CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL PRESERVATIONIST PROGRAMS

Choose from our three academic pathways to becoming a Certified Professional Preservationist!

A Certified Professional Architectural Building Preservationist is a specialist dedicated to protecting, conserving, and rehabilitating historic and architecturally significant buildings. Preservationists study a structure’s history, architectural style, construction methods, materials, and cultural importance to determine how it can be maintained or restored while retaining its historic character. They may collaborate with architects, engineers, conservators, historians, craftspeople, property owners, and government agencies on restoration projects, historic documentation, adaptive reuse, and preservation planning. Their work helps ensure that significant buildings remain safe, functional, and authentic while preserving our architectural heritage for future generations.

Each program is made up of several micro-courses 6 weeks in duration, making completion of the entire program quick and ideal for busy, working students with tight schedules

 

Certificate in Architectural Heritage & Building Conservation

Equips learners with the skills to analyze, document, and preserve historical structures.

AH-101: Global Survey of Architecture: Antiquity to Modernism

Duration: 6 weeks 

 

Covers structural engineering, aesthetics, and cultural contexts from Roman arches to Postmodern steel.

AH-102: Regional & Vernacular Architecture

Duration: 6 weeks

Studies local building traditions, material choices, and domestic architecture (e.g., English Baroque, Palladian estates, Gilded Age mansions).

AH-201: Preservation Ethics, Law, & Adaptive Reuse

Duration: 6 weeks

Examines local zoning, historic registry designations, tax incentives, and repurposing historic structures.

 

Total Program Duration: 18 weeks

Certificate in Visual Culture & Curatorial Foundations

Designed for museum volunteers, gallery personnel, and cultural arts writers seeking formal methodology.

ARTH-101: Masterworks of Western & Global Art

Duration: 8 weeks

Analytical survey of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the Middle Ages through Modernism.

ARTH-102: Methodologies of Art History

Duration: 8 weeks

Teaches formal analysis, iconography, provenance research, and social history methods.

ARTH-201: Decorative Arts, Furniture, & Material Culture

Duration: 8 weeks

Traces the history of interior aesthetics, textiles, metalwork, and functional craftsmanship.

 

Total Program Duration: 24 weeks

Certificate in Public History & American Heritage Interpretation

Geared toward historic site administrators, archivists, and writers focused on early American history and regional culture.

HH-101: The Atlantic World (1492–1800)

Duration: 8 weeks

Examines the movement of people, political philosophies, and trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

HH-102: Ideology & Culture in Early America

Duration: 8 weeks

Traces the intellectual, social, and architectural influences of European traditions on the American Republic.

  

 Total Program Duration: 16 Weeks 

 

Duration: 8 Weeks | Format: Asynchronous Lectures + Live Seminars

Week 1 Foundations of the Built Environment: Materials, gravity, and the Post-and-Lintel system. Egypt and early Near East.

Week 2 The Classical World: Greek orders, proportion, and the Roman arch/ vault revolution (concrete).

Week 3 Sacred Spaces: Byzantine domes, Romanesque massing, and the structural triumph of the Gothic cathedral.

Week 4 The Renaissance: Humanism, symmetry, and the revival of antiquity (Brunelleschi, Palladio).

Week 5 Baroque & Rococo: Architecture as theatrical display and power in Europe.

Week 6 The Industrial Revolution: Iron, glass, and the birth of new building typologies (train stations, exhibition halls).

Week 7 The Rise of the Skyscraper: The Chicago School, steel frames, and the elevator.

Week 8 Modernism & Beyond: The International Style, Bauhaus, and Postmodern critiques. Final Exam & Essay.

Focus: Stately Homes, Estates, and Domestic Architecture.

Week 1 What is Vernacular? Climate, local materials, and cultural tradition vs. 'High Architecture'.

 

Week 2 The British Country House I: Tudor fortification to the early Jacobean manor.

Week 3 The British Country House II: The English Baroque and the grandeur of estates like Blenheim Palace.

Week 4 The British Country House III: Palladianism and the Georgian obsession with classical symmetry.

Week 5 Early American Adaptation: Colonial vernacular (saltbox, Cape Cod) vs. Georgian imports.

Week 6 The Antebellum Plantation House: Greek Revival dominance and the architecture of the Southern planter elite.

Week 7 The American Gilded Age: Beaux-Arts mansions, Newport cottages, and Biltmore Estate.

Week 8 Architecture of the Servant Class: Analyzing back-stairs layout, outbuildings, and invisible labor design. Final Project.

Week 1-2 History of Preservation: From saving Mount Vernon to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Week 3-4 The Secretary of the Interior's Standards: Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Reconstruction defined.

