NOVA’s Upcoming Fall 2018 Public History & Historic Preservation Courses

Hello everyone!  Some of you might know me, Professor Marc Dluger, as one of the assistant directors of our Public History and Historic Preservation Certificate Program here at NOVA and main instructor for many of our core courses.  Professor Charlie Evans, the director of the certificate program, and I are reaching out to you to let you know about our upcoming Fall 2018 courses.  Many of you are already enrolled in our program or have taken classes and we hope that you would be willing to continue pursuing your passion for public history and preservation here at Loudoun.

History 180 – Historical Archaeology (Tuesday Nights, 7:00pm to 9:40pm)
A totally revamped and revised course taught by Professor Amy Bertsch, focusing on archaeology techniques and history throughout the Northern Virginia region.  Professor Bertsch has a strong passion for local history and comes with years of experience from the Office of Historic Alexandria.

History 183 – Survey of Museum Practice (Wednesday Nights, 7:00pm to 9:40pm)
My course offers students an opportunity to understand the ins and outs of museums, from their organizational structure to exhibition layout and design.  If you’ve ever wanted to know how museums functions in the real world, this is the course for you.  Taught as a seminar-style course, the classes are discussion driven with students sharing their own museum experiences and relating that back to our weekly readings and fieldtrip-based assignments.

History 218 – Introduction to Digital History (Online)
An eight week course offered from August 22nd to October 16th, Professor Charlie Evans gives students the opportunity to discover various digital history tools and compelling online research projects.  Digital history has become a huge component in public history and historic preservation and learning the various content delivery systems, terminology, technology, and research methods available is a huge asset for your professional development in this field.

Some of you have already enrolled for these courses in the Fall, or have taken one of these classes previously, and for that we thank you.  If you have any specific questions about our classes, feel free to email me or Professor Evans.  We look forward to seeing many of you again this upcoming semester!

For questions please contact Professor Marc Dluger, mdluger@nvcc.edu, or Professor Charlie Evans, cevans@nvcc.edu

 

Reston Hears Voices, The Marketing of A New Town

Thursday, May 10th at 7pm
Location: Jo Ann Rose Gallery, RCC Lake Anne

Chris Rooney will present a talk on the print advertising campaigns of Reston during its first decade and how they relate to the creative revolution of Madison Avenue in the 1960s. Advertisements that ran in the Washington Post and Washington Evening Star reveal a wealth of insights on the new town as it sought to define itself to DC area readers – those same readers needed to populate Reston as well as businesses willing to relocate or set up shop in what was formerly wooded farmland in the outer suburbs of Virginia.

Programs of the Reston Historic Trust & Museum are supported in part by Reston Community Center.

Other upcoming programs at
https://www.restonmuseum.org/programs

NOVA’s Summer HIS 188 Course, Field Survey Techniques in Archaeology

8 week course, beginning Tuesday June 5th with class sessions Tuesday nights on the Loudoun campus (NVCC) and Saturday mornings at area historical sites. Taught by Professor Patrick O’Neill. Students are responsible for their own transportation. The course has no pre-requisites.

Some local sites:
• Chapman’s Mill in Prince William County
• Bristoe Station Battlefield west of Manassas,
• Fairfax County Archaeology Research Lab in Annandale
• Ball-Sellers House in Glen-Carlyn, Robert Ball Sr. Cemetery, in Ballston

Some possible topics to be covered in the course:
• architectural details and dating
• local, county, state, Federal significance of architectural history
• National Register site evaluation
• Measured drawings and photographs
• use of hand compass – conduct pedestrian surveys and mapping
• laying out grids – artifact collecting and excavation
• GIS – finding and comparing sites and locations
• LIDAR technology – finding sites
• land parcel maps (deeds/patents) – finding sites and buildings
• USGS topographic maps – locating and mapping sites and landforms
• aerial photographs – finding and mapping sites
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – finding buildings
• Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) – finding foundations, graves, pits…