Director: Daniel Bluestone

Located at the University of Virginia’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the interdisciplinary program in Historic Preservation offers masters degree candidates in architecture, architectural history, landscape architecture and urban and environmental planning the opportunity to expand their professional studies through specialized training in the practice and ethics of historic preservation and the stewardship of cultural landscapes. Preservation has grown increasingly important in defining a civic sense of place, buttressing sustainable communities, conserving urban neighborhoods, protecting rural and scenic areas and in enriching critical public understanding of social, cultural and architectural history. The program provides opportunities for graduate students to develop the skills and expertise for careers as preservation practitioners within their disciplines while at the same time having close collaboration with the broad spectrum of disciplines that constitute historic preservation today.  Students graduating with historic preservation certificates have gone on to do important preservation work with private firms, public agencies, national and international non-profit and non-governmental-organizations, and leading preservation advocacy organizations.

Students wishing to enter the Historic Preservation Certificate Program must be admitted to one of the graduate degree programs in the School of Architecture.  Upon arriving at the Architecture School students should attend the historic preservation advising meeting and file a program participation form with the Architecture School’s registrar.

Students who complete the required 21-credit historic preservation curriculum receive a Certificate in Historic Preservation, in addition to their departmental master’s degree. There are individual courses that fulfill the requirements of the historic preservation certificate curriculum that also fulfill departmental graduate requirements. Thus, students normally complete the course work for the historic preservation certificate during the same period in which they complete their degree program.

UVA Graduate Historic Preservation Fellowships

Each year the Historic Preservation Program draws upon endowed funds to provide several $4500 merit-based fellowships for graduate students enrolled in the historic preservation certificate program.  Awards are made in a student’s penultimate year of study and are disbursed to support the final year of graduate work.  A call for applications is made each spring semester.  A committee of preservation affiliated faculty reviews the applications.  Grants are made independent of departmental scholarships, loans, and support.