Will There be a Heritage Conservation Field in 50 Years? - A talk with Randall Mason, University of Pennsylvania March 28, 2012

Randall Mason is a Professor and Chair of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation and Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. His courses focus on historic preservation planning, urban conservation, history, and cultural landscape studies. Mason's research interests include theory and methods of preservation planning, cultural policy, the economics of preservation, historic site management, the history and design of memorials, and the history of historic preservation. He leads the Center for Research on Preservation and Society, which undertakes applied research projects on site management and on social, economic and political aspects of historic preservation. His books include The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) and Giving Preservation a History: Histories of Historic Preservation in the United States (edited with Max Page; Routledge, 2004).

The field of historic preservation is at a crossroads. The pull of traditional curatorial concerns and the lure of urgent urban and societal issues are dividing the field along lines of inward-looking preservationists and outward-looking, preservation-minded designers, planners, and historians. Professor Mason draws on the history of the preservation field, a summary of contemporary issues, and its long-term future.

Organized by the Institute for Advanced Study's Teaching Heritage Collaborative.

Official Website: http://www.ias.umn.edu/collabs11-12/TeachingHeritage.php