Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy

February Mock Interviewing Clinic - signups through Jan. 30
2025-01-22, 2025-01-23, 2025-01-24, 2025-01-25, 2025-01-26, 2025-01-27, 2025-01-28, 2025-01-29 and 1 more date | Virtual
Sharpen your interviewing skills by practicing one-on-one with one of our alumni, employer partner in the planning/policy/informatics/health administration realm, or Human Resources professional.
After completing the RSVP form, you will receive an email introducing you to the professional you will be paired with for the mock interview. You will be asked to contact the mock interviewer directly to schedule a mutually convenient day/time. Mock interviews should occur during the month of February and last up to 30-minutes where you will be able to practice and get immediate feedback on your interviewing skills.
Sign up no later than Thursday, January 30th to get a mock interview by a Bloustein Alumnus or Employer Partner!
Space is limited. Once maximum capacity is reached, students will be added to a wait list.
RSVP HERE

Lunch and Learn: Paths to AICP Presentation and Q&A
2025-01-23 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
Are you considering getting your AICP certification and wondering about the process to get there? Get your questions asked by joining us on Thursday, January 23rd at 12 noon to 1 pm EST at our first event of the semester: Lunch and Learn: Paths to AICP on ZOOM. Hear a short live presentation followed by a Q&A from APA Practitioners.
To follow their presentation, you will get to hear from two (2) of our very own Bloustein Alumni about their personal experiences: Prateeksha Sehgal, AICP (MCRP 2023),Transportation Planner at Michael Baker International and Mark Serrano, AICP, PP (MCRP 2020), Principal Planner at North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) (formerly Assistant Planner at Hudson County Division of Planning).
Whether a first- or second-year student, get ahead of curve and join us live!
RSVP HERE

International Student Resources Information Session and Panel
2025-01-24 11:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
Meet your Bloustein Graduate student services/career team including Courtney Culler, Greg Marrero, Cheryl Egan, and Andrea Garrido. The second hour will be an opportunity to meet the the Bloustein Liaison to our international students, Audrey Nguyen from RU Global, as well as hear from two (2) of our International alumni: 2024 MHA alumni, Dipti Shah, Operations Manager at PT of the City and 2024 MCRP graduate, Akshita Saini, Transportation Planner at TYLin | Sam Schwartz City Solutions.
Register Here

Geography Speaker Series: The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism
2025-01-31 15:00 - 16:30 | Tillett Hall, 50 Joyce Kilmer Ave, Piscataway, 08854, United States
Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services. In this talk, based on his recent book, The Map in the Machine, Luis F. Alvarez León examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand and intervene in the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez León shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change.
References: Alvarez León, L. F. (2024). The map in the machine: Charting the spatial architecture of digital capitalism. University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389328/the-map-in-the-machine
Luis Felipe Alvarez León is Associate Professor of Geography at Dartmouth College. In 2016, he completed his PhD in Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was presented with the Best Dissertation Award by the AAG Economic Geography Specialty Group (EGSG). From 2016 to 2018, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation and in 2018 he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Urban and Economic Geography at Clark University. His work focuses on the political economy of geospatial data, media, and technologies. He is currently working on the geographies of autonomous vehicles, and the changing political economy of remote sensing. He is the author of The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (University of California Press, 2024).
Co-sponsored by Bloustein School’s Urban Planning and Masters of Public Informatics program and the School of Management and Labor Relations
Contact: Andrea Marston

Virtual Career Drop-ins
2025-02-03 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-02-10 11:00 - 13:00 | Virtual
Stop by virtually on Mondays (except for holidays) beginning February 3 through April 28 between 11 am and 1 pm to ask a quick (15 min) career-related question of Bloustein Career Development Specialists Cheryl Egan and Andrea Garrido.
URL: https://go.rutgers.edu/EJBcareerdropin

Virtual Information Session: Graduate Program in Public Informatics
2025-02-04 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
You are cordially invited to join us at one of our upcoming virtual informational sessions for Rutgers-Bloustein School’s spring 2025 virtual information sessions for our Master of Public Informatics (MPI) degree and our Graduate Certificate in Urban and Public Informatics. Learn more about the curriculum for our master’s degree and graduate certificate, how to apply, career services support for students, and scholarship opportunities.

The GRE is WAIVED for all 2025 applications. The final application deadline for fall 2025 admission for international students is April 1st and for domestic students is July 1st.

RSVP is required. The Zoom link for the info sessions will be emailed out to those who have RSVP’d closer to the event.

Please note that all start times listed below are in EST / EDT / New Jersey local time.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our info sessions this semester.

