This article tells a story of practice, a story of theory, and how each informs and transforms the other through a two-way flow of people and knowledge from a city to a campus and back again. By reflecting with fellow participants on the events and outcomes of a sustained city campus partnership, the author introduces a theory of engagement from…

Since the 1950's the Ford Foundation has spent some $36 million trying to promote a closer link-up between American universities and the problems of American cities. This document reviews the foundation's experience and some of the lessons from it and speculates about the future. Since the foundation has not yet fully evaluated the results of this…

The history and status of the field of urban and public affairs are discussed, and some characteristics of the 13 existing graduate programs in this area are identified. Ways to organize a high-quality graduate degree program and to avoid common internal institutional obstacles are considered. Some new initiatives in metropolitan universities are…

For 27 years the Florida Atlantic University Florida International University Joint Center for Environmental and Urban Problems has made major contributions to issues associated with rapid urbanization in southern Florida. Maintaining political support, both in the community and within the two universities, has been crucial to sustaining…

At the University of Minnesota, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs was established as an all-university unit with resources to establish community connections, facilitate and support faculty and graduate student urban research and outreach, and help integrate urban concerns into a large, urban-located land-grant university. Its structure,…

The Trenton (New Jersey) Office of Policy Studies was established in conjunction with Thomas Edison State College to analyze emerging issues in urban public policy. The program is active in the internal life of the city's government while maintaining an independent academic orientation that shields it from political and practical pressures.…