Teaching

Management of Cultural Heritage Sites:
Tourism, Archaeology, and Preservation in the Postmodern World

HISP678
Email for class schedule

Dr. Douglas C. Comer
Elizabeth A. Comer

Telephone: 410-243-2626
Fax: 410-243-8383
Email: dcomer@culturalsite.org

This course will provide students with a basic knowledge of current internationally accepted approaches to the management of historic and cultural sites. The cornerstone of this course is that successful management must be guided by those qualities that render a cultural site significant. The relationship between site significance and site values, management objectives, site operations, site development, staffing, training, interpretation, maintenance, visitor protection and safety, tourism, marketing, site monitoring, and relationships with local business and population groups will be explained.

The course is geared to those who have or will have responsibilities for the management of cultural sites. Internationally known experts will speak on appropriate topics. Class members will participate in the development of a carrying capacity study for a cultural site near the College Park campus as a vehicle with which to engage the gamut of site management issues. Carrying capacity studies, a long established management tool within the U.S. National Park Service, attempt to answer the question of how much public use is appropriate in order to sustain a site economically while avoiding degradation of the visitor experience and damage to site resources.

Course Requirements

This course will be conducted as a seminar. Students will be expected to review certain assigned readings and to participate in classroom discussions. Grades will be determined as follows:

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