Historic Preservation - Certificate

The certificate in Historic Preservation, administered by the Center for Heritage Conservation in the Department of Architecture in the School of Architecture, is open to students in a graduate degree program at Texas A&M University. The certificate draws on strong discipline-based academic programs that prepare for careers in historic preservation, architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning, urban and regional science, anthropology, archaeology, engineering, or related fields. Courses offered expose students to documentation techniques for recording historic buildings, preservation technology, principles of building technology, issues in sustainable development, preservation law and policy, preservation planning, cultural heritage conservation, conservation of archaeological resources, cultural resource management, public engagement, and heritage tourism. Historic preservation is a cross-disciplinary field, and the certificate program’s design reflects this principle. The certificate, as a result, is designed to explore the ways in which historic preservation intersects with and complements other fields related to cultural resource management and the built environment.

Students who complete the certificate will be able to demonstrate mastery and integration of historic preservation knowledge by identifying preservation needs and applying specialized knowledge from certificate coursework to a historic preservation challenge in their dissertation, thesis, or professional design study. They will also be able to articulate preservation theory, values, and ethics and will become familiar with relevant codes and standards. Students who complete the certificate are prepared to work in fields related to preservation, architecture, planning, or archaeology, among others; they are trained to address questions of how the natural and built environment reflects our cultural and social history.