MS in Historic Preservation

Historic Preservationists are fond of saying that “the greenest building is the one already built.” Studies have shown that the demolition of buildings accounts for 48% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Reusing and retrofitting existing buildings constitutes “recycling” on a grand scale, reducing these emissions dramatically.

In studio-based courses, for real clients, using real sites, students gain hands-on experience developing research, documentation, and conservation skills needed to lead in the revitalization of buildings, conserving the embodied energy in historic materials and preserving community character. Heritage buildings serve as potent historical documents and invaluable design opportunities for future use.

A vital preservation issue is the development of frameworks that order the urban fabric into viable neighborhoods and facilitate “place-making” through the incorporation of historic structures as part of sustainable development and healthy communities.

Learn to apply new digital technologies that are part of the 21st-century Historic Preservation toolkit. Today Light Detection & Ranging (LiDAR), Photogrammetry/Drone Surveys, Augmented Reality, and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used for managing, documenting,      conserving, and interpreting culturally significant structures and places.

Working with community partners, students apply both analog and digital documentation methods to real-world projects at multiple scales, from the micro of individual buildings to the macro level of community planning.

A key feature of the program is an optional Study Away component. Students will have the opportunity to spend a semester studying the preservation of modern architecture at the iconic Bauhaus Building (1926) in Dessau, Germany, designed by Walter Gropius, as part of the curriculum of the Hochschule Anhalt (Anhalt University of Applied Sciences) Master’s degree in Cultural Heritage Preservation. Other opportunities include summer options to research the preservation of modernism at the Terragni Archive in Como, Italy. 

Students may also choose to study the preservation of 18th and 19th century vernacular architecture at the Preservation Institute in Nantucket, MA, or study international preservation methods at the University of Arkansas Rome Center (UARC), which is housed in a Medieval palazzo in Rome’s historic center.

Because Historic Preservation is a multi-disciplinary field, students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines are encouraged to apply. Students select one of two tracks: Research & Documentation or Preservation Design, and may choose to specialize in a field compatible with their track drawn from the College of Architecture and the Built Environment’s graduate offerings, including Sustainable Design, Geographic Information Systems, Architectural History, Real Estate Development, and Urban Design, among others. The curriculum affords students the freedom to explore topics that suit their interests and further their professional goals                                                                                    

A master’s degree in Historic Preservation offers many career opportunities. Jefferson graduates hold positions such as preservation architect, architectural conservator, architectural historian and preservation planner, working in private firms, non-profit organizations and government agencies.  

Graduates of the MS in Historic Preservation program who are interested in subsequently pursuing further studies receive advanced placement of up to 18 credits in Jefferson’s PhD in Architecture & Design Research program, which allows students to complete their PhD studies in three academic years instead of the typical four-year timeframe.

The MS in Historic Preservation is a STEM designated program (CIP Code 04.0902).