Peter Dedek
Professor and Coordinator, Public History Program
Office: TMH 206
Email: pdedek@txstate.edu
Phone: 512.245.3042
Educational Background:
- Doctor of Arts: 2002 Middle Tennessee State University | History with a Concentration in Historic Preservation
- Master of Arts: 1993 Cornell University | Interior Design with Emphasis in Design History
- Certificate: 1994 University of New Orleans | Historic Preservation
- Bachelor of Science: 1989 Cornell University | Interior Design and Housing (individual curriculum)
- Bachelor of Arts: 1986 Potsdam College | English
Recent Research Topics:
History of New Orleans cemeteries, History of nineteenth and twentieth-century American female interior decorators, Authenticity in historic sites, Historic highways and roadside architecture of the twentieth-century West.
Dr. Dedek's research focuses on cultural histories of the historic built environment and landscapes, exploring the meanings of significant places, historic architecture, and popular icons from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Bridging theoretical study and the practical work of public history and historic preservation, he integrates cultural history, public history, and historic preservation in his writing.
At Texas State, he teaches history of design and architecture, historic preservation, and American history courses.
Select Publications
Peter B. Dedek, The Cemeteries of New Orleans: A Cultural History, Baton Rouge: The Louisiana State University Press (2017).
Peter B. Dedek, Historic Preservation for Designers, New York: Fairchild Books, (2014).
Peter B. Dedek, Hip to the Trip: A Cultural History of Route 66, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press (2007).