Graduate

Master of Science in Historic Preservation

Building on its three-decades-old undergraduate program, Roger Williams University now offers a Master of Science in Historic Preservation. A two-year, 52-credit program is available to qualified students holding a bachelors degree. A one-year (minimum), 32-credit program is available to students holding a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation. A least 30 graduate credits must be taken at Roger Williams University.

The mission of the Historic Preservation Program is to provide an education that empowers individuals to work with and to help others while realizing their own personal and professional potential. Classes, community-based work and field experience specific to preservation are coupled with a strong liberal-arts education. To mirror the environment we help preserve and to prepare students for diverse careers, the program couples a multi-disciplinary approach with a rigorous core of field-based professional preservation offerings.

Students gain an understanding of the field in the greater context of history, the built environment, cooperative community engagement, work with allied professions; documentation and research, and design, philosophy, standards and practice. The program includes preservation history and philosophy, planning, law and regulation, economics and heritage management. Studies are placed into practice through field-based work- shops, assignments and an internship—all in partnership with area and national organizations and firms.

Course offerings toward the Master of Science in Historic Preservation Degree

Core Courses
Students complete the following required courses:

Historic Preservation Electives
In consultation with their advisor, students select three graduate-level electives from the following:

Joint Master of Science/Juris Doctor

Offered with School of Law. Full-time enrollment required.

Historic preservation law is a unique specialty within the environmental law field. But while there are many environmental law programs at law schools throughout the country, the typical environmental curriculum does not offer great depth in this area. Drawing on the strength of both Roger Williams University’s School of Architecture and School of Law, this new Joint Degree program seeks to answer this need.

For over three decades the Historic Preservation Program has been harnessing Roger Williams University and community-wide resources to provide in-depth preservation studies and professional practice in the context of a liberal arts education whose diversity mirrors the communities and cultures we help preserve. The Roger Williams University Historic Preservation Program provides classes, community-based work and field expertise specific to preservation. The program couples a multi-disciplinary approach with a rigorous core of field-based professional preservation offerings. The program includes preservation history and philosophy, planning, law and regulation, economics and heritage management. In 2012, the School of Law partnered with the Historic Preservation program to develop lawyers trained in this dynamic discipline.

Lawyers trained in Historic Preservation are well equipped to become leaders and advocates in the field. Graduates of this program will know how to maneuver federal, state, and local regulations while protecting historic resources. Historic preservation overlaps with constitutional, administrative, and even tort law. Lawyers equipped with these two degrees can be found specializing in historic preservation at law firms, governmental agencies, advocacy organizations, lobbying firms, and non-profits. To learn more about what a lawyer can do in the field of Historic Preservation visit the website of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

To earn the degree, students must complete 75 credits at the School of Law and 43 credits in the Historic Preservation Program. The School of Law will accept 15 transfer credits and the Historic Preservation Program will accept 9. This means students who enter this joint degree program can complete both degrees in as little as four years (with some course work in the summers/winters). Students who already have an undergraduate degree in historic preservation may be able to complete both degrees in less time. Students can apply to enter into this joint degree program after the completion of their first year of either program.

Note: Applicants applying for the Joint M.S./J.D. degree must apply to and earn acceptance into the graduate program in Historic Preservation and the School of Law separately (Apply here). Applicants who intend to pursue the joint degree must so indicate this on the application for admission. Applications should be submitted sufficiently in advance of the application deadline to assure adequate processing time at both Schools. Ordinarily, applications to each school would be filed simultaneously, even if the student will not be taking courses at both schools during the first year of study. However, a student matriculated in either the M.S. or J.D. program could apply to the other school in order to pursue the joint degree prior to the end of the first year of study.

Applying to the Master of Science in Historic Preservation Program

To be considered for admission to the Master of Science in Historic Preservation degree program, applicants must hold an earned Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university. While application materials do not need to be sent in one complete package, a complete application to the Historic Preservation portion of this program includes the following required materials:

• Completed application form
• $50 application fee
• Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate coursework
• Personal statement (Topic given in application)
• Two letters of recommendation attesting to your potential to succeed in graduate school
• If your first language is not English, an official report of TOEFL or IELTS results
• The GRE is not required for admission

Applicants must also apply to the School of Law separately.

International applicants should also read through this page for additional requirements.

All documents to be mailed should be sent directly to:

Office of Graduate Admission
1 Old Ferry Rd.
Bristol, RI 02809

For more information, or if you have questions about the application process please contact us at any time.