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Global Perspectives Honored as Best New Journal

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Global Perspectives, a transdisciplinary online journal edited by Adjunct Professor of Social Welfare Helmut Anheier, was named best new journal for 2021 by the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. The council, made up of academic journal editors across all disciplines, praised the breadth and depth of the journal and its innovative structure. “The journal’s commitment to a new practice of the disciplines in the social sciences, one that refuses to replicate some of the old power structures of a century ago, is borne out in the innovative structure of an emerging scholars forum, where postdocs and assistant professors both contribute and participate in peer review of others,” the group said. “With an impressively diverse editorial board, and a healthy number of section editors, each with their own advisory board, this journal’s structure seems to offer a balance of breadth and depth worthy of the name.” Published by the University of California Press, Global Perspectives seeks to advance social science research and debates in a globalizing world. Anheier, who is also a senior professor of sociology and past president of the Hertie School in Berlin, said the award is “further encouragement to the novel approach of the journal to focus on high-quality academic contributions that do not fit into conventional disciplinary and national boundaries. Being recognized as such and so prominently by our peers in scholarly publishing is indeed a great honor.” The award was announced Jan. 8 at the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association, the U.S. professional association for scholars of language and literature.

 

L.A.-Paris Connection Offers New Double Master’s Degree for Urban Planners UCLA Luskin's partnership with a top European university will allow graduate students to earn two distinct degrees in two years

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By Mary Braswell

A new partnership between UCLA and a top European research university offers urban planning students an opportunity to earn two distinct master’s degrees in two years while studying in the global cities of Los Angeles and Paris.

Beginning in the fall of 2021, the highly regarded urban planning programs at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and France’s Sciences Po will join forces to offer a double master’s focusing on global and comparative planning and governance.

Students accepted into the program will be immersed in two thriving urban laboratories where perspectives on managing cities are quite distinct.

“The approach to urban governance in France and across Europe is very different from the American approach,” said Professor Chris Tilly, chair of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning. “This double master’s is a unique opportunity to learn how things are done in different cultures and to bring that knowledge to a range of global urban environments.”

‘There could not be a better two-city laboratory for learning how to become an urbanist today.’ — Professor Michael Storper

Students will spend the first year in Los Angeles, where UCLA Luskin offers rigorous training in urban planning, development and design with a strong emphasis on social, environmental and racial justice.

Year 2 will be spent at the Paris campus of Sciences Po’s Urban School, which takes a deep comparative and critical approach to public administration and the social transformation of cities. English is the language of instruction at the Urban School, which attracts students from across the globe.

Upon completion of the program, students will receive two degrees: a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA Luskin and a Master of Governing the Large Metropolis from the Urban School.

“By creating this dual degree, we get the best of both worlds,” said Professor Michael Storper, who holds appointments at both UCLA Luskin and Sciences Po. “Paris and Los Angeles are both world cities, but they couldn’t be more different in lifestyle and layout.

“Paris is historical, dense, public-transit oriented. And yet, the cities share many of the same challenges for planners, such as economic development, infrastructure, gentrification and housing, diversity and segregation, public space and climate change,” said Storper, a French-American citizen and resident of both cities.

The double master’s program is geared toward students seeking to work internationally or to bring a global perspective to urban planning in their home countries. And the opportunity to study abroad and build a network of friends and colleagues from around the world will be particularly welcome after travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted.

What sets this program apart from other international exchange programs is that it grants two degrees in urban planning, accredited in the United States and Europe, in the time normally needed to earn just one.

Across the University of California system, only one other similar international partnership exists: a double executive MBA program offered by the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the National University of Singapore.

The alliance between UCLA Luskin Urban Planning and the Urban School dates back to 2016, with the launch of a quarter-long student exchange program. To build on that relationship, a team from UCLA Luskin, including Storper, Associate Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and past Urban Planning Chair Vinit Mukhija, advocated for the double master’s program, which required approval from UCLA and the UC Office of the President.

By design, the program will be small and selective. The roughly 15 students accepted into each year’s cohort will complete coursework and internships integrating theory and scholarship with real professional experiences, preparing them for work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors in any region of the world.

Applications to join the program in fall of 2021 are due on January 31. More information is available on the UCLA Luskin website. 

“This program is a natural fit of two great universities and two great cities that are complementary in their differences,” Storper said. “There could not be a better two-city laboratory for learning how to become an urbanist today.”

Stoll Joins Partnership to Foster Diversity in Research

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Michael Stoll, professor of public policy and urban planning, is among a group of experts participating in a new American Institutes for Research (AIR) program aimed at building a pipeline of diverse candidates who can contribute to the field of behavioral and social science research and application. The Pipeline Partnership Program provides opportunities for select graduate-level students from Howard University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Georgia State University. Stoll will contribute his expertise as an advisor and content expert to the program, which provides students with education and training; mentoring and career advancement; and networking and internships. “I’m excited to be a part of this effort because it aims to help diversify researchers in the social and behavioral sciences regarding racial and ethnic representation, but also in regards to cultural competencies in the field,” Stoll said. He plans to give seminars at the partnership universities on his current research as well as subjects that encourage and motivate a new generation of researchers to take leadership positions in their fields. “The goal will be to use these opportunities to develop mentorship relationships with promising graduate students at these partnership universities so as to further their skill enhancement, social networks, and career and professional development and success,” he said. As an AIR external institutional fellow for the past four years, Stoll serves as a thought partner on critical projects or enterprises, provides mentorship to select staff, and serves as a reviewer on high profile reports or projects. — Zoe Day

 

Anheier Leads New UC Online Journal as Editor-in-Chief

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Global Perspectives, a new UC Press publication, is now live online with the first of a series of articles designed to advance contemporary social science research and debates across disciplines. Helmut Anheier, adjunct professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, serves as editor-in-chief of the online-only endeavor. “We start from the premise that the world that gave rise to the social sciences in their present form is no more,” Anheier said in a Q&A on the UC-based blog. Anheier, who also holds posts at Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and the Max Weber Institute at Heidelberg University, Germany, explained that the overall vision was to “assemble a group of leading scholars that together can create a significant momentum to overcome the inertia that is inherent in the rigid disciplinary and national silos.” Global Perspectives is “open to the whole thematic range of the social sciences, and in particular those phenomena that are no longer located neatly within established geographical or national boundaries, if they ever were,” Anheier wrote in the publication’s inaugural essay. The first article available is “Recoupling Economic and Social Progress” by Katharina Lima de Miranda and Dennis J. Snower. Other titles will focus on issues including trade, markets, security, the environment, media, justice, law, governance, culture, identities, technology, shifting geographies and migration. “The concepts and empirical bases needed for a profound understanding of financial flows, climate change, intellectual property rights, technological advances or migration flows are just some examples that illustrate the complexity of the research task ahead,” Anheier said.