Collaborative Specializations

In addition to degree programs, Planning students have the opportunity to participate in several Collaborative Specializations. These innovative programs emerge from cooperation between several units, providing students with a broader base from which to explore a novel interdisciplinary area or special development in a particular discipline, to complement their degree studies.

Collaborative Specializations provide a structured program of study, including appropriate graduate supervision, courses, and seminars. Students may indicate their interest in admission to a collaborative program on their application for graduate studies, however most collaborative programs require that students submit a separate application and may have additional admission requirements. Please consult the collaborative program’s website for admission requirements.

All degree requirements of both the degree program and the collaborative specialization must be completed. When the requirements of a collaborative specialization have been completed, a notation will be added to the student’s transcript.

The Planning Program participates in the following collaborative specializations (please click link for more details):

Environment and Health

The Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health is offered through the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. The health implications of human impacts on the environment cover a very broad range of issues including air and water quality, contaminated land, and shifts in the distribution of vector-borne diseases (related to changes in land use, climate, and human migration). The EH collaborative specialization provides students in the health sciences with a broad environmental perspective while at the same time exposes environmental studies students to the health implications of environmental quality. This program may also be of interest to students who are concerned with sociological and policy approaches to the field of environment and health.

Students who complete the collaborative specialization receive the following notation on their transcripts: “Completed the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health”.

MSc Pl program requirements: The program requires students to complete 16 half-courses or their equivalent. These courses must include the core courses in Planning – PLA 1101, PLA 1102, PLA 1103, PLA 1105, PLA 1106 and PLA 1107, the Environment & Health core course ENV 4001H “Graduate Seminars in Environment and Health” and one half course elective from the approved list of courses at the School of the Environment. Students must fulfill the requirements for one of the specializations in planning; write, under the supervision of a member of the Geography/Planning faculty, a current issues paper (to partially satisfy the requirements of PLA 1107), typically of about 35 pages, which must be presented and defended in an oral examination before a committee of faculty members and a planning client; and take part in an internship which provides “on the job” experience in environmental analysis and planning.

PhD program requirements: This program requires students to complete 6 half-credit courses. These courses include PLA2000H, PLA2001H, JPG1111H (or alternate research methods course), ENV4001H, one elective course from the School of the Environment and one additional elective in any subject. The dissertation must bewritten on an Environment & Health topic.

Environmental Studies

The Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies is offered through the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. Students pursue coursework and research in environmental areas. The School currently has graduate students from across the disciplinary spectrum.

The School offers a unique and comprehensive program of graduate study. By utilizing the University’s extensive library holdings and faculty resources, it offers one of North America’s most engaging and cross-disciplinary programs in the environment. One of the compelling strengths of the School’s program is the interdisciplinary environment in which teaching and research is conducted. For example, in its core courses, professors from the humanities team teach with faculty from the social sciences, engineering, biology, and chemistry. Students are both able to specialize in an area of environmental research and gain exposure to a wide range of intellectual and methodological disciplines focused on environmental issues.

Students who complete the collaborative specialization receive the following notation on their transcripts: “Completed the Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies”.

MSc Pl program requirements: The program requires students to complete 16 half-courses or their equivalent. These courses must include the core courses in Planning – PLA 1101, PLA 1102, PLA 1103, PLA 1105, PLA 1106 and PLA 1107, the Centre for Environment core course ENV 1001H “Environmental Decision Making” and one half-course elective from the approved list of courses at the School of the Environment. Students must fulfil the requirements for one of the specializations in planning; write, under the supervision of a member of the Geography/Planning faculty, a current issues paper (to partially satisfy the requirements of PLA 1107), typically of about 35 pages, which must be presented and defended in an oral examination before a committee of faculty members and a planning client; and take part in an internship which provides “on the job” experience in environmental analysis and planning.

Please note: Master’s students from the Program in Planning enrolled in one of the above collaborative programs should use their home unit code designators when registering on ROSI for the research paper (PLA 1107Y) and internship project (PLA 4444Y). These requirements will also count towards the collaborative program research paper (ENV 5555Y) and internship (ENV 4444Y) requirements.

PhD program requirements: This program requires students to complete 6 half-credit courses. These courses include PLA2000H, PLA2001H, JPG1111H (or alternate research methods course), ENV1001H, one elective course from the School of the Environment and one additional elective in any subject. The dissertation must be written on an Environmental Studies topic.

Community Development

The Collaborative Masters Specialization in Community Development brings together graduate students and professors from several disciplines and professional programs who have an interest in better understanding the role of communities and civil society organizations in the community development processes that are shaping contemporary societies.

Community development processes are multi-sectoral, involving the economic, social and physical health of communities. The process requires skills in education, planning, policy and political action. Students who want a fuller appreciation of the many dimensions of community development need to draw on several disciplines. The collaborative program in Community Development will allow students in the opportunity to work with faculty from collaborating departments and to tackle research, policy and practice topics that cross disciplinary boundaries. While maintaining the subject area focus of their home department, students in the collaborative program will have the benefit of learning from the approach of other disciplines and professional programs.

