Master of Architectural History

Drawing on our award-winning faculty’s wide-ranging expertise, the Master of Architectural History will equip you with foundational knowledge, transformative experiences, and critical skills that will prepare you for wide-ranging future paths. Our students join a vibrant community of students who come to the program with varied backgrounds and experiences, whether transitioning directly from undergraduate studies or returning to school after successful careers.

Our aim is to provide the opportunity for you to build on pas experiences, while encouraging you to develop new competencies, to ask probing questions, to experiment with cutting-edge technologies in digital heritage and digital humanities, to hone your voice through original research and writing, and to shape your graduate education to best support your own interests and aspirations.

Our core courses encourage you to understand key methods and theoretical approaches, to explore buildings and landscapes through hands-on fieldwork and documentation, to experiment with digital technologies to record existing sites and to catalyze new interpretations. We take full advantage of the unique opportunities offered by our proximity to two UNESCO World Heritage sites––the University of Virginia’s Academical Village and Monticello–––which serve as living laboratories, alongside numerous historic sites in and around Charlottesville. At the same time, the courses and study abroad opportunities that we offer open windows onto the history of cities, buildings, and landscapes around the world.

The MArH program provides the opportunity to hone core competencies in architectural history that prepare you for a wide range of future career possibilities––from public history and historic preservation to curatorial roles in leading cultural institutions or careers in academia, research, and publishing. At the same time, you are invited to take advantage of rich offerings in the Architectural History Department, across the School of Architecture, and within the broader University.

The thesis represents the culminating experience in the program and a major focus of your energies during the second year. Often students begin research for the thesis during the summer between the first and second years of the program, and many have been supported in this effort with grants available through the department and other funding sources at UVA. The thesis is a work of significant original research developed in close dialogue with a faculty advisor and two additional committee members.

36 CREDITS Minimum

The Master of Architectural History (MArH) is a 2-year graduate degree with a minimum of 36 credits at the graduate level. Typically students take credits beyond the 36 required during their four semesters of residency, generally attaining 48 credits by the end of the program.

Required Courses

Historic Preservation Certificate

Many students in the Master of Architectural History program choose to simultaneously pursue the Historic Preservation Certificate. The requirements for both the MArH degree and the Historic Preservation Certificate can easily be completed within two years

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Public History Fellowships

The Architectural History Department is delighted to launch our new Public History Fellowship program in Fall 2024!

We seek to bring new energy and dynamism to the public experience of historic sites––from house museums and main streets, to courthouse squares and former plantation landscapes––by equipping a new generation of graduate students with the experience, knowledge, and creativity to bring often overlooked histories and multiple perspectives to life at sites across Virginia.

As part of the application process for the Master of Architectural History program, we invite applicants to express their interest in joining this new cohort of Public History Fellows. The anchor of this exciting new program will be the opportunity to pursue a paid summer internship interning at a historic site and developing new place-based public programming for that site.

Successful applicants for the Public History Fellowships will be offered additional funding during their two-year Master of Architectural History program, which includes a $10,000 stipend for each of their two years of graduate training (in addition to any regularly awarded merit aid) as well as $6000 to support a summer internship at a local history site in Virginia.

Public History Fellows will work with the program director (Louis Nelson) to identify an appropriate partnership site. Once the site is selected and agreed upon by the program director and the site’s executive director, the Public History Fellow will spend time during their first year in the MArH program building trust with the site staff and learning more about its potentials, opportunities, and needs. They will also take a course introducing students to public history and the public humanities.

During the summer, each Public History Fellow will complete an internship at the partner site. The internship will culminate in a public program that the Fellow will deliver once at the end of the summer, but that can also become an ongoing part of the site’s regular programming. The Fellow will return to the site at least twice through the course of their second year, offering the program for local community organizations and working with a videographer to complete a short documentary on their experience.

Dual Degrees

Any potential Master of Architectural History student can apply for a dual degree in Landscape Architecture, Architecture, or Urban and Environmental Planning.

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Fifth-Year Master of Architectural History Program

The Architectural History Department offers a direct path to receiving a Master of Architectural History (MArH) for its qualified undergraduate majors. Students must meet a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 to be eligible.

Current students who are interested in the fifth-year MArH should meet with the Architectural History Undergraduate Director when planning their courses for their third year. We encourage you to complete your undergraduate thesis during the fall semester of your fourth year (before the MArH application deadline in early January).

Admitted students should meet with the Architectural History Graduate Director to develop a plan for submitting a draft graduate thesis proposal in the spring semester of your fourth year. Those students interested in also obtaining the Historic Preservation Certificate should consult with the director of that program.

A minimum of 30 credit hours of graduate-level courses is required in order to complete the Fifth-Year MArH degree. Students graduating with credits beyond the 120 required for the Bachelor of Architectural History may be able to transfer in some graduate courses for graduate-level (5000-level) courses already taken.