Institute for Metropolitan Studies
Founded in 2018, the IMS Urban Studies Working Group brings together faculty and graduate students from across San JosΓ© State and beyond. The group meets regularly (in person when conditions allow), roughly once a month, to build interdisciplinary connections and opportunities for collaboration. It also provides an opportunity for members to share work in progress for workshopping and constructive feedback. Presenters to the working group have included Anthony Raynsford (Art and Art History), Kathleen McConnell (Communication), Matthew Holian (Economics), and MPA graduate student Liz Lange. During the COVID-19 pandemic we kept up our meetings online, and even spun off a βquarantine book clubβ during the strange summer of 2020. Today, members include both part-time and full-time faculty representing 14 departments, programs, and administrative offices ranging from Anthropology and Environmental Studies to Chemistry, Linguistics, Justice Studies, and the MLK Library, as well as faculty members at UC Berkeley and Mills College.