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This course offers a wide-ranging introduction to the history and practice of historic preservation, with a particular focus on the field’s development within the United States, from the Enlightenment to the present. Through historical and contemporary case studies, students will explore how historic preservation moved from a niche or countercultural concern to a matter of national interest, as well as how preservation intersects with broader issues of cultural politics, environmental sustainability, land use planning, international relations, and civil society. Using lectures, readings, research assignments, and debates, the course will situate the American preservation movement within the global context of cultural heritage theory, practice, and institutions, and ask how an understanding of the discipline’s history can contribute to new ways of thinking about and practicing preservation.