Historic Preservation, MHP

From historic buildings and archaeological sites to urban neighborhoods and rural landscapes, graduates of the Master of Historic Preservation (MHP) program are actively engaged in the identification, documentation, protection, and sustained use of a broad range of historic and cultural resources.  Historic preservation is a complex and interdisciplinary field that requires creative thinking about the relationship between the past, present, and future.  It applies the skills of historians, designers, anthropologists, engineers, and many other allied fields to sites of historical meaning and significance.  Our graduates work in private practice, at every level of government, and in the non-profit world.  The Department of Historic Preservation also offers a graduate certificate in Historic Preservation, which is comprised of two required courses (HP 601 and HP 602), and two additional historic preservation electives.       

Admission Requirements

1) A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university 

2) A writing sample or demonstration of ability in drawing, drafting, and/or photography 

3) Three letters of recommendation and a personal essay 

4) A minimum 2.75 GPA at the undergraduate level 

5) A minimum of 3.0 GPA for any previous work at the graduate level 

Degree Requirements  

The MHP program requires successful completion of 48 credit hours, which includes a core, electives, and the successful defense of a final Master’s project. 

Core:

Students must complete all courses 

• HP 601 INTRODUCTION TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION  (3)  
• HP 602 HISTORIC PRESERVATION LAW  (3) 
• HP 610 AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE I  (3)  
• HP 611 AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE II  (3)  
• HP 612 DOCUMENTATION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND SITES  (3)  
• HP 613 HISTORICAL STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS AND BUILDING MATERIALS  (3) 
• HP 614 DOCUMENTATION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND SITES II  (3) 
• HP 616 HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND DESIGN  (3)  
• HP 617 HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLANNING  (3) 
• HP 798 RESEARCH DESIGN  (3)  
• HP 799 MASTER’S PROJECT  (2@3, 6 total) 

Electives: 

Students are required to take 12 or more credits of electives.  The electives may be taken from courses offered within the department, or they may be taken from the offerings of other departments across the university.   

• Electives offered by the Department of Historic Preservation include: 
• HP 501 SELECTED TOPICS IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION (SUBTITLE REQUIRED)  (3) 
• HP 510 CULTURAL LANDSCAPES AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION   (3) 
• HP 511 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND HERITAGE   (3) 
• HP 609 URBAN REVITALIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES  (3) 
• HP 615 AMERICAN SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: HISTORY OF LAND DEVELOPMENT  (3) 
• HP 670 RETHINKING PRESERVATION: ETHICS, PUBLIC POLICY, AND HERITAGE RESOURCES  (3) 
• HP 671 INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT  (3) 
• HP 675 ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY FOR PRESERVATION PRACTICE  (3) 
• HP 676 FIELD METHODS IN HERITAGE CONSERVATION  (3) 
• HP 699 INTERNSHIP  (1-6) 
• HP 718 ADAPTIVE REUSE  (3) 
• HP 720 CASE STUDIES IN PRESERVATION  (3)  
• HP 721 INTERPRETATION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND SITES  (3)  
• HP 724 ADVANCED HISTORICAL STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS AND BUILDING MATERIALS CONSERVATION  (3)  
• HP 748 MASTER’S PROJECT RESEARCH  (0)  
• HP 750 ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO  (3)  
• HP 772 SEMINAR IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION: SUBTITLE REQUIRED  (3)  
• HP 785 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION  (3) 

 

Master’s project: 

Students have two options for completing their Master’s project.  

Option 1 follows the format of a traditional academic thesis. It is an original, student-led project that identifies a research question relevant to the field of historic preservation, applies a research methodology appropriate for the question asked, develops a new dataset or examines existing datasets, and analyzes the data to arrive at a well-supported conclusion.  

Option 2 is an independent professional project reflecting the type of work historic preservation practitioners are likely to execute in a professional environment. Examples of this type of project might include exceptionally well-researched and well-written nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, proposals for local historic districts that include resource inventories and design review guidelines, Cultural Landscape Reports and Historic Structure Reports that include resource inventories and management plans, and the like. 

 

https://design.uky.edu/historic-preservation/