The Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP) is home to leading programs in planning, historic preservation, and urban and regional studies. These programs are an intensive and intimate community, which have exceptional breadth and integrate different fields of study. Students work closely with a special thesis committee of their choosing that can include faculty members from across the university, allowing for a specialized and unique experience. CRP offers a Bachelor of Science in urban and regional studies (URS) that encompasses an interdisciplinary, liberal arts course of study focused on the forces that shape the social, economic, and political character and physical form of urban/suburban areas and their surrounding regions. CRP also offers an urban and regional studies minor for students not enrolled in the URS program. An accelerated M.R.P. degree option is available to graduates of the URS program. There are a variety of five-year dual degree options available to URS students in fields including engineering, landscape architecture, and natural and social sciences. Additionally, CRP offers an M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. in regional science, and an M.A. in historic preservation planning. Cornell was one of the first institutions in the country to offer preservation classes and is internationally recognized as a leader in the field.