Architectural History

Louis Nelson — Department Chair

Architectural historians at the University of Virginia explore the history of architecture, landscape, and urban form from ancient to modern times. Through lecture courses, specialized research seminars, independent thesis and dissertation projects, and guest lectures and symposia, faculty and students explore key aspects of the built world. The faculty analyzes the sources and forms of creative architectural expression and, at the same time, approaches architecture as a critical feature in a broader social and cultural context. The department’s teaching and research aims to illuminate the changing meaning of architecture for the people who commission, design, build, use, preserve, and demolish buildings, landscapes, and cities. In addition to a strong concentration of specialists in American architecture, the faculty includes specialists in medieval, Renaissance and Baroque, modern European and East Asian architectural history. Faculty members have been honored on numerous occasions with teaching awards, research fellowships, and prizes for their scholarly publications.

Degrees

Located in the highly regarded School of Architecture, many of the Architectural History department’s students and faculty take advantage of interdisciplinary associations with colleagues working in architecture, landscape architecture, and planning. Many students in the Master of Architectural History program take advantage of the School of Architecture’s certificate program in Historic Preservation.

Dual degree programs are also available for students wishing to combine their work in architectural history with training in design and planning. The courses and faculty of the McIntire Department of Art, with its complementary offerings in both art and architectural history, further enrich the architectural history department’s program. Students are also able to benefit from the rich offerings in the departments of history, anthropology, literature, and other allied fields.

Undergraduates can both major and minor in architectural history. The department has a two-year Master of Architectural History program with approximately thirty students enrolled. Graduates of this program find employment in historic preservation, public history, museum work, and in professional practice. The Architectural History and Art History faculties jointly offer a Ph.D. program in Art and Architectural History. This program continues to prepare students for careers in college and university teaching, scholarly and popular publication, curatorial work, as well as areas of historic preservation and public history.