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Historic Preservation

Graduate Curriculum & Courses

Graduate Curriculum & Courses

The Master of Science (MS) in Historic Preservation program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a two-year, 60-credit hour graduate curriculum that prepares students for careers in revitalizing our built environment.

Courses are offered in four areas:

  1. Architectural design
  2. Physical conservation
  3. Architectural and social history
  4. Preservation planning

Each graduate student in the program completes two years of coursework in each of these areas as part of the required curriculum. The program is geared toward full-time study.

Core CoursesCredit Hours
Architectural Design6  
  • HPRES 5008 Physical Documentation (3)
  • HPRES 5010 Restoration Design Studio (3)
 
Physical Conservation9 
  • HPRES 5003 Historic Materials & Technology (3)
  • HPRES 5012 Building Pathology (3)
  • HPRES 6006 Building Conservation Lab (3)
 
Architectural & Social History12  
  • HPRES 5006 History and Theory of Historic Preservation (3)
  • ARTHI 4125 Racial Politics of the US Built Environment I (3)
  • ARTHI 4135 Racial Politics of the US Built Environment II (3)
  • HPRES 5543 American Interior Design (3)
 
Preservation Planning12  
  • HPRES 5002 Archival Documentation (3)
  • HPRES 5014 Preservation Planning (3)
  • HPRES 5015 Preservation Planning Studio (3)
  • HPRES 6008 Preservation Law (3)
 
Electives From Any Department15  
HPRES 6010  Thesis I3
HPRES 6014  Thesis II3
Completion of Thesis 
Completion of Internship (210 Hours) 
Total Credit Hours60 

Degree Requirements & Specifications

Completion Schedule

Students have a maximum of four years to complete the course work and submit a final thesis. This includes time off for leaves of absences. Thesis in Progress: Students who have not submitted a finished thesis for review and approval by the end of the final semester of enrollment are given a Thesis in Progress grade (IP). All students with a Thesis in Progress grade (IP) will be charged the Thesis in Progress Fee in each subsequent full semester until the thesis is completed and approved and the grade is changed to Credit (CR). If the statute of limitations is reached without an approved thesis, the grade will be changed to No Credit (NCR).

Transfer Credit

A minimum of 54 credit hours must be completed in residence at SAIC. Up to 15 transfer graduate-level credits may be requested at the time of application for admission. No transfer credit will be permitted after a student is admitted.

Full-Time Status Minimum Requirement: 12 Credit Hours

Extracurricular Activities

In addition to course work, the two-year, 60 credit-hour Historic Preservation program requires students to undertake an internship. The 210-hour internship with a preservation agency, conservator, restoration architect, or designer enables students to work on historically significant sites and to learn firsthand the latest preservation techniques.

SAIC's Historic Preservation program has extensive international contacts and offers students significant overseas study opportunities. The Historic Preservation program's balanced curriculum and emphasis on real-world experience prepare students for a wide range of professional opportunities.

Course Listing

Title Catalog Instructor Schedule

Description

How do we see the buildings, forms, and spaces as well as the light and shadow that surround us? This class will foster both traditional and creative approaches to photographing architectural structures and dimensional spaces through a combination of visual formalism, direct representation, and conceptual interpretation, allowing students to bring their own particular aesthetic to the process. Architecture is one of the most challenging subjects to photograph with its distortion issues, ambient and mixed light challenges, and the need for problem solving, often with a minimum of equipment. Students will gain technical knowledge and skills necessary to photograph a wide range of 3-dimensional structures and spaces. Working with large format, medium format and digital SLR cameras, the class will be introduced to observational and analytical methodologies that in combination with technical skills, become part of a toolkit for being able to work with technically and conceptually challenging photographic subjects and situations.

Class Number

1130

Credits

3

Department

Historic Preservation

Location

280 Building Rm 215

Take the Next Step

Visit the graduate admissions website or contact the graduate admissions office at 312.629.6100, 800.232.7242, or gradmiss@saic.edu.