RSVP required at https://go.rutgers.edu/ejbmpiinfo

Rutgers Real Estate Club/Corenet Global Networking Event
2025-02-04 19:30 - 20:30 | Rutgers Business School, 100 Rockafeller Road, Piscataway, 08854, United States
The Rutgers Real Estate Club invites Bloustein School students to attend an exciting networking event on Tuesday, February 4 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Rutgers Business School.
Executives from Corenet Global will be on campus to speak about architecture, real estate, and more. After the talk, students will have the opportunity to talk to the speakers one-on-one and make industry-level connections.
Dress code: Business Casual
Undergrads and grads are welcome!
Please contact Rutgers Real Estate Club’s Events and Campus Relations Officer Dhyana Patel for further questions at dhyana.patel@rutgers.edu

Innovation vs. Imitation: Can AI Truly Create?
2025-02-05 08:30 - 10:00 | Microsoft, 885 2nd Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10017, 885 Second Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY, 10017, United States
Rutgers experts will lead a discussion on the challenges and potential of AI in the creatives industry. Please join us for alumni networking and a continental breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
8:30–10:00 a.m.
Microsoft
885 Second Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10017
RSVP today. Space is limited.
Register
Speakers:
Atif Akin
Associate Professor, Art & Design
Interim Undergraduate Director
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Jim Samuel, PhD
Associate Professor of Practice
Executive Director, Master of Public Informatics
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public PolicyGraciously hosted by Microsoft.
Special thanks to Simon Liepold EJB’05.

Federal Resume Workshop and Interview Skills Workshop
2025-02-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual
Hosted by School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR), hear from representatives with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Newark, NJ office who will provide insights on creating a federal resume and tips on interviewing.
Sign up on HANDSHAKE

Evaluating Job Offers and Salary Negotiation
2025-02-05 16:30 - 17:30 | Virtual
Join Bloustein Career Development Specialists Cheryl Egan and Andrea Garrido for a workshop to learn tips and strategies about salary negotiation skills (which doesn’t only include negotiating for salary) as well as how to evaluate job offers. Hear from recent graduates who were successful in negotiating their salaries!
RSVP HERE

TOD in Your Downtown Forum -- Affordable Housing + TOD: Obligations and Opportunities
2025-02-07 09:30 - 12:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
This event, hosted by NJTOD, Downtown New Jersey, and NJ TRANSIT’s Transit Friendly Planning (TFP) Program will bring together experts from public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector to share their experiences with affordable housing in downtowns across New Jersey. Affordable housing is not only a legal obligation in New Jersey but also vital contributor to the vibrancy of our Main Streets and the success of equitable transit-oriented development (e-TOD).
With the release of the fourth-round regulations of the Council of Affordable Housing (COAH), many municipalities across the state will need to plan for additional affordable housing units. The panel will discuss their experiences in developing affordable and mixed-income housing, strategies for meeting affordable housing obligations, and approaches to equitably locating affordable housing. Panelists will also highlight best practices for leveraging e-TOD to create new affordable housing in transit-rich neighborhoods.
RSVP HERE
NJTOD, published since 2005, is designed to keep municipal officials, planners, and advocates up-to-date on the potential for development and redevelopment around transit stations. This partnership between NJ TRANSIT and the Bloustein School’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University aims to enrich the transit-oriented development (TOD) conversation in New Jersey’s diverse communities by highlighting what is happening in the state and around the country: best practices, model programs, legislation, and local problem-solving experiences.
Downtown New Jersey is a non-profit membership organization of individuals, businesses, developers, government agencies, and local and regional entities that are passionate about downtowns. Downtowns reflect our communities’ unique identities, provide a focal point, a convenient local place of commerce, and offer a sense of place where people can gather and truly be a community. DNJ provides advocacy, education, and technical assistance resources dedicated to ensuring the vitality of our downtowns.
The Transit Friendly Planning Program at NJ TRANSIT is a community-focused planning program at New Jersey’s statewide public transportation agency. It offers decades of experience in assisting municipalities across New Jersey with community engagement, data, education, strategic partnerships, and technical assistance centered around station area planning. The Program strives to promote equitable, economically resilient, and environmentally sustainable development that improves the quality of life for all.

POSTPONED Rutgers University Winter Career and Internship Fair
2025-02-11, 2025-02-12, 2025-02-13, 2025-02-14 | Sonny Werblin Recreation Center, 656 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway, 08854, United States
After careful consideration due to forecasted weather conditions, the Office of Career Exploration and Success (CES) has made the difficult decision to postpone the in-person Winter Career & Internship Mega Fair scheduled for February 11 – 14 at Sonny Werblin Recreation Center. While the weather forecast may change, due to our employer participants’ travel arrangements, and to ensure the safety of those scheduled to attend, we must make this decision in advance.
In place of the in-person fair, we are working to move the event to a virtual format on a future date, allowing students to connect with employers remotely.
Thank you for your understanding and flexibility during this time, and we look forward to sharing more details about the virtual fair. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our website.

