Historic Preservation and Community Planning

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A DEGREE IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND COMMUNITY PLANNING?

The historic preservation and community planning program prepares you for a variety of careers, including restoration, preservation planning, historic real estate, and administration.

Our graduates are employed by preservation organizations, community "Main Street" programs, city governments, and related agencies that need professionals who understand the relationship between preservation and revitalization.

Others go on to complete graduate study in fields such as urban planning, preservation, conservation, and architecture. Institutions attended by recent graduates include the University of Pennsylvania, University of Notre Dame, North Carolina State University, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The College of Charleston is the only college in the country that offers this program for undergraduates. And we’re in the perfect location - the city of Charleston - which has set a national standard for community-based preservation, protecting architectural, historical and cultural integrity in one of America’s oldest cities.

A sample of positions held by recent graduates includes:

• Preservationist, Richard Marks Restorations, Charleston, SC
• Director, Main Street Edenton, Edenton, NC
• Urban Planner, Washington, D.C.
• Preservationist, Milner-Carr Conservation, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Director, ‘Heart of Biddeford,’ (Main St. Program) Biddeford, Me.

Active Learning Opportunities

Internships. You can explore a particular area of interest through an internship, through which you can earn academic credit while acquiring firsthand knowledge of how the many businesses, organizations and agencies connected with preservation and planning accomplish their goals. Some opportunities include:

• City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
• Gibbes Museum of Art and School of Fine Art
• Prescon Architectural Design
• Charles Towne Landing
• H.A. Dollason Construction
• Meadors Construction - Restorations
• Palmetto Craftsmen
• I’on Company
• Coleman Fine Art
• Charleston Renaissance Gallery
• Ali Campbell - Interior design
• Innovative Interiors
• The Charleston Museum
• National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Preservation Society of Charleston
• Civitas
• Charleston County Planning Department
• Charleston City Preservation Department
• Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
• National Park Service

Study abroad. Summer travel courses provide you with an opportunity to see how countries far older than our own deal with issues of historic preservation and planning. Examples of such courses include:

• Art, Architecture, and Preservation in Italy, Italian Urban Design
• Summer Travel Course to Britain (focusing on the architecture, art, urbanism, and preservation of London, and including visits to other historic towns and structures)

Lecture series. Each year, the program invites noted experts to speak on campus and to meet informally with HPCP majors.

Historic Preservation Club. This student group is open to all with an interest in historic preservation. The society sponsors field trips, supports various activities of the Preservation Society of Charleston, and engages in community outreach projects.

Assessments, case studies, studio work and surveys. Your coursework routinely incorporates these practical applications of the theories you learn in class. For example, a student design created for an architectural design class final project was chosen to be constructed at full scale as a permanent "Friendship Garden Pavilion" in the I’on Neighborhood near Charleston.

Independent studies and research. You can create an independent study course that gives you the chance to explore an area of particular interest, like a current student who completed an assessment of historic churches in the Charleston area. Another was awarded a grant to research and create a film documentary of the Berlin Wall monument.

Other Special Opportunities

Maymester courses. A three-week term between spring semester and the beginning of summer sessions offers classes that meet five days a week, giving you time for an uninterrupted investigation of a subject that particularly draws your interest. Examples of Maymester courses for HPCP students include:

• Buildings, Manners, and Laws: Charleston Architecture and Culture, 1670-2005. Extensive daily field trips are designed to provide students with firsthand exposure to the remarkable range of architecture, urban design, and self-conceptions that together create the reality of Charleston.
• Historic Preservation and Traditional Design in Charleston (Theme: Mansions and Plantations). The study of historic buildings and landscapes of the Lowcountry involves field trips, studio sketching and traditional architectural design training.

Master’s degree. In partnership with Clemson University, the College of Charleston also offers a master of arts degree in historic preservation.

Learning Resources

The Caroline and Albert Simons, Jr. Center for Historic Preservation is housed at 12 Bull Street (the Cameron House, built c. 1851), on the western edge of the College of Charleston campus, which itself is located in the center of the historic district of Charleston. The graceful antebellum mansion houses classrooms, design studios and exhibit space, as well as faculty and program offices.

"I took a historic preservation class as an elective in my freshman year, and I loved the professor so much that I just looked through the course catalogue to see what other classes he taught. I decided to major in historic preservation because I always got the feeling that, during any of my classes, the professors not only really cared about what they were teaching but also cared about the students learning and loving what was being taught. Overall, my experience in the historic preservation department has been incredible, filled with excellent professors along with classmates that challenge each other every day."

Suzy Lintern ’06