Wayde Brown
Job Title: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Contact
Email: wabrown@uga.eduPhone: 706-542-4700
Street address: 210 Denmark Hall; 115 Bocock Street
Athens, GA 30602-1845
Personal Interests
History of the preservation movement, historic site interpretation, and twentieth century heritage
Wayde Brown
Biographical Information
I grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, and initially studied psychology. However, a stint in a federal penitentiary (as an employee) convinced me to follow my other great interest – architecture. Nonetheless, this experience with psychology has been invaluable for all my subsequent positions. I obtained a professional degree in architecture from Dalhousie University, and worked in offices in Canada, and in the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, where I worked with a housing co-op agency. One stop on this peripatetic employment path involved historic preservation, an area to which I had previously given little thought; but, I was hooked. I returned to studies, obtaining a postgraduate degree in architectural conservation from the University of York, in England, and making wonderful memories of the city's medieval form and fabric, occasionally experienced on the way back from a medieval pub. Subsequently, I received a Ph.D. in the history and theory of architecture from the Welsh School of Architecture, at Cardiff University, in Wales.Before entering the halls of academe, I spent several years working with government preservation agencies, primarily for the Province of Nova Scotia, where I eventually managed all of the province's 'built heritage' programs, ranging from property designation to grant aid and tax refund schemes, to advising local governments. This position also afforded opportunities to engage with preservation organizations both nationally and internationally; I served as a member of the ICOMOS Canada Board of Directors for several years, and was also active in the Association for Preservation Technology (APT), serving on the Board of Directors, and as Vice President for a term. And in 1998, I was elected a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, in the UK. In 2002, I accepted a position at the University of Georgia, teaching in the long-established historic preservation program, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Education
PhD (architectural history and theory) - Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (UK)MA (architectural conservation) - University of York (UK)
Bach. Architecture (professional degree) - Dalhousie University (Canada)
Bach. Environmental Design Studies - Dalhousie University (Canada)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION
Member – Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
RECENT COURSES TAUGHT
HIPR 6030 – Principles and Practice of Historic Preservation
HIPR 6120 – Historic Site Interpretation
HIPR 6660 – Preservation Design
HIPR 6900 – Research Strategies
HIPR 6070 – Regional Heritage Conservation (Field Study in Croatia)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
I have long been interested in the history of the preservation movement, viewing it as a ‘cultural phenomenon’ of the Modern era. For several years my research focused on the ‘creation’ of historic sites, primarily of the early and mid-twentieth century, and with a particular interest in the use of historic reconstructions. This research has included investigating sites throughout the United States and Canada and extensively using local archives. More recently, I have become interested in the use of site and design in the memorialization process, and have undertaken the investigation of memorials constructed in the wake of the AIDS epidemic, and other contemporary memorials related to historical narratives of the LGBTQ community. In addition to publications, I have presented my research at scholarly conferences in Canada, Britain, Australia, Sweden, Germany, and the United States.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Wayde Brown, Reconstructing Historic Landmarks: Fabrication, Negotiation, and the Past. New York: Routledge Publishers, 2018.
Wayde Brown, "Left-behind Places of Memory: Comparing Grand Pré and New Echota," in Imagining Home: Migrants, Belonging, Self-Identity, Diana Glenn et al, eds. Kent Town, South Australia: Wakefield Press, 2011.
RECENT PAPERS
"Gay by Design: Memorials, History, and Identity,"
Metropolitan Masculinities: Narratives of Gender and Urban Space Conference,
Ruhr-Universität, Bochum, Germany, 2019
"From Grove to Pier: Memorializing the AIDS Crisis,"
European Association for American Studies Annual Conference
Kings College, London, UK, 2018
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
University of Georgia (College of Environment & Design), Athens, Georgia, US
- Associate Professor (with tenure), 2008 – present
- Assistant Dean for Research, 2012 - 2014
- Assistant Professor, 2002-2008
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Province of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1989-2002):
- Nova Scotia Museum (Dept. of Tourism, Culture & Heritage)
- Manager, Heritage Property Programs, 1999-2002
- Community Planning Division (Dept. of Municipal Affairs)
- Head, Heritage Unit, 1995-99
- Cultural Affairs Division (Dept. of Tourism & Culture)
- Conservation Architect, 1989-1995