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A selection of thesis & dissertation topics from recent graduates...
Class of 2007
Modernization and Urban Monastic Space in Rattanakosin City: Comparative Study of Three Royal Wats. (Ph.D. Dissertation)

This dissertation is about the changing physical conditions and social meanings of royal Buddhist monastic complexes (wat) in the Rattanakosin Historic District from the beginning of the Bangkok period to the 1997 economic crisis.

 

Class of 2006

Sound, a Characteristic Feature of Historic Places: Listening in Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, PA.
"The Black Church: Community Development as a Step Toward
Freedom, Equality and Justice."

This thesis explored the central role that the black church has played in the black community, especially as a main institution that has helped African-Americans gain freedom, equality and justice. Through looking at the history, theology, and past actions of the black church this thesis provided a discussion that broadened the understanding of why and how the black church had mobilized the black population into using community development and revitalization within their neighborhoods.

Tibetan Buddhist Architecture in North America - Focus: New York State
Stefanie Noble The Furniture Industry in Herkimer, New York
The Preservation of Fenway Park: Power, Politics, and Persuasion.

Class of 2005
Cast and Wrought: The Cast Iron Architecture of Rochester, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Saving the Acme Coke Plant; Preservation on Chicago's Southeast Side.
“Hurricane and Tidal Flooding Mitigation Plan for Cultural and Historic Resources of Long Island’s South Shore Estuary Reserve.”

This thesis addresses the need for the development of a pre-disaster mitigation plan for historic and cultural resources located in Long Island, New York’s South Shore Estuary. As the forces of nature have created through time this unique estuarine community, they also have the power to severely alter and destroy its irreplaceable cultural heritage. A regional mitigation plan, to include all municipal governments within the South Shore Estuary Reserve, will lessen the devastating effects that coastal disasters can potentially have upon historic waterfront buildings and sites. The primary goal of this thesis is to provide the South Shore Estuary Reserve with a planning process for the creation of safe and sustainable historic waterfront communities within the region.

My topic examined the former synagogues of Washington Heights, which have all been either demolished or converted to Christian houses of worship, within the past 30 years. How one denomination utilizes a sacred space of another group is illuminating, both as a means of studying religious and cultural iconography, but also how religious architecture is especially vulnerable to inappropriate alterations. The widespread conversion and reuse of the synagogues in this formerly Jewish neighborhood also indicated the lack of national attention to the documentation and preservation of American synagogues.

Class of 2004
Historic Interior Documentation, a case study.
Glen Builders: Examining the Contributions of the Civilian
Conservation Corps to the State Parks of Tompkins County, New York.
Thesis Title: A History Worth Saving: The Palace of Fine Arts and the
Interpretation of History on a Reconstructed Site.
Exploring the source : Chicago’s south district water filtration plant as a case study of the significance of water works in the development of our cities.

Class of 2003
A Rehabilitation Plan for Buffalo State Hospital, Buffalo NY.
Planning and Maintaining the Ideal Community: The History and Preservation of Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, PA.


