Course Description
HISP 100 is meant as the introductory course to Historic Preservation at UMW. This course focuses on the relation between American historic preservation and the fields of museum studies and preservation law and planning. The course also considers community and government mechanisms for preservation at the local, regional, and national levels. It develops awareness for the “real world” issues facing preservation-in-action: how surveys of historic resources are accomplished; who and what constitute preservation’s allies, opponents, obstacles, and sources; what knowledge and methods are employed by preservationists to achieve their objectives; and, what does preservation mean to the public.
Course Objectives
- To foster an understanding of how preservation works at the local, state, and national levels; answering such questions as “Who does preservation?”; “Why and how is preservation undertaken?”; “What does or does not get preserved, and why?”
- To create an awareness of the current and common social, political, and economic issues affecting preservation in the public realm.
- Through assignments, to have students interact with the “real world” of preservation, such as physical (cultural) resources, text sources, local government, and people.
- To develop an understanding of the goals and methods for museum studies and for preservation law and planning in relation to the broader field of historic preservation.
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to explore and interpret the built environment through archival, oral, and field observation.
- Students will experience real-world preservation activity and be able to critically assess its effectiveness.
- Students will engage preservation theory from varied perspectives.
- Students will learn to work alone and in groups to develop ideas, resolve conflict, and foster consensus.
Required Texts
Norman Tyler, Ted J. Ligibel, Ilene R. Tyler. Historic Preservation: An Introduction to its History, Principles, and Practice. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.
Max Page and Randall Mason, editors. Giving Historic Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States. New York: Routledge, 2004.