Summer 2023: Heritage and Housing on Nantucket

June 12 – August 6, 2023

The Preservation Institute Nantucket (PIN) is a summer program run by the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation program. PIN introduces students to methodologies of cultural heritage conservation/preservation through research, documentation, community engagement and stewardship of communities of global significance.

The Island of Nantucket, a National Historic Landmark, illustrates the multitude of challenges threatening many historic communities, including sea level rise and regular flooding, balancing tourism with heritage, loss of historic materials, and unexplored cultural narratives. PIN students are involved in and exposed to projects that reflect the multi-disciplinary nature of historic preservation. Students learn from PIN faculty, practicing architects, preservationists, conservators, urban planners, real estate developers, urban designers, lawyers, and advocates through work with existing buildings, materials, documentation, archival research, site surveys, stakeholder interviews, and public presentations.

Additionally, for the 2023 summer, the program will investigate the history of how people have lived on the island, how industry shifts have impacted housing, and will look for ways that history can inform potential solutions for the current issues of rising housing costs and availably for year-round residents. Students will study the intersection of heritage and housing at multiple scales, from the evolution of architectural housing types to the development of urban form and neighborhoods. Archival, architectural and urban research will encompass the 17^th century to the present. Resources will include but aren’t limited to: archival research, historic drawings, census data, inspection and assessment of existing residential and multi-use buildings, maps and plans, etc. Students from all disciplines are encouraged to attend and contribute to the interdisciplinary, complex project to understand how history can positively inform contemporary decision-making.

PIN is open to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students from any institution across the world.