Introduction courses in architectural history are often surveys covering long periods of time and/or geographic areas. Renaissance and baroque architecture, Asian architecture, and modern American architecture are typical course types. In class, students review examples of architecture through pictures and site visits, and they study the historical context in which the architecture developed. They learn about the architects and other individuals who influenced design and innovation. An architectural drawing and/or design course is typically included, as is a course in historic preservation. At the graduate level, students specialize in a specific genre.
Architectural history majors learn and use visual analysis and writing skills regularly. They understand how to read architectural plans and how and when various building materials are used. They learn historical research techniques to uncover building construction dates and details. Some also are trained in preservation techniques, which include building materials analysis and construction trades.
Ten schools offer architectural history as an undergraduate major, including the University of Virginia, Cornell, Brown, and Barnard. Dozens of other universities and colleges offer an undergraduate degree in art history, in which students may concentrate in architectural history. At the graduate level, there is at least one university in every part of the country that offers architectural history degrees. More than a dozen, including Brown, Yale, Cornell, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton, are concentrated in the Northeast.
Students who major in architectural history look for jobs teaching at the university level and as architectural historians in government jobs, for environmental firms (studying impacts on historic architecture), and for architectural firms specializing in historic preservation. Large newspapers, such as "The New York Times" and "San Francisco Chronicle" employ architectural critics. With an undergraduate degree in architectural history, a student might go on to get a related graduate degree in urban planning, architectural design, historic preservation, or real estate and find employment in any of those fields.
Skills learned in studying architectural history, particularly writing skills, are transferable to many other disciplines. An architectural historian could easily become a travel writer specializing in the built environments of cities all over the world. And the appreciation of architecture can be a lifelong pleasure that extends beyond the confines of school and job.