Student Projects and Opportunities

The Heritage Area provides a variety of experienced-based, hands-on learning opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and PhD level students.

For more information on student opportunities, please visit the Center for Historic Preservation.

Dr. Spurgeon King (B.S. in History and International Affairs, Florida State University; M.A. in History/Historic Preservation, Middle Tennessee State University) worked for more than 20 years as a preservation consultant in upstate New York and recently completed his Ph.D. in Public History. King is researching the Civil War in East Tennessee and has worked on projects for the Longstreet Headquarters in Hamblen County, and the Southeast Development Distrcict's ten county Civil War driving tour.


Susan Williams Knowles (B.A. in French and Art History, Vanderbilt University; M.L.S. George Peabody College; and M.A. in Art History, Vanderbilt University) is an independent museum curator who has organized exhibitions for the Frist Center, the Tennessee State Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Knowles is continuing research on Tennessee art and architectural history and the marble industry in Tennessee.


Katherine Merzbacher (B.A. in History, Middle Tennessee State University) is passionate about the preservation of historic buildings and sites in the Southeast. Katherine has worked on several National Register of Historic Places nominations, preservation needs reports, and historic structure reports with the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation. She is currently finishing her M.A. degree in historic preservation and writing her thesis on the impact of the park and playground movements on the history and landscape design of Nashville's Centennial Park.