Short Papers
There are two short (2-4 page) papers for the course:
- Historic building or landscape — I would like you to visit a significant historical building or place of your choice and write a paper evaluating that place, how it is or is not being preserved, and what the value of the place is. Due at the beginning of class, before Ses #2.
- Boston Landmarks Commission — I would like you to attend a regular public meeting of the Boston Landmarks Commission and write a paper evaluating the meeting: what issues were covered, what particularly struck you, what the meeting says about how preservation is done. Due at the beginning of class in Ses #8.
Final Paper or Project
You will have two options. For the paper option, you will, alone or together, examine a recent preservation controversy and analyze the issues raised in the controversy. For the project option, you are encouraged to develop an innovative proposal for a preservation intervention at a particular site: an innovative method of adaptive reuse, a new preservation bylaw, a model way of providing public interpretation of an historic site. Obviously, the topics will be developed in consultation with me. Presentations will be in Ses #12; final drafts due to me to the following week.
