A Unique Collaboration

Historic Preservation and Museum Studies are intertwined in their focus on the interpretation and preservation of our cultural heritage - from the small scale of a hand-held artifact to the large scale of a historic neighborhood. These inter-related and multidisciplinary fields make meaningful contributions to contemporary communities by helping them protect and understand tangible evidence of the past.

Historians and designers offer different but complementary approaches to the fields of Historic Preservation and Museum Studies: From the historian's perspective, a career in preservation or museum settings offers exciting opportunities for researching, preserving, and interpreting the past to reach a broad public audience beyond the traditional classroom. The opportunity to achieve a deeper understanding of the past through the preservation and study of material culture, broadly defined to include objects, buildings, landscapes, and other cultural artifacts, is one of the chief attractions for historians drawn to these fields.

Approaching preservation from the designer's perspective offers a range of opportunities to identify, document, evaluate, restore, rehabilitate, and adapt the historic built environment. As preservationists work with historic buildings, neighborhoods, urban downtowns, and rural districts, they directly impact the quality of life for local communities as they protect and enhance their sense of place. Working in a museum context offers designers special opportunities for telling a story visually and graphically through exhibit design or historic interiors.

The graduate concentrations and post-baccalaureate certificates in Historic Preservation and Museum Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro embody the interdisciplinary nature of these fields by drawing on the resources of two strong departments: History and Interior Architecture. The creative collaboration between these two departments offers unique educational opportunities, combining the art of historical research methods and interpretation with the theory and skills of design practice.

Want to know more? Mention your interest in this area when you speak with a StudyLink Counsellor.