MS Architecture – Critical Heritage
Master of Science in Architecture at UNC Charlotte is a program of the College of Arts + Architecture. The Critical Heritage concentration within the program emphasizes hands-on engagement with communities and organizations; challenges authorized heritage discourses; diversifies approaches and practices of engaging with the past; and promotes the stories and sites that foreground the heritage of underrepresented communities.
Training situates historic preservation in a critical and transdisciplinary context, promoting experiential learning, community engagement, and social and environmental sustainability. This non-thesis track, 30 credit hour, program is geared for working design or planning professionals seeking to augment their skills or add credentials.
Core courses
ARCH 5600 – Critical Approaches to Heritage
A theoretical exploration of heritage from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives with a focus on key contemporary issues and themes in the field and engagement with alternative intellectual and methodological frameworks to reconceptualize heritage values and practices.
ARCH 6400 – Architecture Internship
Supervised practical experience in the application of architectural, urban, or heritage principles in a design firm, agency, organization, or facility not part of the School of Architecture. Following the needs of the agency, as part of the internship students may be asked to set goals at the outset of their applied research, complete a self-assessment at the end, and/or submit documentation of their experiential learning.
ARCH 6600 – Heritage Colloquium
Heritage Studies concentration course involving a series of site visits and guest speakers from scholars and professionals to further understanding of heritage case studies and working in the discipline.
ARCH 7211 – Studio Lab I
The Studio Lab sequence situates students with varying backgrounds in a research environment that allows them to develop and test innovative tools, applications, and solutions. Each semester may be jointly taught by faculty from the School of Architecture and other collaborating departments from the University. The course is typically project-based and organized around research questions and topics chosen by the participating faculty.
ARCH 7212 – Studio Lab II
The Studio Lab sequence situates students with varying backgrounds in a research environment that allows them to develop and test innovative tools, applications, and solutions. Each semester may be jointly taught by faculty from the School of Architecture and other collaborating departments from the University. The course is typically project-based and organized around research questions and topics chosen by the participating faculty.
HIST 6320 – Historic Preservation
An introduction to the theory and practice of identifying, preserving and restoring buildings, sites, structures and objects in the historic built environment of the United States.
HIST 6330 – History in the Digital Age
Analyzes the impact of new media technology on the discipline of history as well as well as the ways in which new media enhances the discipline by making history accessible to a much broader audience. Involves a new media project that will require students to learn to work as a team, important to their preparation for careers in public history settings. Coursework includes common readings of texts and encounters with online studies, with emphasis on the media projects.
Electives
These credits can be any combination of graduate level courses in ARCH, HIST, GEOG, ANTH, or related fields.
Program affiliate faculty
Emily Gunzburger Makaš
Program Director