In September 2016, MARCH launched a new continuing education program in historic preservation, open to anyone with an interest in preserving our built environment. Feedback on our initial workshops has been positive, with attendees commenting on the “quality of the information” and the “knowledgeable and vested presenters.” As the first semester of classes winds down, we are already looking forward to spring. Registration is now open for our spring offerings.
The spring semester begins in February with a ten-week class, “American Architectural History,” taught by Andrea Tingey, a historic preservation specialist at the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office. This course will present an introduction to buildings, landscapes, and other built artifacts in the United States constructed from the colonial period to the present, looking at both urban and rural building types. Its approach will be pluralistic, drawing historical references from art history, social history, and cultural studies and introducing the range of material culture produced by Americans of all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. The course develops critical tools for the analysis and appreciation of architecture and its role in the world in which we live.
Two Saturday workshops will also be offered. In March, “Preservation in Practice,” a workshop for historic preservation commissioners and others, provides an in-depth examination of current topics and issues relevant to integrating preservation into community planning and zoning. Then in April, we will learn about cemetery preservation in two close but very different cemeteries in Philadelphia: The Woodlands and Mount Moriah. Students will explore the wide range of stone types and other materials used to construct monuments and their cemetery environments, how and why those materials deteriorate over time, and what responsible efforts can be used to slow that deterioration. Instructors will also discuss the importance of documenting changing cemetery landscapes and modes of commemoration as well as the history of rural cemeteries in the Philadelphia region and elsewhere.
For those who want to plan even further ahead, descriptions of some of our fall 2017 and spring 2018 classes are also available.