Week 5-6 Legal Frameworks: The National Register of Historic Places, local zoning laws, and historic district commissions.

Week 7-8 Adaptive Reuse: Economic incentives, tax credits, and case studies of successful modern interventions in historic shells.

 

Archival Research: Utilizing deeds, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, historic photos, and census data.

Week 3-4 Visual Auditing: Identifying alterations, additions, and reading the "scars" of a building's history.

Week 5-6 Field Measuring & Drafting: Techniques for accurate site measuring and creating basic floor plans/elevations.

Week 7-8 The Historic Structure Report (HSR): Compiling research, condition assessments, and treatment recommendations.

 

 

Week 1-2 Antiquity to Middle Ages: Greco-Roman ideals, Byzantine icons, and the illuminated manuscript.

Week 3-4 The Renaissance & Baroque: The shift from religious to secular patronage; linear perspective, light, and drama.

Week 5-6 19th Century Revolutions: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, and the birth of Impressionism.

Week 7-8 Modernism to Contemporary: Cubism, Surrealism, Pop Art, and the shift to conceptual installations.

Week 1-2 Formal Analysis: Developing a visual vocabulary to dissect composition, color, line, and texture.

Week 3-4 Iconography & Semiotics: Decoding symbols and hidden meanings in religious and historical works.

Week 5-6 Social History of Art: Marxist, Feminist, and Post-Colonial approaches to analyzing who makes art and why.

Week 7-8 Provenance & The Art Market: Tracing ownership history, the role of auction houses, and restitution claims.

The Guild System to the Factory: How craftsmanship evolved through the Industrial Revolution.

Week 3-4 Furniture Periods: Identifying key styles (e.g., Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Empire, Victorian).

Week 5-6 Ceramics, Glass, & Silver: Status symbols of the dining room from the 17th to 19th centuries.

Week 7-8 The Arts & Crafts Movement: The backlash against industrialization; Morris, Stickley, and the return to the handmade.

Week 1-2 The Role of the Curator: Balancing academic research with public engagement and institutional mission.

Week 3-4 Writing for the Gallery: Crafting compelling exhibition narratives and accessible object labels.

Week 5-6 Collection Management: Basics of accessioning, condition reporting, and proper handling of artifacts.

Week 7-8 Digital Curation: Utilizing omeka/content management systems to build engaging online exhibitions.

 

Week 1-2 First Contacts: Indigenous populations of the Americas and initial European exploration.

Week 3-4 The Columbian Exchange: The transfer of flora, fauna, disease, and culture across the Atlantic.

Week 5-6 Transatlantic Trade & Slavery: The economic engines driving empire expansion and the Middle Passage.

Week 7-8 The Age of Revolutions: Political upheaval in America, France, and Haiti connected by Atlantic networks.

Week 1-2 Puritan Roots vs. Chesapeake Cash: Divergent cultures in the early English colonies.

Week 3-4 The Enlightenment in America: European philosophy meets colonial pragmatism (Locke, Franklin, Jefferson).

Week 5-6 Print Culture & The Public Sphere: The role of taverns, broadsides, and newspapers in forming an American identity.

Week 7-8 Creating the Republic: The Constitution, Federalism, and establishing national institutions.

King Cotton: The invention of the cotton gin and the westward expansion of the plantation economy.

Week 3-4 The Planter Elite: Paternalism, honor culture, dueling, and the mythology of the "Cavalier."

Week 5-6 The Institution of Slavery: Labor systems, resistance, family structure, and slave culture.

Week 7-8 Yeomen & Poor Whites: The non-slaveholding majority and the complex racial/class dynamics of the South.

Week 1-2 Principles of Interpretation: Connecting tangibles (objects/sites) to intangibles (themes/emotions) (Tilden's Principles).

Week 3-4 Interpreting Difficult History: Ethical approaches to discussing slavery, conflict, and marginalized voices at historic sites.

Week 5-6 Living History & Costumed Interpretation: First-person vs. thirdperson interpretation techniques and historical accuracy.

Week 7-8 Visitor Experience Design: Assessing audience needs, accessibility, and creating engaging tour narratives.

 

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THE PROGRAM GUIDE ABOVE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TYPICAL PROGRAM SYLLIBUS & IS MEANT TO INFORM PROSPESCTIVE STUDENTS ABOUT THE CURRICULUM & CLASSES THEY WOULD NEED TO PASS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THEIR CREDENTIAL.

