Getting a grip on Regional Science

Editor's note: To add perspective to the planned elimination of three SAS departments, The Daily Pennsylvanian offers a closer look at each department. Today: Regional Science Regional Science Department faculty say their field is not as tricky as its strange name suggests. But with School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rosemary Stevens' highly publicized decision to disband the department and two others effective June 30, many more have been left wondering what the department does and what its role is at the University. Regional Science Chairperson Stephen Gale explained that by taking economics, political science, sociology and geography into account, the department – the only one of its kind in the country – studies regions and why they develop as they do. While economists view events as they relate to the allocation of resources and sociologists view them in terms of different societal groups, regional science looks at the role of location in social interactions and social outcomes, said Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden, a regional science professor. Under Stevens' proposal, now in the hands of Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, the fate of the department is much less clear than that of the two other departments slated for closure. While the American Civilization and Religious Studies departments are scheduled to be replaced by interdisciplinary programs, Stevens hasn't made the same guarantees for Regional Science. · Although the Regional Science Department has only six faculty members, Gale said its contributions to the University and the field are immeasurable. Known for pioneering the approach to regions, the University is also the home of the leading journal in the field, the Journal of Regional Science, which is produced on campus under the direction of Professor Ronald Miller. "I think that what Regional Science has contributed is that it has established a whole school of intellectual thought in the social sciences," Madden said. "The closing proposal is coming at a time when these ideas are at the forefront of scholarly thought and political issues in the world." A look at the department's graduates and where they work is another indication of its success, Gale said. Graduates have gone on to teach at nationally-known universities as well as Tokyo University, the London School of Economics, the Stockholm School of Economics and Cambridge University. Gale added that all graduates of the program end up with jobs when they complete their studies. In a letter distributed to faculty in September, Stevens stated that since the concept of regional science has not been copied across the country, perhaps a separate program is unnecessary. One suggestion would add Regional Science to the City and Regional Planning Department in the Graduate School of Fine Arts. Regional Science Professor Ralph Ginsburg disagrees with Stevens' conclusions. Ginsburg said his field has practical applications in the world today and can be used to research regional concepts, such as the European Community and the North American Free Trade Agreement. "If you look around the world today, regional problems are increasingly important," he said. "It is clear that in the European Community, the basic economic problems are recognized as regional problems and this is also true for the Pacific Rim countries. "Penn is in a unique position to exploit its comparative advantage in what is an increasingly important area in the social sciences," he added. "Penn is moving away from its comparative advantage rather than building on it." While the department does not house an undergraduate major, it offers undergraduates the opportunity to submatriculate and receive a master's degree before graduation. College junior and submatriculant Hany Abdallah said her decision to enter the field was a career move, which she hopes will eventually land her a job at the United Nations, where many University graduates have ended up. "I can ultimately get my degree," Abdallah said. "But I am worried that I won't be taken that seriously as a regional scientist and someone with specific skills." Gale said regional science graduates are respected internationally as belonging to a field which is all-encompassing. "Predicting migrating trends, looking at impacts of different regional configurations, deciding where to put a fried chicken joint – practical and stupid – the theories come out of regional science," he said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.