Monthly Archives: November 2013

Courses for Spring 2014

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As you get ready to register for the Spring semester, please take a look at the courses that NOVA’s Historic Preservation Program will be offering.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact the program head at docampbell@nvcc.edu.  Happy registering!

HIS 187 Interpreting Material Culture, Prof. Tracy Gillespie (Core Course)

What could a 19th century photograph of a former slave tell you about her previous life?  Can a stain on the page of an ancient book tell you about its history?  Could an old building give you clues to its past?  These are all examples of material culture — items from the past — that tell us stories of what’s come before.  This course introduces you to ways we can interpret the past through material culture.  Many class sessions will meet at historic sites and museums in Loudoun — exactly where we’ll find material culture!  The class meets on Tuesday nights at the Reston Center.

HIS 193 Prehistorical Archeology, Prof. David Clark (Elective Course)

The study of Native American culture history from earliest times to European-contact. Weekly hands-on artifact studies, ancient technology demonstrations, site field trips, and public interactive preservation programs high-light the course. The class meets on Thursday nights at Signal Hill.

HIS 199 Historic Preservation Internship, Prof. Doug Campbell (Core Course)

This course is designed to give you practical experience in the field of historic preservation by allowing you to work as an intern at a historic site, museum, historical society, government agency, or other site relevant to historic preservation. At the end of the semester, you will have produced an internship portfolio documenting the work you have done and the experience you have gained, suitable for use in job applications in the historic preservation field. All sites for the internship must be pre-approved before the internship can begin, so please get in touch with me well before the start of the semester so we can get everything set up and you can hit the ground running.

HIS 205-Local History Seminar–The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, Prof. Rich Gillespie (Elective Course)

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground federal heritage area is a 180-mile corridor from Gettysburg to Charlottesville, and our historic region sits right in the heart of it. History 205 helps students use local historic sites in the Journey to open doors of understanding, meaning, interest, and service to families, neighbors, friends, business associates, and club and civic group members. Historic Preservation certificate students gain a more soulful feeling and sense of meaning for the historic environment in which they hope ultimately to be active as professionals, and learn new ways to view this historic landscape. NVCC students hoping to get history credits see what they’ve studied in the academic classroom come alive on the historic landscape that surrounds them. Certified Tourism Ambassadors (CTAs) get to see the Journey’s meaning and gain a passion for its historic sites. Teachers get ideas of how our historic landscape can be used to bring their classroom teaching alive.  The class meets on Wednesday nights at the Reston Center.

Mount Vernon Symposium, Nov. 14-15

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There’s an upcoming symposium at Mount Vernon– Please contact Sean Thomas if interested:
For more than six years, George Washington’s Mount Vernon has hosted a symposium series on selective topics from George Washington’s Presidency to George Washington & the Constitution.  This year’s symposium held on November 14th and 15th will focus on historic preservation at Mount Vernon.  This is normally a ticket-based event that sells out quickly.  With the opening of The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, we are able to expand this event, free of charge, to your faculty and students who would like to attend.  Through the new technology of the Library, we are able to stream what is happening in the Auditorium to our Library meeting rooms.  Students and faculty will not only be able to watch the symposium, but will be able to interact with the speakers and panelists through Twitter and other messaging software.  They will also get the opportunity to interact personally with members of Mount Vernon’s Historic Preservation team.
Attached is a brochure and schedule of this year’s symposium.  The schedule features lectures and panel discussions by our Mount Vernon staff as well as…
Dr. Carl Lounsbury, Senior Architectural Historian at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation where he has been employed since 1982. He is the author of several award-winning books and co-editor of the recently published The Chesapeake House. Besides consulting work for a variety of museums, he teaches architectural history at the College of William and Mary.  Lounsbury received his B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina and earned an M.A. and PhD at George Washington University.
Carter L. Hudgins, Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation jointly sponsored by Clemson University and the College of Charleston. Trained as an historian and archaeologist, he received his PhD in early American history from the College of William and Mary. Hudgins has served as executive director of Historic Charleston Foundation, and as the Hofer Distinguished Professor of Early American Culture and Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington.
George W. McDaniel has served as executive director of Drayton Hall since 1989, a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  An Atlanta native, he holds a B.A. from Sewanee, an M.A.T. in history from Brown University, and a PhD in history from Duke University. At Drayton Hall, he has been deeply engaged in “whole place preservation,” that is, the convergence of historic preservation and environmental conservation.
Dr. Scott Casper, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the author of Sarah Johnson’s Mount Vernon: The Forgotten History of an American Shrine (2008), among other books and essays. Since 2000 he has taught in Mount Vernon’s summer institutes for K-12 teachers, and he was an organizer of the George Washington Teacher Ambassador Program in Nevada (2010-2013).
This Library event is being offered to you and your students free of charge.  It will not include tickets to the Estate.  If your group wishes to purchase tickets to the Estate, they are being offered at the discounted price of $8/person.  The brochure also details special events and meals that are also not included for this Library event.
To RSVP and reserve your spots, please contact me directly through the information provided below.  I can also answer any questions you may have about the event.  Thank you very much for your consideration and we hope you will be open to join us in November for the symposium.
Sean Thomas, MA, MPA
Director of Leadership Programs
The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington
P.O. Box 3600
Mount Vernon, VA 22121