The following list of titles represent examples of both Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations since the late 1970s...
Comparing and contrasting the movements to preserve Comisky Park and Wrigley Field in Chicago; analysis of why one effort failed and one succeeded. A critical analysis of Revere Beach Reservation, its preservation efforts and future plans. Chatauqua Institution: Historic Preservation Issues and Plans.
The New York State Farmer's Museum and the Interpretation of Rural Life. The History of A-Frame Houses. Analysis of the National Trust's Urban Main Street Program.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its impacts/effects on historic preservation. Street design (streets that are sympathetic to their surroundings). Drive-in theaters.
Alternatives to gentrification in historic working class neighborhoods. Interpreting the Graniteville Textile Mill and Village. Preservation of Quaker meetinghouses : an approach to achieving more effective preservation plans for religious communities. 
A Most Fortunate Agricultural Revolution: A Study of the Relationship Between Silos and Dairy Farming in Ohio. The "Knowledgeization" of the Traditional Urban Core: Preservation in the New Economy. Re-Educating Desire: The Challenges and Opportunities of the Adaptive Use of America's Downtown Department Stores.
"Worthy of The Past Before It: The History of Urban Planning in Morgantown, North Carolina and Recommendations for it Preservation and Revitalization" "Something is Brewing in the Bronx: A History and Rehabilitation Plan for the Ebling Brewery" "Factories of Glass: Development of the Modern Commercial Greenhouse, 1880-1930"
"The Economic Feasibility of Historic Rehabilitation in the 1990s: A Case Study for Syracuse, New York" "Decorative Leaded Glass Windows in American Buildings" "Churches as Effective Partners in Community Revitalization: New Initiatives for Building Restoration and Community Involvement"
"The Enumeration and Analysis of Urban Building Stocks: A Proposed Technique Applied to Ithaca, New York" "C.R. Ashbee in America: An Englishman's Observations on the Arts and Crafts Movement, Architecture and Culture, 1896-1916" "An Examination of Cultural Resources Databases: Guidelines of Computerizing Local Inventories"
"The Influence of the Changing Nature of the Household on Domestic Architecture, 1890-1920; Case Study - Bryant Park, Ithaca, New York" "Photography and Preservation in the Nineteenth Century: Two Case Studies" "An Historic Preservation Plan for Pre-World War II Amusement Parks"
"What Can't Go Up, Can't Go Down: The History of American Airport Policy, Planning and Design" "A Historic District Proposal for the Lachine Canal, Montreal" "The States Open the Suburbs to the Poor: Innovative Affordable Housing Legislation in Massachusetts and New Jersey"
"Public and Private Planning Techniques for Rural Conservation" "The Friendship Sloop of Muscongus Bay, Maine: Design, Development and Preservation" "The Carriage House of the 1890 House Museum, Cortland, New York: A Plan for its Adaptive Use"
"Urban Planning in Rio de Janeiro: A Study of the Urban Redevelopment Plan During the Passos Administration: 1902-1906" "The Planning and Development of Turner Falls, Massachusetts" "Earthen Wall Construction in the Eastern United States"
"New Towns and Regional Development in the Northwestern Frontier of the State of Sao Paulo, 1890-1950" "Where Art is Combined With Nature: Village Improvements in 19th Century New England" "Henry K. Murphy, an American Architect in China, 1914-1935"
"Decay of Wood in Building: Causes, Prevention and Control" "Lansingdorp, Watertown, New York: A Case Study of Government Housing During World War II" "Urban Neighborhoods: Community Power and Strategies: The Case of Mission Hill, Boston, Massachusetts"
"Preserving the Archeological Record: Post-Excavation On-site Conservation" "The City Cemetery, Ithaca, New York: 1790-1890" "Scott & Welsh: The History of a Utah Architectural Firm, 1914-1938"
"Beatty & Strang, 1930-1941: The Problems of Modernism in American Architectural Practice" "Hurricane Bob at the Mystic Seaport Museum" "Mechanizing the American Kitchen"
"A Contextual Analysis of Late Nineteenth Century Potteries" "The Adirondack Camp of the Last Quarter Century of the Nineteenth Century:  A Wilderness Architecture" "A First Ward Neighborhood in Binghamton, New York: A Preservation Planning Study"
"A Plan for Mount Pleasant: An Improvement Guide for a Schenectady, New York Neighborhood" "John Nolen and the Planning of New Towns: Three Case Studies" "The National Historic Preservation Program, 1957-1969"
"Forging a Future for an Old Blacksmith Shop: An Adaptive Reuse Proposal" "Case Study: The Evolution of Historic Preservation in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Strategies for Improved Preservation Planning Services" "Ornament: its Use on the Skyscraper in the 1920s"
"Industrial Architecture in South Bend, Indiana" "Charles Babcock: Architect, Educator and Churchman" "Splendid   Survivors: Horse Racing Stable Construction, Saratoga Springs, New York, 1840-1913"
"A Proposal for a Historic Preservation Income Tax Deduction for the State of Delaware" "Architectural Relationships: Changing Ideas About Architecture in the Encyclopedia, 1750-1776" "Assessment of the Conservation Easement as a Tool for Historic Viewshed Preservation"
"The Interrelationship Between the Typewriter Industry and the Cortland-Groton Area of Central New York State" Historic Architectural and Aesthetic Resources and Environmental Impact Statements: A Case Study of the Downtown Cultural District, Rochester, New York" "A Proposal for the Adaptive Reuse of Parrott Hall, A State Historic Site in Geneva, New York"
"The Auditorium and Akron plans: Reflections of a Half-Century of American Protestantism" "Energy Conservation Retrofitting for Historic Structures" "An Examination of Three Historic Preservation Organizations in Ithaca, New York"
