How to Become a Architectural Historian

Architectural historians objectively study past feats of building innovation. Historians with backgrounds in architecture and public history have helped shed light on the origins of cathedrals and homes. You can become an architectural historian through rigorous study throughout your career.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Kit for handling fragile documents

1. Search for a university that offers a Bachelor's of Arts degree in history with a focus on architectural studies. You should spend some time at the undergraduate level taking architecture, art history and engineering courses to build an extensive knowledge of design fundamentals.

2. Advance your career as an architectural historian by completing a Master's degree and doctorate in public history. Public historians learn research, preservation and writing skills to keep memories of past architecture alive.

3. Promote your studies of architectural history through academic journals and websites. Your research into classic cathedrals, public squares and government offices can be presented to your peers through quarterly journals. It is wise to keep a blog with daily updates on your progress to keep your research methods transparent.

4. Share your knowledge of architectural history with the next generation of intellectuals through university teaching. A position as a professor at a local university allows you to build credibility in the academic community while you train future colleagues in the classroom.

5. Seek internships and employment with historical preservation societies to become a professional historian. Your skills at identifying photos of old buildings and hunting down official documents can help save a historically important building from destruction.

6. Compile applications for government positions at the state and federal level for architectural historians. Agencies dealing with regional planning, environmental protection and maintaining the nation's historical structures look for qualified historians for research positions.

7. Write out a list of the major monuments, architectural attractions and sites you want to see before you begin your career. Your world travels to historic sections of New York City, Paris and Tokyo will make you conversant on a wider range of topics in conversations with your peers.

Tips & Warnings

• Absorb information on building techniques going back to the founding of a city as part of your historical studies. You can find instructional documents in local archives and practice these techniques on a smaller scale to give you a look at antiquated processes.
• Study the right way to handle old schematics, documents and photos as you become an architectural historian. A travel kit including cotton gloves, plastic bags, tweezers, a pencil and note pad will help you deal with fragile documents.

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