From Civil War battlefield to small-town house museum, every historic site represents a multitude of stories, and holds significance for diverse audiences; these stories may be ‘official’ or ‘vernacular’, and often conflict with each other.  Identifying and articulating these stories, then designing and implementing a plan to present them, is interpretation of the site.  This course is an introduction to the principles and methods of historic site interpretation, and to current issues in the field. It approaches the topic from the perspective of historic preservation, and situates historic site interpretation within the broader process of managing historic resources.

Following a general introduction to the field, principles and issues are presented within the context of five types of historic sites: historic buildings (often ‘house museums’), commemorative sites (e.g. battlefields), open air sites/complexes, archaeological/ ‘fossil’ sites, and historic/cultural routes. Local site visits, and a 2-day field trip to sites in northwest Georgia, are crucial elements of the course, and provide reference for subsequent class discussion. The course will conclude with a project focused on a particular resource type, site, and/or current issue within interpretation.

The past has often been presented using the newest technologies.  From early film to the World Wide Web and twenty-first century gaming, innovators have turned to history for inspiration even as historians, both lay and professional, have looked to take advantage of new media.  This course will explore the interplay between the spaces of the past and the communicative technologies used to present them, and combine archival investigations with explorations of the digital tools that make historic materials and the stories they hold more accessible.

This course introduces the concept, process and techniques for representing cultural landscapes through writing, photography, hand drawing and digital graphic media. The course provides basic training in “reading the landscape” so as to use digital photography and Adobe Creative Suite applications to document it via maps, site plans and other forms of landscape documentation. The course also introduces students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) as tools for landscape documentation.

The course is organized as a seminar and workshop with a significant research and fieldwork component. Most class meetings, especially during the first half of the term, will be split between a brief lecture or presentation, class discussions, and exercises that build upon one another. During the second half of the semester we will apply the knowledge we’ve gained and practice our documentation skills on a project site.

The intent of this course is to expose students to the evolution of the rural historic landscape, and the nature of rural preservation by examining rural landscapes and the values expressed in their design. We will explore the history of American rural life, the aesthetics of rural landscapes, and the challenges of protecting and preserving rural landscapes, along with legal and financial resources available for landscape preservation.

In recent decades the study of rural landscapes and the development of conservation strategies and tools have grown in both complexity and sophistication. There is no way to survey the breadth and richness of this field in one semester. For the purposes of this course, we will try to focus on key, selected texts or case studies that are either prominent in the area or representative of a particular approach.

This course is an introduction to some of the central issues of historic preservation in rural environments. We will trace various cultural attitudes about nature, country life, aesthetics, farming traditions, and the populations who inhabit rural America. Our studies will include contemporary farmsteads and rural communities, and how they are coping with change. Analysis will include the natural and cultural factor that shape patterns in rural environments and small communities. While our area of study will emphasize the Georgia Piedmont, the skills we learn will be applicable in most rural areas. Finally, we will also consider how landscape conservation in rural communities might be impacted by current cultural, social, and economic concerns, such as growing interest in biofuels, global climate change, and sustainable farming.

This course provides an introduction to the diversity of cultural landscapes, the theory and philosophical approaches to their conservation, and the laws, policies, standards, and programs that exist to identify and assess their significance, with emphasis on the procedure employed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and UNESCO. The course provides a theoretical base for understanding and appreciating the interaction between nature and human culture in landscapes, as well as foundational knowledge for further study of issues related to landscape conservation and stewardship.

The course is organized as a seminar and workshop. Most of our class meetings will be split between a brief lecture or presentation, class discussions, and exercises that build upon one another. Readings will be assigned for most class meetings and you will be expected to read them prior to class and share your reactions in class discussions.

We will undertake several field trips that are intended to help us further explore landscape conservation concepts and issues. Some of these may extend beyond our regular class times. Participation in these trips – including planning and other preparatory work – is strongly encouraged, as they will be an essential part of your learning experience in this course.

The economic impact of preservation upon communities, its measurement in terms of both financial and environmental benefits and the financial needs and fiscal management of preservation organizations and agencies, with emphasis upon the development and preparation of funding and/or grant proposals. There is a substantial public service component of this course in which class groups prepare a report for a nonprofit organization on its fundraising and grant writing history and recommendations for future activity, including a draft grant application.

