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Overview

An Historic Preservation major will expose you to the practical and theoretical aspects of the preservation of historically significant buildings. You’ll study the history of architecture, including residential, religious, and industrial structures. You’ll learn about landscape architecture and urban planning. And you’ll see how preserving historic buildings creates appreciation in a community for social and cultural history.


As an Historic Preservation major, you’ll learn the nuts-and-bolts of the profession, such as preservation planning and law, real estate development, and economics. You’ll learn how to investigate the history of a building using local archives, architectural taxonomy, and physical evidence. You’ll learn how to collect and analyze information about possibly significant structures. You’ll learn about the history of preservation—and why it’s so important to our world.

SAMPLE CURRICULUM

  • American Architecture

  • Architectural Conservation

  • Community Public History

  • Design Approaches to an Existing Context

  • Documentation for Preservation

  • Historic Preservation Law

  • Perspectives on Preservation

  • Policy Statement and Guidelines

  • Preservation Planning and Law

  • Researching Historic Structures and Sites

  • Technology, Materials, and Conservation of Traditional Buildings


HIGH SCHOOl PREPARATION

Courses in history will be the best preparation for your major in Historic Preservation. Also useful to this field are courses in foreign languages, English, philosophy, and art history. In your spare time you might try to visit museums, read books that deal with architecture and historic preservation, and investigate historic structures in your town or community.