS 560 – Cross-Cultural Psychology
Romance Studies
- CAS LP 307 – Portuguese for Business and Professional Life
- CAS LS 309 – Spanish for Heritage and Native Speakers
Sociology
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- CAS SO 490/GRS SO 890 – Global Health: Politics, Institutions, and Ideology
- CAS SO 702 – Sociological Research Methods
