Urban Studies MA student Christina Sparrock worked in a corporate accounting job when she experienced her first mental health crisis. As she recovered, she grew into a new line of work: that of a mental health advocate. She founded a Person-Centered Intervention mental health program in Fort Greene Park, and pushed for statewide adoption of new language to be used by first responders. Read more.
CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studie has developed programs in collaboration with several unions, municipal agencies, and community groups. Many of our students can take advantage of employer, union, and other benefits to cover the cost of their tuition. With Bachelor’s, Master’s, and certificate programs in labor studies and urban studies, we prepares our students for impactful careers. Learn more.
Join us on the 20th anniversary of the 2005 NYC Transit Workers Strike for a conversation with Roger Toussaint, former president of TWU Local 100, labor historian Joshua Freeman, and Kafui Attoh, Professor of Urban Studies. Learn how TWU Local 100 mobilized an entire city to support transit workers, even in the face of a hostile, well funded corporate media campaign to vilify them. Read more.
Join us at CUNY SLU to learn from Sultana Hossain, a key leader in the Amazon Labor Union – IBT Local 1 (ALU), in conversation with Sarah Watson, director of the Murphy Institute at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. Explore what the Amazon Labor Union is fighting for, from key health and safety gains to reversing illegal firings and the ripple effects of the 2024 strike. Read more.
A drivers’ advocate and former taxi driver, SLU student Mohammad “Tipu” Sultan has been named one of “The 2025 Unsung Heroes” by City & State New York. Sultan is a Labor Studies bachelor’s student and recent recipient of SLU’s Joseph S. Murphy Scholarship for Diversity in Labor. City & State said the New York Taxi Workers Alliance organizer “keeps one of New York City’s most vital labor movements connected.” Read more.
Gothamist/WNYC reporter Paige Oamek and Sanitation Department leader Joshua Goodman both earned professional credentials at SLU, and both are honored by CUNY’s 50 Under 50 Alumni Awards. The list spans alumni across fields, schools, and graduation years, forming a cohort that “highlights the depth of talent within the CUNY community, representing public servants, journalists, entrepreneurs, artists and more.” Read more.