A Typical Week at SF Urban (If There is Such a Thing!)

Hello, soon-to-be-Urbanites!

We’re getting excited for your arrival in a few months, as we believe you are embarking on what has proven to be a significant, faith-building journey.

I’m personally looking forward to meeting each of you and getting to know your stories, hopes, dreams and challenges. Until we meet in person, I’ll take this moment to share a bit more about myself, as each of us will do over the next few weeks and months. I’m Karen Andrews, Associate Professor in Urban Studies and English, and I’ve been teaching on Urban for 10 years now. My primary area of responsibility is “Academics.” I teach the core Urban Studies course, and I also teach the Fall elective English course, “Ethnicity, Race and the City in American Literature,” and I supervise a few students each semester who are pursuing Independent Study Tutorials. Along with my colleagues, I help out with recruiting new students and participate in many of the extra-curricular and community activities that you’ll be soon discovering, such as community dinners and “mentoring” relationships.

Before coming to San Francisco, I taught in the English Department at Westmont College and co-led one of their England Semesters (1994). I’m a Westmont alumna (English and Psychology), and I hold a Ph.D. in English and American literature. Sometime I’ll tell you more about my vocational journey, with all of its twists and turns, and how I arrived at this wonderful program in San Francisco. In the meantime, I’ll share that I’m a single mom of a vibrant five-year-old son, Jacob, who shares my excitement about your arrival to San Francisco. He loves getting to know the new students each semester and coming to our Thursday night community dinners.

I imagine you may be wondering what a week at Urban looks like. Here’s a description of a “typical week,” which falls into place the third week of the semester (the first two weeks are structured to help orient you to the program, the city, and your internship search and placement).


MONDAY: Internship (8 hours)
TUESDAY: 9:00am-noon Urban Studies seminar (required)
Noon Lunch
afternoon Faculty-student conferences, Independent Studies meetings (elective)
evenings Occasional meetings, featuring guest speakers and/or discussions
WEDNESDAY: Internship (8 hours)
THURSDAY: 9:00-10:00am Community Sharing/House Worship
10:30-noon Placement Seminar (required)
Noon Lunch
1:00-4:00 Electives:
Eng 134: “Ethnicity, Race, and the City in Literature” (Andrews)
[Scott’s R.S. Elective—need title]
Independent Studies meetings
6:00-7:00 Community Dinner
evenings Occasional group activities
FRIDAY: Internship Practicum (8 hours)


The Urban Program is a demanding and exciting semester. We are continually amazed by the many ways in which our students grow and God’s grace is revealed. I look forward to having conversations with you, whether over a steaming cup of tea at a café, or on a walk through Golden Gate Park, or while washing dishes after a meal, or riding San Francisco’s MUNI (our public transportation).

God’s Peace,

Karen M. Andrews
Associate Professor of Urban Studies and English