 

ALL SPECIFIC PROGRAM GUIDES COME FROM YOUR ASSIGNED INSTRUCTOr

OUR TRIPLE ACCREDITED PROGRAM CURRICULUM GUIDES 

CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL CURATOR OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS (CPCHB) 

HBC-201 — Historic Materials, Fabric & Building Pathology

Duration: 6 Weeks

Provides an academic introduction to historic building materials, deterioration, condition assessment, and conservation decision-making.

Week 1 – Masonry: Monday through Thursday cover brick, stone, mortar, stucco, and deterioration mechanisms. Friday requires a masonry condition-assessment exercise.

Week 2 – Wood & Carpentry: Students examine historic framing, siding, flooring, millwork, windows, doors, joinery, decay, insects, and moisture.

Week 3 – Metals, Glass & Roofing: Lessons address iron, steel, copper, lead, historic glass, slate, tile, wood shingles, and traditional roofing systems.

Week 4 – Plaster, Paint & Finishes: Students study lime plaster, gypsum, decorative plaster, historic paints, wallpapers, finishes, and methods of identifying surviving material layers.

Week 5 – Building Pathology: Daily topics include water intrusion, rising damp, condensation, settlement, cracking, corrosion, biological growth, and inappropriate repairs. Students prepare a condition survey.

Week 6 – Conservation Decisions: Students study repair versus replacement, minimum intervention, compatibility, reversibility, documentation, and when specialist intervention is necessary. The course concludes with a Historic Fabric Condition Report and examination.

HBC-202 — Historic Interiors, Furnishings & Decorative Arts

Duration: 6 Weeks

Examines the historic interior as an integrated curatorial environment.

Week 1 – Reading Historic Interiors: Students study room hierarchy, circulation, function, architectural finishes, period rooms, and evidence of changing occupancy.

Week 2 – Furniture: Lessons introduce furniture chronology, construction, woods, upholstery, provenance, reproduction furnishings, and ethical presentation.

Week 3 – Decorative Arts: Students examine ceramics, silver, glass, clocks, lighting, textiles, paintings, prints, sculpture, and domestic objects.

Week 4 – Historic Interior Finishes: Lessons cover wallpapers, paints, plaster decoration, flooring, window treatments, textiles, and historic color research.

Week 5 – Furnishing Historic Buildings: Students explore period rooms, documented interiors, conjectural furnishing, comparative evidence, inventories, photographs, and responsible use of reproductions.

Week 6 – Curatorial Interior Plan: Students design an evidence-based room presentation, including object selection, placement, interpretation, environmental concerns, and documentation. The project becomes part of the CPCHB portfolio.

HBC-301 — Documentation, Research & Collections Management

Duration: 6 Weeks

Teaches students how documentary evidence and collections records support responsible building curation.

Week 1 – Historical Research: Daily lessons cover primary versus secondary sources, deeds, maps, newspapers, photographs, correspondence, directories, census material, and institutional archives.

Week 2 – Building Documentation: Students learn measured documentation concepts, photography standards, floor-plan annotation, condition photography, field notes, and chronology.

Week 3 – Provenance: Lessons examine ownership history, object provenance, chain of custody, attribution, oral history, and evaluation of conflicting evidence.

Week 4 – Cataloging & Registration: Students practice accession numbering, catalog records, object descriptions, location tracking, inventories, loans, and deaccessioning principles.

Week 5 – Digital Collections: Topics include digital asset management, file naming, metadata, digitization, databases, backups, rights information, and preservation of digital records.

Week 6 – Documentation Project: Students produce a Historic Property Curatorial Record, including chronology, source bibliography, sample catalog records, photographic documentation, and an examination.

HBC-302 — Preservation Planning & Preventive Conservation

Duration: 6 Weeks

Moves students from identifying historic resources to planning their responsible long-term care.

Week 1 – Preservation Philosophy: Students compare preservation, conservation, rehabilitation, restoration, reconstruction, and adaptive reuse.

Week 2 – Condition Assessment: Daily exercises address inspections, condition terminology, prioritization, monitoring, photography, and reporting.

Week 3 – Preventive Conservation: Students study temperature, relative humidity, light, pollutants, pests, housekeeping, storage, object handling, and environmental monitoring.

Week 4 – Building Systems: Lessons introduce HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, security, accessibility, and the challenge of introducing modern systems into historic fabric.

Week 5 – Risk & Emergency Planning: Students examine fire, flood, storms, vandalism, theft, collections emergencies, emergency documentation, salvage priorities, and disaster-response planning.

Week 6 – Preservation Management Plan: Each student prepares a prioritized Five-Year Historic Property Preservation Plan, distinguishing routine maintenance, specialist conservation, capital work, monitoring, and emergency priorities.

