Is historic preservation relevant to the public and to experts, including scholars? Ever since I entered the field in 1998, my anecdotal experience has been that general interest in the field has been been on the decline, while, at the same time, people who are working in an area directly related to preservation policy (i.e., …
Historic preservation is dead. Long live (cultural) heritage preservation. Read More »
Earlier this year, as part of Lived Heritage Studies LLC, I successfully completed a project for the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Vermont (UVM) to help them create a “curricular vision” for their program. This project was catalyzed by UVM’s proposal, in 2020, to terminate many low-enrollment graduate programs, including the Historic Preservation …
A Curriculum Vision for the University of Vermont Read More »
What artificial intelligence (AI) thinks of historic preservation Unless you’ve been sequestered over the past year, you’ve probably heard about the growing controversy on artificial intelligence (AI). A recent example is ChatGPT, a “chatbot” created by OpenAI. To use ChatGPT, you create an account and, through a web based “chat” interface, you ask ChatGPT questions …
A Reparative Call to Change the Administrative Procedure Act Historic preservation is fundamentally a policy-based endeavor, driven by governmental laws, regulations, and guidelines. And because of this basis, it’s also incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to make it more people-centered without some changes to state and federal administrative procedure acts. The fact is that nearly …
It’s Not So Simple to Make Preservation Policy People-Centered Read More »
What is structural racism in relation to governmental policy? Since the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement, there has been increasing discussion on the role of structural racism in public policy. But, what exactly is structural racism in this context? Bailey et al. (2021) offer a concise definition that describes how laws, rules, and …
Before I left my position as an associate professor at the University of Maryland in May 2022, I created a curated list of YouTube conference presentations since 2020 that address diversity, inclusion, equity, justice, and relevancy in historic preservation practice in relation to federal, state, and local government policy. I originally intended these curated presentations …
Presentations that address diversity/inclusion/relevancy in historic preservation policy Read More »
Are you a researcher, or practitioner who uses applied research, who wants to conduct work related to people-centered historic preservation? Have you tried to find funding to support your research? More than likely, you’ve quickly found that historic preservation funders will only support FHBM research: This is research based on the interpretation of factual histories …
Where’s the people-centered research funding? An historic preservation plight. Read More »
Nearly two decades ago, I became deeply interested in how historic preservation doctrine, represented through orthodox preservation theory and expressed in international and national charters and rules, regulations, and guidelines, manifested as a social justice problem. The core issue is how this orthodox doctrine serves as a means to empower conventionally trained experts (e.g., architectural …
10 Ways Historic Preservation Policy Supports White Supremacy and 10 Ideas to End It Read More »
As I was listening to the session on “A New Framework for Blended Conservation of the Built and Natural Environment” from PastForward 2020 (the US National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual conference), I was inspired to write this post. While the aim of the session was admirable, what I saw were people innately motivated to …
The International Committee on the Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration (Theophilos) is one of the more active scientific committees in ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). In the past I was involved the committee’s work, especially in contributing to its 2015 conference proceedings, although I have not been particularly active in the …
The Last Gasp of Traditional Theory in Preservation? Read More »
