HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN
DIVERSE COMMUNITIES

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides an introduction to historic preservation, its development, and its impact in diverse communities. We will cover the field’s historical underpinnings and issues that affect contemporary practice. While generally thematic, discussions will also examine a series of
case studies.

B. ASSIGNMENTS

• 10% Attendance, Participation, and Preparation

• 10% Group Blog Assignment: In a small group, identify a video, newspaper article, or image related to the assigned reading. You will be asked to share the source, identify the author’s argument, and relate them to key findings in the week’s reading. At the beginning of the class, you will lead the students through your group post and short discussion. Groups will be assigned at the beginning of the semester.

• 20% Midterm Exam: The exam will require key word identifications and short essays.

• 30% Memorandum: Drawing on any of the class themes, write a 5 page memorandum addressing best practices related to diversity and preservation within our community. We will peer workshop the memo in class and you will submit it to me on Week 8.

• 30% Final Exam: The exam will include key word identifications and short essays drawing from readings assigned throughout the course. In a final essay question, each student will be asked to analyze a contemporary local preservation issue and propose a solution based on class materials.

C. REQUIRED TEXTS

Course Reader

Hayden, Dolores. The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History. MIT Press, 1997.

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia (ed.). “Theme Issue: Studying and Understanding Ethnic Landscapes.” Journal of Architecture and Planning Research. Volume 19, Number 4, Winter 2002.

D. READING SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE. INTRODUCTION

Introductions and course overview.

Jacobs, Jane.  “Chapter 10: The Need for Aged Buildings.” The
Death and Life of Great American Cities. 
Vintage Books Edition, 1992. Originally published New York: Random House, Inc., 1961.

Case Study. “This Place Matters.” National
Trust for Historic Preservation. http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/this-place-matters/.

WEEK TWO. The Power of Place

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia. “Introduction: Studying and Understanding Ethnic Landscapes.” Journal of Architectural and Planning Research. Volume 19 Number 4, Winter 2002. 271-273

Hayden. “Part 1 Claiming Urban Landscapes as
Public History.” The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History. MIT Press,
1997. 1-79.

WEEK THREE. Whitewashed Adobes

A Quarterly Journal of Environmental Design. Volume 8 Number 3. Spring,
1993. 

Kropp, Phoebe S. "Citizens of the Past? Olvera Street and the Construction of Race and Memory in 1930s Los Angeles." Radical History Review. Vol. 81, 2001. Pp. 35-60.

Case Study: “Conversaciones to Launch a Latino/Hispanic Initiatives.” National Trust for
Historic Preservation. http://www.preservationnation.org/forum/library/public-articles/iconversacionesi-to.html.

WEEK FOUR. Ethnic Tourism

Craine, Kimber ed.  A Position Paper on Cultural & Heritage Tourism in the United States.  Washington, D.C.: President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, 2005.

WEEK FIVE. Preservation in Low-Income Communities

Rypkema, Donovan.  “Chapter 10:  Saving an Old Building.” The Economics of Rehabilitation: A Community Leader’s Guide.  Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2003.

Listokin, David and Listokin, Barbara. “Historic Preservation and Affordable Housing: Leveraging Old Resources for New Opportunities. Housing Facts and Findings.” Fannie Lou Foundation, 2001.

Pader, Ellen. “Housing Occupancy Standards: Inscribing Ethnicity and
Family Relations of the Land.” Journal of Architecture and Planning
Research. Volume 19, Number 4, Winter 2002. 300-318.

WEEK SIX. Gentrification

Bures, Regina M., ed. “Historic Preservation, Gentrification, and Tourism: The Transformation Of Charleston, South Carolina.” Edited by Kevin Fox Gotham Critical Perspectives on Urban Redevelopment. Emerald Group Publishing, 2001. 195 209.

Smith, Neil. “Chapter 6 Market, State and Ideology: Society Hill. The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. NY: Routledge, 1996. 116-135.

Case Study: Los Angeles Broadway District. "The Downtown Los Angeles Market Report and

WEEK SEVEN. A Woman’s Movement?

Methods and Sources for Including Women’s History in Museums and Historic
Sites.” Restoring Women’s History through Historic Preservation. John
Hopkins University Press, 2003. 111-128.

Goodman, Jenifer B. “Best Practices for Saving Women’s Heritage Sites: Nonprofit Case Studies.”  Restoring Women’s History through Historic Preservation. John Hopkins University Press, 2003. 214-229.

WEEK EIGHT. LGBT Heritage

and Rainbow Flags: Improving the Preservation and Interpretation of Gay and
Lesbian Heritage.” Restoring Women’s History through Historic Preservation.
John Hopkins University Press, 2003. 281-290.

Louisiana.” A Passion to Preserve: Gay Men as keepers of Culture.
217-229.

Broverman, Neal. “Boom Boom room Fight in
Laguna Beach: Still On, Still Ugly. July 6 2010. http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/07/boom_boom_room_fight_in_laguna_beach_still_on_still_ugly.php

Case Study: Laguna Beach Boom Boom Room.

WEEK NINE. “It Doesn’t Look Historic”

The Nail that Sticks Up Gets hit: The Architecture of Japanese American
Identity, 1885-1942.” Journal of Architecture and Planning Research.
Volume 19, Number 4, Winter 2002. 319-333.

Landscapes Then and Now.” Journal of Architecture and Planning Research.
Volume 19, Number 4, Winter 2002. 319-333.

es Importante: Embracing Diverse Perspectives on Significance.” Forum Journal.
Volume 24 Number 3. Spring 2010. 41-46.

WEEK TEN. Preserving Without Buildings

Landscapes as Public History. MIT Press, 1997. 168-187.

and Management of Historic Landscapes.” www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/briefs/brief36.htm

WEEK ELEVEN. Collaborative Work

Hayden, Dolores. “Chapter 8 Reinterpreting Latina History at the Embassy Auditorium,” “Chapter 9 Remembering Little Tokyo on First Street,” & “Chapter 10 Storytelling with the Shapes of Time.” The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History. MIT Press, 1997. 188-239.

WEEK TWELVE. Conclusion