Cornell University Historic Preservation Planning Program

The Cornell University Historic Preservation Planning Program offers a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Historic Preservation Planning and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in City and Regional Planning with emphasis in Historic Preservation. The Program is located within the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP), College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP).

History
The Historic Preservation Planning Program at Cornell had its beginnings in 1963, when Professors Stephen W. Jacobs, in the Department of Architecture, and Barclay G. Jones, in the Planning Department, began teaching a preservation seminar as part of a graduate program in the history of architecture. Jacobs and Jones continued development of the program by focusing on city design through conservation. The two men met in the late fifties while teaching at the University of California at Berkeley where they developed an extensive and detailed method of visual survey devised to provide designers and planners with a comprehensive inventory of all landscapes, structures, and objects in the urban environment. This sort of inventory came to serve as the basis for historic preservation planning. Jacobs and Jones' approach to preservation planning was further aided by the study of the history of urban development, with John W. Reps, a specialist in examining city views, leading a faculty of city planning historians. Policy analysis was advanced through the study of historic preservation law, first taught by Ernest F. Roberts in the Cornell Law School in 1971. The majority of faculty who were involved at the inception were members of the Department of City and Regional Planning. So, when Jacobs received provisional degree authorization in 1974 and admitted Cornell's first class in 1975, it was for a degree in historic preservation planning. Cornell became the second university in the country to offer a degree in historic preservation, with Columbia having begun offering an M.S. degree in the field in 1973.

Specialties
As the name of the program and its location within the planning department imply, Cornell's degrees have a broad-based emphasis on improving the built, economic, and social environment of communities through conservation of historic resources. Course work in the economics of neighborhood conservation, urban history, real estate development, preservation law, and community-assisted design reinforce this emphasis.

Master of Arts
Emphasis in one area of specialization is not expressly required of students (such as in the Columbia University or University of Pennsylvania preservation degree programs), they are encouraged.

Core Courses

 * Documentation of Preservation (3 units)
 * Historic Preservation Planning Workshop: Surveys and Analysis (3 units)
 * Perspectives on Preservation (3 units)
 * Master's Thesis in Preservation Planning (6 units)

Elective Courses in Preservation

 * Problems in Contemporary Preservation Practice (Variable units)
 * Fieldwork or Workshop in History and Preservation (Variable units)
 * Planning and Preservation Practice (1 unit)
 * Historic Preservation Law (3 units)
 * Preservation Planning & Urban Change (3 units)
 * Building Materials Conservation (3 units)

Elective Courses in Architectural History

 * History of Architecture I (3 units)
 * History of Architecture II (3 units)
 * Urban History (4 units)

Elective Courses in Cultural Landscapes

 * Landscape Preservation: Theory and Practice (3 units)
 * History of American Landscape Architecture (3 units)
 * History of European Landscape Architecture (3 units)

Faculty

 * Michael Tomlan, Ph.D.
 * Jeffrey Chusid

Adjunct Faculty

 * Daniel Krall, MLA (landscape architecture)
 * Sherene Baugher, Ph.D. (archaeology)
 * Mary Woods, Ph.D. (architectural history)
 * David Listokin (economics)
 * Harvey Carter (law)