This program is an option for MSc Planning students only. Students who complete the collaborative program receive the following notation on their transcripts: “Completed the Collaborative Specialization in Community Development”.

MSc Pl program requirements: To fulfill the requirements of this program, students must complete the following courses. With the exception of the non-credit seminar, the courses listed below are options within regular departmental or faculty degree requirements, not additional courses.

  1. The core course in community development, UCS 1000H taught by Professor Poland (Public Health);
  2. Two additional half-courses in the subject area of the program, to be approved by the program; director; at least one of the two additional half-courses must be external to the home graduate unit;
  3. Mandatory participation in a non-credit coordinating seminar on community development;
  4. A current issues paper, on a topic related to community development.

Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies

The Collaborative Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies (CESEAS) offers a unique learning experience. It invites students to probe and question boundaries and assumptions in their engagement with East and Southeast Asia. It offers opportunities to critically examine global transformations and the regions’ changing position in the world. It deepens one’s understanding of key issues through careful examination of their historical roots, and of the cultural and social context that drives their manifestation. Faculty affiliated with the CESEAS program are deeply engaged in their research and teaching with countries of East and Southeast Asia, both from the humanities and the social sciences. They bring their particular specialization and enthusiasm to the classroom, their supervisory roles, and broad engagement with the Asian Institute community to create an environment where students can deepen their own interests while simultaneously broadening their grasp of the region and challenging their original assumptions.

The program is designed to suit individual interests and needs, while providing a context to selectively broaden one’s familiarity with particular issues and countries in East and Southeast Asia. A core course draws on the specialized fields of faculty instructors, while students are invited to pursue individual interests and approaches appropriate to their discipline in a Major Research Paper. Additional course work and opportunities for language training are tailored to individual circumstances and objectives.

MSc Pl program requirements are:

  • ASI 1000Y
  • 5 FCE on East or Southeast Asia, or in Asia-related courses within the home department or any other department (subject to the approval from the program director)
  • A major research paper, usually written in the context of a 0.5 FCE independent study course (ASI1001H). This requirement can be met by the student’s home department requirements for a major research paper, as long as the topic is related to Asia, and is approved by the program director.
  • By the time of graduation from the master’s degree program, every student is strongly expected to have a working knowledge of an East or Southeast Asian language as needed for his or her program of study.

Global Health

The Collaborative Specialization in Global Health integrates methods and insights from the scholarly arenas of the participating partners. It provides a vibrant intellectual community for doctoral students and research faculty to interact and learn from one another.  Students are encouraged to think critically about dominant paradigms and to integrate academic research skills in an applied community or policy setting. Graduates of the program will have the skills to work effectively with trans-disciplinary, international teams.

The program views ‘global health’ in an integrative manner. It focuses on the relationships among local, regional, national, and international forces and factors that influence health and on the development of effective interventions and policies that will address or shape these.

This program is an option for PhD students only. Students who complete the collaborative specialization receive the following notation on their transcripts: “Completed the Collaborative Specialization in Global Health”.

PhD program requirements: This program requires students to complete 6 half-credit courses. This includes PLA2000H, PLA2001H, JPG1111H (or alternative methods course), the global health program core course, elective in global health from outside the planning program and completion of the global health seminar series course CHL5701H. Students must write and defend a thesis related to global health.

Women and Gender Studies

The Collaborative Specialization in Women and Gender Studies (CWGS) provides a formal educational context for the pursuit of interdisciplinary research in women and gender studies and advanced feminist scholarship. The program, offered at the master’s and doctoral levels, provides a central coordinating structure to facilitate and disseminate research in women and gender studies through student and faculty research seminars, colloquia, circulation of work in progress, study groups, conferences, and publications. The CWGS contributes to the development of an integrated research community in women and gender studies at the University of Toronto. This program is available to both MSc and PhD Planning students.

Students who complete the collaborative specialization receive the following notation on their transcripts: “Completed the Collaborative Specialization in Women and Gender Studies”.

MSc Pl program requirements: 

  • WGS5000H
  • 1.0 FCE in courses with a focus on women, gender, feminist, sexuality, critical race or post-colonial studies
  • Regular attendance at the WGS Research Seminar

PhD program requirements: This program requires students to complete 6 half-credit courses. This includes PLA2000H, PLA2001H, JPG1111H (or alternative methods course), the WGS core course WGS5000H or WGS 5001H, 2 half-credit courses with a focus on women, gender, feminist, sexuality, critical race or post-colonial studies. Students are also required to regularly participate in the WGS Research Seminar – students are required to present their work in the seminar at least once before graduating. The thesis must be written on a women and gender studies topic.