Historic Preservation
Historic preservation explores, protects, interprets, and manages change in the existing physical and cultural environment. It is an inherently interdisciplinary field. The University of Oregon's Historic Preservation Program is best described as having broad cultural concerns with a technical emphasis.
Students gain an understanding of historic resources and the processes for their preservation. This includes core courses in research methods, preservation history and theory, architectural history, and the material, legal, and administrative processes of preservation.
Classroom learning is augmented by engaged community work in the urban, suburban, and rural areas of the state. Oregon contains Native American sites, rural buildings and landscapes developed by U.S. and European immigrant pioneers from the 1830s, as well as urban development since the 1840s. More recent transformations of the landscape by various ethnic groups and technological innovations are also explored. Extensive instructional use of the region takes place through an emphasis on the cultural and technical aspects of vernacular resources, field trips, participation in projects at the university, and through local community groups. There is also frequent involvement with the area’s professionals, officials, and agencies concerned with historic resources.
In addition to providing a solid base of preservation education and hands-on training, the UO HP programs emphasize the importance of cultural conservation including issues of diversity, identity, and community development. This includes a concern not only for how various ethnic groups shaped buildings and landscapes in the distant past, but how similar settings are touchstones of meaning for cultural groups in the present.
Faculty
Christopher Bell, instructor (historic preservation). BA, 1998, Williams; MS, 2005, Oregon. (2009)
Elizabeth Carter, instructor (historic preservation). BA, 1988, MS, 1994, Oregon. (2005)
Suzana Radivojevic, adjunct instructor (wood science). BScFE, 1997, Belgrade; PhD, 2006, Toronto. (2013)
Kirk Ranzetta, instructor (historic preservation, planning). BA, 1994, Mary Washington; MA, 1996, PhD, 2006, Delaware. (2006)
Larissa Rudnicki, instructor (historic preservation). BA, 2008, Marquette; MS, 2013, Oregon. (2013)
The date in parentheses at the end of each entry is the first year on the University of Oregon faculty.
Participating
Howard Davis, architecture
Keith Eggener, history of art and architecture
Mark Eischeid, landscape architecture
Mark Gillem, architecture
Maile Hutterer, history of art and architecture
Renee A. Irvin, planning, public policy and management
Robert L. Thallon, architecture
Jenny Young, architecture