Through assigned readings, seminars, research projects, student presentation, field projects, and lectures, the student should gain the following upon completion of the course:

• An understanding of how historic preservation activity affects economic forces and vice versa.
• An understanding of the workings and purposes of nonprofit historic preservation organizations and governmental agencies at all levels—national state, and community—and how the various organizations relate and work together.
• An understanding of the measurable and immeasurable benefits of historic preservation.
• An understanding of economic development in the context of Main Street and heritage tourism, tax incentives, transfer of development rights, conservation easements, fundraising and grant writing.
• An ability to research and develop funding and grant proposals.
• An ability to research, discuss, and critically evaluate economic data and other measurable and immeasurable benefits pertaining to historic preservation.
• A sense of the contribution that historic preservation makes to community and environmental quality.

This course introduces landscape management techniques, with an emphasis on the values of environmental conservation and historic preservation.

This course will be organized as a seminar and workshop with a significant research and fieldwork component. Most of our class meetings, especially during the first few weeks of the semester, will be split between a brief lecture o presentation, class discussions, and project planning activities. Readings will be assigned for most of these class meetings and you will be expected to read them prior to class and share your reactions in class discussions. During the second half of the semester our class time will focus on landscape management issues within the University of Georgia campus. Working collaboratively, we will develop a management plan that will provide you with an opportunity to apply theory and develop skills through direct experience with real landscape management problems. Activities related to this effort may include:

• Contacting the necessary experts to facilitate problem definition
• Literature searches
• Field surveys, resource inventories and analysis
• Interpreting and sharing current knowledge about landscape management or other fields of expertise such as landscape ecology
• Crafting management vision statements, goals and objectives, and recommendations
• Developing maps, plans, diagrams, or models
• Helping to formulate adaptive management strategies and monitoring protocols

“Charrette” describes a rapid, intensive, and creative work session, usually lasting a week or more, in which a design team focuses on a particular design problem and arrives at a collaborative solution. To learn more click here!

The relationship between concepts of community and the physical environments (home, village, town, city, and region) may be designed in ways that foster personal and societal commitment to community and place.

The course is organized as a graduate seminar that includes a combination of readings, discussions, applied projects, and research. Readings will be assigned for most class meetings, and students will be expected to read them prior to class and be prepared to share their reactions in the class discussions. Active participation in these discussions is highly encouraged so people can express different opinions and perspectives in class. Students are encouraged to go beyond a basic understating and recitation of theories and places into a more in-depth critical analysis of theories and their applications to our lives.

This course is the graduate-level corollary to LAND 2510, a general survey of the history of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design from prehistory through the present, with emphasis on the relationship of the built environment and socio-cultural, technological, aesthetic, and environmental factors.

This course explores how humans, through time, have organized, designed, and utilized outdoor space. We will analyze the physical qualities, layout, and form of designed environments, and we will consider how these characteristics express human activities, perceptions, attitudes, and ideas. We will also consider issues related to the interpretation and preservation of environmental design heritage.

Environmental design history is a vast scholarly area, and in recent decades the scholarship in this field has grown in both breadth and sophistication. There is no way to cover the full extent and richness of this field in a one-semester survey. Moreover, it is impossible to adequately survey the vast array of design traditions associated with human cultures throughout the world in a single semester. Although we will briefly consider non-Western environmental design, for the purposes of this course, we will focus on the traditions that extend from European cultures. After completing the course, you should have a general sense of the field, and if you are interested in pursuing future studies in this area, you should have a solid foundation in place.

This is a lecture/seminar course that aims to explore ethnic groups, regions, types and issues in vernacular architecture, most strongly in America but also elsewhere in the world.  The exact configuration of material/topics is flexible and subject to change, as are lectures and field trips.

Field trips are taken to places such as Fort Hollingsworth, Callaway Plantation, Shield-Ethridge Farm, and Winston-Salem, NC.

A lecture/seminar examining major trends in the practice of design and construction in Europe and America from the end of World War I to the present. Emphasis will be on the modern movement before World War II, reactions to it afterwards, and the diversity of approaches to design in recent decades. Monuments and sites will be presented in slide lecture format; theory in readings and discussion.

This course explores the evolution of urbanism and city planning over time. A city’s plan is an artifact that deserves as much consideration in analysis and preservation as individual buildings or neighborhoods. Through key examples of urban form in city planning history students will use documentary and graphic media to understand city form. The student will then conduct research and produced a graphic and written report on the historical morphology of a small city.