Conservation + Stewardship
The Conservation and Stewardship concentration in the Master of Architecture program has three goals: To expand local knowledge through topical research, to document the physical environment and the human effect on these environments, and to disseminate that documented knowledge to educate future practitioners and scholars, and the public at-large.
Focusing on the local and regional characteristics of urban and landscape design provides a direct link to the College and University mission.
Students engage a wide range of disciplines that share common interests; a multi-disciplinary, inter-collegiate locus of research and public service projects that operates across colleges, across campuses, across the state and region.
The Conservation and Stewardship concentration promotes and produces knowledge and techniques in the restoration and regeneration of a wide array of cultural artifacts. Broadly based in the arts and the sciences, the Conservation and Stewardship concentration focuses on collaborative research and coursework – in particular on the relationships between the design disciplines and their effect on both built and natural environments. Owing to the growing global concern for sustainable and regenerative responses to designed and natural environments, the coursework explores the processes and systems that affect both local and global responses to contemporary issues of public policy.
The Conservation and Stewardship Concentration offers opportunities for topical study such as
- Sustainable Urban and Rural Landscapes
- TVA and Public Policy
- Cultural Resource Conservation and Development
- Architectural Preservation

Course Requirements
Required of all Master of Architecture students in concentration:
ARCH 525 Research Methods
Six Credits from the following:
ARCH 505 History and Theory of Architectural Stewardship (3)
ARCH 508 Preservation Technology (3)
ARCH 530 History of American Architecture
ARCH 533 Introduction to Preservation (3)
ARCH 586 Adv Arch Des: Sustainable Arch (6)
ARCH 590 Adv Arch Des: Special Topics (6)
ARCH 599 Design VII: Diploma Thematic Studio (6)
ARCH 525 Special Topics in Architecture (1-3)
LAR 501 Introduction to Sustainable Design (3)
LAR 503 + 504 Landscape Architecture: Histories and Theories I + II
Up to 3 Elective credits may be from:
ARCH 526 Directed Readings in Architecture (3)
ARCH 591 Foreign Study
ARCH 593 Independent Study (1-9)
LAR 515 Directed Readings in Landscape Architecture (3)
Of the six elective credit hours, 3 credits may be from approved courses in other departments, such as:
ART
- ART 481 – Museum Studies I: Museums, Purpose and Function
ANTHROPOLOGY
- ANTH 510 – Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology
CLASSICS
- CLAS 436 – Cities and Sanctuaries of the Greek and Roman World
GEOGRAPHY
- GEOG 410 – Global Positioning Systems and Geographic Data
- GEOG 411 – Introduction to Geographic Information Science
- GEOG 421 – Geography of Folk Societies
HISTORY
- HIST 642 – Seminar in 19th-Century United States
- HIST 643 – Seminar in 20th-Century United States
IINTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS
- WOST 548 – Transforming Critical Thinking: Constructive Thinking and Educational Implications
POLITICAL SCIENCE
- POLS 548 – Public Policy Process
- POLS 549 – Environmental Policy
- POLS 556 – Policy Analysis
Optional Course (Master of Architecture Student only):
ARCH 500* Thesis (directly related to CS topic as approved by committee)