"From Tents to Triple-Wides: Mobile Homes and Their Place in the American Landscape" "Hillcroft Farm: An historic Structures Report" "A Rehabilitation Plan for Roberts, East Roberts and Stone Halls"
"Graining in America: 1823-1923" "The History of the Central Artery Expressway, Boston, Massachusetts, 1907-1990" "Radiographic Inspection of Plank House Construction"
"High Technology Firms in New York: A Contribution to the Job Creation Debate" "Revitalizing the Avon Theatre as Part of a Downtown Improvement Plan for Canastota, New York" "Bryant Fleming, Landscape Architect: residential Design, 1905-1935"
"Understanding Small Town History and Character as an Aid to Preservation Planning" "Temporal Planning Tools: A Framework for the Use of Temporal Geographic Information Systems in Urban and Regional Planning" "A History of Slate in the United States, 1734-1988"
"The Effect of the Erie Canal on Building and Planning in Syracuse, Palmyra, Rochester and Lockport, New York" "A Preservation Planning Study for the north End Waterfront of Boston, Massachusetts" "Green and Wicks Architect: Residential Designs, 1881-1913"
"Preservation of Historic Views" "Conversion of Pier 30, Philadelphia, to Residential and Commercial Use" "The U.S. Capitol Ground: Preservation of an Olmsted Landscape"
"An Approach to Planning in the Small Town" "The Adaptive Reuse of the Longfellow School in Madison, Wisconsin" "Nineteenth Century Hop House in Oneida County, New York"
"Downtown Revitalization: Johnson City, New York" "Gardens, Houses and People: The Planning of Roland Park, Baltimore, Maryland" "Old Faithful Inn and Its Legacy: The Vernacular Transformed"
"A Survey of Damage to Historic Buildings and an Evaluation of Disaster Response Measures Following the Cape Mendocino Earthquakes of April 1992" "Automating 'Blue Forms': A Micro-Computer Application in Historic Preservation" "Sign of the Star: Walter Dorwin Teague and the Texas Company, 1934-1937"
"The Feasibility of Rehabilitating Gouverneur Hospital for Housing" "Historic Resources in the Context of the California Environmental Quality Act: Three Case Studies" "East Boston and the Back Bay: A Comparative Study of Two Large Scale Expansion Projects in Boston"
"A History of Mass Transit Planning in Boston, Atlanta and Dallas" "Design Guidelines for the Sympathetic Conversation of Single-Family Residences to Multi-Family Residences" "Builder as Technical Innovator: Orlando Norcross & the Beamless Flat Slab"
"People, Politics and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Historic Preservation in Philadelphia, 1942-1992" "Urban History for Preservation Planning: The Annapolis Experience" "Architects of Standing: Pierce and Bickford, 1890-1930"
"Frank Lloyd Wright's Sugarloaf Mountain 'Automobile Objective' Project" "A Plan for the Reuse of the Baptist Church, Manlius, New York" "French Influence on the Architecture of Guarino Guarini"
"Guarino Guarini's Church of San Lacenzo in Turin" "Downtown Washington, D.C.: Feasibility of a Transfer of Developments Rights Scheme" "The Water-Cure in Watkins Glen, New York, 1870-1990"
"Cypress Hills: To Build a Future; A Development History and Historic Preservation Analysis of a Brooklyn Neighborhood" "Exterior Building Colors as an Aspect of Historicity" "Farm as Factory: Round barns and the Search for an Ideal Form for the Michigan Dairy Farm"
"The History of Urban and Architectural Development of the Walled City of Lahors" "Heller House, Ithaca, New York: A Preservation Plan" "The Adaptive Restoration of Hyde Hall, Cooperstown, New York"
"Parks, Progressivism and Planning: A History of the Nineteenth Century Parks Movement" "Central park, 1851-1871: Urbanization and Environmental Planning in New York City" "The Use of the Historic Preservation Provisions of the 1976 Tax Reform Act: A Case Study of Providence, Rhode Island"
"Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council: The United States Supreme Court, The Fifth Amendment Takings Clause, and Legal Implications for Historic Preservation Demolition Ordinances" "A Study of the Groton Iron Bridge Company and the Preservation of America's Historic Metal truss Bridges" "Fascadism: Understanding the Politics of the Preservation Process"
"The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church: A Late Work of Frank Lloyd Wright" "Popular and Professional American Architectural Literature in the Late 19th Century" "'Every building is accurately represented...' A Study of Lithographed Birds-Eye Views"
"The History and Design of Specialized Architecture: Cheese Factories in Central New York" The Fowler Block in Canastota, New York: A Scheme for Its Use" "The Influence of National Register of Historic Places Listing of Historic Districts on Local Preservation Planning"
"The Historic American Merchant Marine Survey" "Editing Architecture: Architectural Record and the Growth of Modern Architecture, 1928-1938" "Accommodating the Traveler: the Development of the Tourist Cabin Court on U.S. Route 20 on New York State Between 1925-1955"
"The Development of the Wooden Boat Building Industry on the St. Lawrence River in Jefferson County, New York" "Surplus Public Buildings: Strategies to Encourage Adaptive Reuse by the Private Sector" "Evaluating Downtown Housing in Washington, D.C. Under the Downtown Development District Plan"
"Ornamental Garden Design : The Rise of Floricultural Publications and the role of James Vick, Rochester Seed
House Owner"
"Popular and Professional American Architectural Literature in the Late Nineteenth Century" "Drugstore Wars: How Mega-chain Drugstores are Destroying the Nation's Historic Fabric"
"An Urban Design Strategy for the Redevelopment of Tataocheng, Taipei, Taiwan" "Planning and Maintaining the Ideal Community:  The History and Preservation of Chatham Village,
Pittsburgh, PA"
and many more!

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