Two students preparing for a mock news segment

Greenspun College of Urban Affairs News

The Greenspun College of Urban Affairs is committed to creating contemporary solutions for resilient communities. Our academic programs focus on making effective public policy, creating support structures to meet behavioral and mental health challenges, ensuring cities are safe and prepared to meet emergency situations, effective and ethical journalism, and interpersonal and public communication strategies.

Current Urban Affairs News

collage of three male alumni including one in army fatigues, one in a suit jacket, and one sitting on desk in office
Research |

UNLV grads are ignoring stereotypes and uncovering the rewards of these vital healthcare and education roles.

two adults organizing and distributing food at event
Campus News |

UNLV community outreach programs offer practical learning opportunities for students while leveraging our resources to address societal needs.

Fall 25 commencement2
Campus News |

A collection of the top news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

Ashley Pruitt graduates with a Doctorate of Public Policy at commencement.
Business and Community |

Alumna Ashley Pruitt credits Doctorate of Public Policy degree for teaching her how to reach legislators — and their constituents.

A view of Greenspun Hall at UNLV. In the background, the surrounding area of Las Vegas is visible, with mountains in the distance.
Campus News |

The Doctor of Public Policy prepares students to develop policy decisions for a growing state

Fall colors 2025
Campus News |

Some of the biggest news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

Urban Affairs In The News

The Cool Down

An image showing dozens of private jets clustered at a Las Vegas airport was shared in the r/vegaslocals subreddit recently, quickly catching attention as users tried to make sense of the sudden surge in luxury air traffic. The post asked, "Why so many private jets? What's going on in the city?" Commenters agreed that a crowd of private jets could mean a major conference, high-profile sporting event, or entertainment event was drawing wealthy visitors into town.

Northwest Public Broadcasting

On a weeknight inside a card shop in Wenatchee, tables are set up not for poker or board games, but for a fantasy card game called Magic: The Gathering. Veterans shuffle decks, trade jokes and ease into the kind of relaxed conversation that can take months to build. For U.S. Army veteran Kevin Coleman, who usually avoids crowds, the weekly gathering has become one of the few places where he can breathe.

Washington Post

Influencers behaving badly made recent headlines, but restaurants and content creators say most interactions are business as usual.

Sands

The 2025 Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit presented by Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY) and Sands on Nov.14 gathered statewide leaders to address Nevada’s rising youth homelessness rates, changing policies that are impacting vulnerable youth and the ground work needed to begin building Nevada’s first standalone plan to end youth homelessness.

KSNV-TV: News 3

New questions arise after a man, identified as Keith Castillo, is seen in viral videos handing out machetes, liquor, and cigarettes to unhoused individuals in New Orleans and Austin.

KSNV-TV: News 3

An aspiring influencer said he now regrets posting videos showing him handing out machetes to those who are unhoused, but welcomes the attention it is now bringing to him and his social media.

Urban Affairs Experts

An expert in journalism history, reporting, and communication research methods. 
Lee Bernick is a professor with expertise in state and local public policy, survey research, public budgeting, and legislative behavior.
An expert on jury decision making, intergroup conflict, and police use of social media and technology. 
An expert on athlete mental health and well-being.
Dean of the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs and expert in community renewal, risk and crisis communications. 
An expert on debate and argument theory.

Recent Urban Affairs Accomplishments

Julian Kilker (Journalism and Media Studies) and Yvonne Houy (Fine Arts) presented at the University of Amsterdam’s December 2025 GenAI & Creative Practices: Past, Present, and Future conference, as part of that university’s innovative "Responsible Digital Transformations" initiative. The research panel focused on international partnerships to…
Julian Kilker (Journalism and Media Studies) was an invited presenter at the Desert Studies Institute’s Nov. 5 Curiosity Lab event “The Possible Unknown: Stories about Exploring the Unreachable.” In his Outdoor Night Lab presentation, he showed how the Nevada desert is an ideal environment for research and creative practice with demonstrations of…
Alexandra Nur (Criminal Justice) recently published an article that explores the potential for prison misconduct processing to instigate further misconduct rather than deter future misconduct. In the article entitled "The (Non)Deterrent Potential of Prison Sanction Structure: A Review of Deterrence and Rational Choice in the Prison Context,"…
On Oct. 27, Julian Kilker (Journalism and Media Studies) was awarded a Black Mountain Institute Faculty Research Award funding his research on "Creative Labor in the Age of AI." He plans to interview and document participants in the Las Vegas creative economy, building on his previous projects exploring emerging technologies, labor, and creative…
Professor Gregory Borchard (Journalism and Media Studies) was re-elected by acclamation for a second term as President of the Society of Nineteenth Century Historians during the 33rd Annual Symposium on the 19th Century Press at Augusta University on Nov. 14, 2025.
Yvonne Houy (Fine Arts) and Julian Kilker (Journalism and Media Studies) gave a presentation at the Elsevier Impact Conference in Cascais, Portugal, on Nov. 6, 2025. The presentation, “Zero Budget by Design: Lessons learned engaging a global community without a budget," was based on their experiences editing the open-access journal Tradition-…