Cultural Heritage Studies Master's Program (with Thesis) (M.S., 1 - 2 Years)

This course aims to provide the students with knowledge and skills related to value assessment of heritage buildings and sites. The methods and techniques of recording, information management, historic research and comparative study will be discussed. The importance and contribution of documentation and value/problem assessments for the conservation decision making process will be the main concern of this course. At the end of the course the student will be able to document a heritage building or site, make a deep research on the historical and architectural features and problems of a heritage building or site and will be able to make assessments on the values and problems of the cultural heritage in different scales. The student will be able to make evaluation and synthesis on the values and problems which will be the base for the conservation decisions.

This workshop will get students to be involved with historical, physical, social, cultural, legal and economic aspects of building conservation. Awareness of the need of interdisciplinary teamwork and contribution of team members of different disciplinary background will be experienced through case studies and discussions. Within this workshop, they will get a comprehensive understanding of values, problems and potentials as a part of the multidisciplinary conservation process. At the end of the course they will be able to document and evaluate the building and prepare conservation and management proposals.

The aim of the course is to help students to arrive at a clear understanding of the concepts and practices that define the field and to promote a strong expertise and perspective on it. Considering the complex understanding of Heritage issues, the course will explore the contemporary philosophy and theory of conservation as basis and framework of conservation, restoration and preservation theory and practice in the globalized world. The activities proposed within this course will include specified introduction to the scientific development in the area, examining selected examples and case studies both with the existing corpus of scientific studies and documents; identifying and developing ideas and visions; establishing an integrated theoretical basis for examining the growth of world heritage and its relationship to human rights and cultural rights and the ideas of cultural landscape and historic urban landscape.

The course aims to introduce different structural systems and material use in the construction of historic buildings in Mediterranean geography, with special emphasis on their decay and deterioration problems. Masonry and skeletal historic historic buildings, as well as the periodical / geographical / local techniques and materials employed in construction of different building types; and the damages occurred in these buildings, will be examined throughout the course. Basic characteristics of traditional materials (i.e. stone, brick, adobe and timber), their performance and decay forms will be shortly explained. Factors causing damage and decay in historic buildings; such as natural causes (i.e. earthquakes and floods), weathering and/or human-made actions, are discussed on case based examples together with their possible sources. At the end of the course, the students are expected to develop skills in identifying the structural features and material characteristics of a historic building; and to make diagnostic studies to define the types of damage and/or decay and their possible causes to propose some preliminary proposals for the conservation of the studied historic building.