HIST 611 Conservation & Preservation

This course surveys preservation and conservation activities in libraries, museums, and archives, including disaster planning, environmental factors, treatment of brittle books, bookbinding repair, special problems of non-book materials, historic buildings and landmarks, and basic conservation treatments.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

This course will provide an introduction to preservation and conservation, answering the question: What is preservation and conservation? For the purpose of this course, we will define preservation and conservation by the following guidelines:

1. The student will examine historic preservation and conservation — focusing on the United States and practices of other countries.
2. The student will examine the untold history of the preservation and conservation movement in the United States.
3. The student will explore how laws, public policies, and cultural attitudes shape how we preserve or do not preserve the built environment.
4. The course will give the student a grounding in the history, theory, and practice of historic preservation and conservation.
5. The course will involve the student in activities from library, museums, and archives, including disaster planning, environment planning, treatment and repair of books, and special problems of non-book materials, as well as historic buildings, landmarks, and basic conservation treatment.

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will participate in 2 Discussions by posting a well-constructed, discerning thread in response to the provided prompt in each Discussion. Each thread must be 400–500 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge by citing scholarly sources or evidence from the course textbooks. In addition to the thread, the student will reply to 2 classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 200 words, show great thought and discernment, and use information gained from the module readings, videos, and personal insights. In the thread and both replies, the student must use Turabian formatting for citations. 

Discussion: Conservation vs. Preservation

For this Discussion, the student will use the assigned readings and video from the module to respond to 2 questions.

Discussion: Roles of Libraries and Museums

For this Discussion, the student will choose 1 of 2 questions to answer.

Article Review Assignment

For this assignment, the student will choose two (2) articles from among a list in the assignment instructions and conduct article reviews focusing on the following specific aspects of the articles: Introduction, Research Questions/Theses Statement, Review of Previous Research on the Topic, Method of Analysis, Identifying Critical Arguments, Results, and Conclusion. For each article, the student will paraphrase and summarize the research. Each article review must be at least 700 words and include a title page and page numbers. On the top of the first page of each review, the student must show the bibliographical reference to the article in Turabian format. In-text citations of the article must be provided in parentheses and with page numbers. No other sources except the articles themselves may be used for this assignment.

Preservation Plan Draft Assignment

For this assignment, students will create a basic preservation plan for a small cultural institution. They can choose a real institution (such as a local museum, library archive, or historic house) or develop a hypothetical one that reflects realistic conditions.

Architectural Style Assignment

For this assignment, the student will provide six different photos of homes or buildings with architectural significance in his or her present neighborhood or community to describe and evaluate their architectural style. The photos should be original and document the building or home from a close distance, focusing mainly on the front, with no interior photos. Affix the photos to a Word document, and under each photo, evaluate each home or building in 250 words. The student should use the course readings to help with the evaluation, but no citations should be included in this assignment.

Designing A Community Engagement Strategy with AI Support Assignment

For this assignment, students will conduct a mock environment assessment of a historic site, building, or collection space. The student may choose a real location or create a hypothetical one based on realistic conditions.

National Register of Historic Places Assignment

For this assignment, the student will learn how to nominate a historical place. The student may nominate a location that has already been nominated or one that has not been nominated. On a separate page, the student must show several pictures of the location, more than the form requests, and explain why the student thinks it should be nominated. The form to use for this assignment can be found under the Resources section of the assignment prompt.

Designing A Community Engagement Strategy with AI Support Assignment

For this assignment, the student will design a community engagement proposal for a historic preservation or conservation project. The student may choose a real site or create a hypothetical one. Using the Microsoft Co-Pilot tool to support their engagement strategy.