HBC-401 — Interpretation, Exhibitions & Public History

Duration: 6 Weeks

Develops the ability to communicate the history and significance of historic buildings accurately and engagingly.

Week 1 – Principles of Public History: Students examine audiences, historical narratives, interpretation versus information, evidence, context, and multiple perspectives.

Week 2 – Research to Story: Daily assignments transform archival and architectural evidence into interpretive themes, supporting stories, and visitor takeaways.

Week 3 – Historic House Interpretation: Students study guided tours, self-guided experiences, period rooms, first-person and third-person interpretation, and visitor engagement.

Week 4 – Exhibitions: Lessons address exhibit objectives, object selection, labels, visual hierarchy, accessibility, reproductions, interactive media, and digital interpretation.

Week 5 – Difficult & Underrepresented Histories: Students learn methods for interpreting slavery, labor, class, race, displacement, conflict, gender, and other historically sensitive subjects through evidence-based and respectful scholarship.

Week 6 – Interpretation Project: Students create a complete Historic Building Interpretation Plan, including a central theme, visitor objectives, room-by-room interpretation, sample labels, and a short tour script.

HBC-402 — Professional Curatorial Practice & Capstone

Duration: 6 Weeks

The culminating course integrates the knowledge acquired throughout the CPCHB curriculum.

Week 1 – Curatorial Administration: Lessons cover policies, annual planning, budgets, records, contractors, consultants, volunteers, governing organizations, and institutional accountability.

Week 2 – Legal & Ethical Responsibilities: Students study ownership, loans, insurance, copyright basics, accessibility, safety, collections policies, professional boundaries, and regulatory considerations.

Week 3 – Managing Historic Properties: Students develop maintenance calendars, inspection schedules, collections routines, contractor documentation, project files, and institutional records.

Week 4 – Capstone Development: Students select a real or instructor-approved hypothetical historic building and compile its history, architectural analysis, condition information, collections strategy, preservation priorities, and interpretation plan.

Week 5 – Professional Curatorial Plan: Students complete a comprehensive Historic Building Curatorial Management Plan demonstrating competency across the entire program.

Week 6 – Certification Assessment: Days 1–2 are comprehensive review; Day 3 is the cumulative written examination; Day 4 is capstone submission and presentation; Day 5 is final evaluation and professional reflection.

CPCHB Graduation Requirements

To earn the Certificate for Professional Curator of Historical Buildings (CPCHB), a student should successfully complete all eight six-week courses, pass each course assessment, complete all eight major applied assignments, pass the cumulative CPCHB examination, and successfully complete the HBC-402 Historic Building Curatorial Management Plan.

A suggested passing standard is 70% for individual courses and 75% on the final cumulative certification assessment, with satisfactory completion of the capstone required regardless of examination score.

Credential Language

Upon successful completion, the academy could state:

Historical Preservationist Society and Academy

confers the

Certificate for Professional Curator of Historical Buildings

upon the graduate who has successfully completed the prescribed 48-week Professional Historic Building Curation curriculum and demonstrated competency in architectural history, historic building documentation, material conservation principles, historic interiors and collections, preservation planning, interpretation, and professional curatorial stewardship.

Post-Nominal Credential: CPCHB

This structure also gives you a very good foundation for creating a student handbook, individual 6-week syllabi, 100-question cumulative final examination, instructor answer key, and CPCHB capstone workbook as the next program materials.

CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL    DOCENT    OF     HISTORICAL    BULDINGS (CPDHB)

WHAT IS A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL DOCENT?

A Certified Professional Docent of Historical Buildings is a trained guide and interpreter who educates visitors about the history, architecture, people, artifacts, and cultural significance of historic homes, buildings, museums, and heritage sites. Unlike a general tour guide, a professional docent is prepared to interpret historical information accurately, explain architectural features and preservation efforts, answer visitor questions, and present engaging stories based on reliable historical research. Professional docents serve as a bridge between the historic property and the public, helping visitors understand not only what they are seeing, but why the building and its history are important to preserve.

Program Guide for Certified Professional Docent of Historical Buildings

Our academy was established organically after our charity soceity saw a need and wanr for educational accessible spaces where students of all ages could learn about the buildings, neighborhoods and so on, that make up their communities and environment.  The Historical Preservationist Soceity & Academy is Chaired by President Remy Lee Hooper, Psy-D. and co-chaired by Vice President Tamara Baucom, Secretary Dana Sherri and Executive Vice President Ronnie Bennet.  Paramount Shinghi serves as our Chief IT Officer and Dr. David Paulsen, M.D. serves as our Dean of Education.