City Lab is the first initiative to come out of the partnership between Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies (SCS) and Spire (a project of the Geneva Area Recreational, Educational and Athletic Trust). City Lab also represents the first SCS school-wide course, truly interdisciplinary in approach and scope. The first city to engage with and benefit from this course will be Geneva, Ohio beginning fall 2011. 

City Lab is an educational course where students, faculty, and professional partners work in tandem with a city’s leaders to solve real-world problems at an urban and metropolitan scale. The course offers a Jesuit-inspired clinical experience consistent with the School of Continuing Studies’ commitment to applied studies. Georgetown’s traditional strengths in curriculum and faculty will fortify the clinical experience. 

City Lab will include trips to Geneva, Ohio throughout the course of the planning program in addition to a final capstone experience. City Lab is where both theory and practice are integrated and where generalists and specialists work together. Since most urban issues take time to identify, study, and analyze, City Lab provides an opportunity to develop a long-term relationship with a city to tackle multiple urban challenges and planning projects that may be intertwined and interrelated. City Lab will serve as a true urban laboratory whereby the city will benefit from the entire resources of the university – business, law, real estate, sociology, and history among others. It offers the opportunity for students, faculty, and design professionals to collaborate and work together. 

Students will be able to participate in City Lab on a semester basis and at every stage of plan development from goal identification, data analysis, plan development, and plan implementation. A student’s academic major will determine their project role and their coursework within the program. For example, a Public Relations student’s coursework in City Lab would be significantly different from a Real Estate student’s coursework in City Lab. 

The design of this interdisciplinary course will be practical in approach and will cover topics and experiences in, but not limited to: 
A. Research Methodology 
B. Community Engagement 
C. Public Relations/Journalism Strategy 
D. Urban Planning and Design 
E. Diversity/Human Development 
F. Real Estate Finance and Development 
G. Sports Event Management 
H. Technology Infrastructure and Usage 

City Lab will include trips to Geneva, Ohio throughout the course of the planning program in addition to a final capstone experience. There will be no additional costs to students associated with this travel. Students must be willing to work as part of a team unit on appropriate segments of the City Lab work and be able to present to business leaders and elected officials about results and outcomes achieved during the course. 

An ideal City Lab class would number 25-30 students and be comprised of representatives from the spectrum of SCS degree programs, from both the Liberal Studies and the Master in Professional Studies degrees. 

As our world becomes increasingly urbanized, City Lab offers cities, towns, and urban areas the synergy of a university, the opportunity to gain creative and fresh ideas while providing students an opportunity to learn and become well-rounded urban planners and urban thinkers. 

Please note: 
(1) Students should secure advance permission from their department to count this class as an elective. 
(2) With permission from their department, students can enroll in the course in consecutive fall and spring semesters. 
(3) Students who enroll in City Lab will be expected to travel to Geneva, Ohio for brief visits during the semester. Dates of travel will be flexible for student convenience. There will be no additional costs to students associated with this travel. 

Explore Geneva, Ohio, the site for this year's City Lab experience: 
http://www.genevaohio.com/ 
http://www.city-data.com/city/Geneva-Ohio.html