Virtual Information Session: Master of City and Regional Planning/Master of City and Regional Studies
2025-02-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
You are cordially invited to join us at this virtual informational session for the Rutgers-Bloustein School’s Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) and Master of City and Regional Studies (MCRS) programs during the Spring 2025 semester. We are excited to share helpful information about the Bloustein School and the MCRP program and answer any questions you may have regarding admissions, applications, career opportunities in the field, and the curriculum. Program faculty and staff will be on hand to answer all your questions. Each session will last approximately 1 hour.

The GRE has been WAIVED for all fall 2025 applications. Work experience is not required of applicants. The application deadline for fall 2025 admission is May 1st.
All sessions will be held virtually via Zoom.

RSVP required at: https://go.rutgers.edu/ejbmcrpinfo

Inside the Black Box: Mapping Neighborhood Boundaries in a Muslim Informal Settlement. Case of Jamia Nagar, Delhi, India
2025-02-11 16:00 - 17:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Presented by Zehra Mahdi, Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and doctoral candidate at the Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. Her doctoral research focuses on neighborhood change in informal settlements in Delhi, India that are predominantly inhabited by the Muslim community and influenced by the presence of anchor institutions.
Muslim spaces in India are often characterized by a socio-spatial bundle of attributes enmeshed in planning informalities. They are frequently viewed through a lens of opaqueness and homogeneity by the State, planners, policy-makers, and other residents. Such a generalization of space leads to stigmatization and uneven distribution of State resources. This talk illustrates the internal heterogeneity and dynamics of socio-spatial organization within Muslim spaces. It examines how residents define their neighborhoods by evoking spatial and non-spatial variables of distinctions, and how their perception and delineation of neighborhoods differ based on their positionality. It then provides a method to reach consensus from multiple, overlapping boundaries to operational neighborhood units. It is an attempt to move beyond the binaries of formal-informal, religious, and ethnic groups as black-box typifications in urban spaces, and to counter map admin-political boundaries ‘from below’ by accounting for residents’ sensibilities, agency, and consensus.

A Talk with Dr. Brian Bridges, NJ Secretary of Higher Education
2025-02-12 09:30 - 11:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
The New Jersey State Policy Lab will be hosting a talk and Q&A with Dr. Brian Bridges, the Secretary of Higher Education for the state of New Jersey.
During this event, Dr. Bridges will discuss trends in higher education’s affordability, accessibility, and attainment in the Garden State, as well as challenges confronting assorted stakeholders. The event will include a continental breakfast, and there will be opportunities for networking before and after the seminar.
RSVP HERE

2025 Bloustein Alumni Awards Celebration
2025-02-12 18:00 - 21:00 | Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Since 1994, the Bloustein School Alumni Association has aimed to present awards to accomplished alumni each year. Our goal is to pay tribute to alumni and friends to recognize their outstanding achievement and/or service to the Bloustein School, their communities, and/or their professions. Alumni are recognized by the Bloustein School Alumni Association in the following two categories: Career Achievement and Rising Star. In 2025, we have also added a new award for retired faculty, to honor extraordinary dedication and lasting contributions, celebrating the distinguished careers of those who have shaped the minds of countless students, made significant research contributions to their field, and long-standing service to Bloustein and the Rutgers academic community at large.

PARKING REGISTRATION REQUIRED: All non-Rutgers guests must register to park on campus. Please use this link for special event parking permission in Lots 1, 11 & 16. This parking is for the Bloustein Alumni Awards Celebration ONLY. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address provided on the form.

Bloustein Research Seminar Series: Kathe Newman
2025-02-13 16:00 - 17:15 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Presented by Professor Kathe Newman
This venue will enable our faculty to share research, build community, and extend our networks. Pizza will be served. Bloustein faculty, advanced PhD students, and external speakers will present research talks. The seminar series is open to the entire Bloustein community.

Career Services: What's It Like to Have a Career in Transportation?
2025-02-13 16:30 - 17:45 | Virtual
Join us for Careers in Transportation, an online panel taking place this Thursday, February 13th from 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm featuring five dynamic Bloustein Alumni

Gretchen Minneman Kostura (MCRP 2007) , AVP, Commercial Strategy for NEC and Long-Distance Service Lines Amtrak
Dan Schned (MCRP 2010) – Head of Project Development, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Build America Bureau;
Kelly Yemen (MCRP 2007) – Director, Office of Multimodal Planning, The City of Philadelphia;
Yatharth Saxena (MCRP 2021) – Transportation Planner, Jacobs
Luis R. Gonzalez (MCRP 2017) – Policy Advisor, NYC Department Of Transportation (DOT)

Brought to you by BEAT (Bloustein Enthusiasts and Advocates for Transportation) and Bloustein Career Services.

RSVP HERE
