Andréa Livi Smith
Professor | University of Mary Washington
Fredericksburg, VA, UNITED STATES
Dr. Smith is an urban planner, preservationist and architectural historian whose research focuses on urban design and preservation.
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Biography
The past comes alive in historic Fredericksburg, but with so many cemeteries within walking distance to the University of Mary Washington, Professor of Historic Preservation Andréa Livi Smith spends a lot of time exploring final resting places for the city’s dead. Her interest has spread to UMW students, who sign up for Smith’s “Graves and Burial Grounds” course in droves.
But Smith doesn’t just teach tombstones. Her other areas of focus include industrial heritage, preservation pedagogy and gamification. At UMW, she has served as chair of the Department of Historic Preservation and director of the Center for Historic Preservation. Trained as an urban planner, preservationist and architectural historian, Smith has focused her research on the intersection of urban design, transportation and preservation. In particular, Smith studies the psychology of the built environment as well as walkability.
Smith’s courses and her professional portfolio can be found at http://andrealivismith.com.
Areas of Expertise (12)
Gamification
Graves and Burial Sites
Walkability
Preservation
Urban Design
Urban Planning
History
Architectural History
Transportation
Psychology of the Built Environment
Industrial Heritage
Preservation Pedagogy
Accomplishments (11)
Historic Fredericksburg Foundation President’s Award (professional)
2018, Presented to UMW’s Department of Historic Preservation
UMW Faculty Research Grant (professional)
2016
Digital Scholars Institute Fellow (professional)
2014
Innovative Digital Pedagogy Fellowship Award (professional)
2013
President’s Technology Advisory Council Innovation Grant (professional)
2014
College of Arts and Sciences Curricular Innovation Grant (professional)
2012
NCSG Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award (professional)
2008
UMW Faculty Research Grant (professional)
2009
Active Living Research Dissertation Grant (professional)
2006
Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship (professional)
2004, 2005 and 2006
University of Vermont Graduate College Fellowship (professional)
2001-2002
Education (3)
University of Maryland College Park: Ph.D., Urban Planning 2008
University of Vermont: M.S., Historic Preservation 2002
Brown University: A.B., Architecture Studies 1999
Affiliations (3)
- Preservation Education and Research Editorial Board
- National Council for Preservation Education
- Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts Editorial Board
Links (3)
Media Appearances (4)
UMW professors find creative ways to teach through COVID-19
Fredericksburg Today online
2020-05-04
Teaching at Mary Washington looks a bit different lately.
Fredericksburg Frejus Celebrate 35th Anniversary as Sister Cities
The Free Lance-Star print
2015-10-23
Andréa Livi Smith, chair of the University of Mary Washington's Department of Historic Preservation and a Paris native, will also present on her extensive knowledge on Paris bridges in “Bridges and Viaducts of Paris.”
Smith Presents at International Preservation Conference
Eagle Eye online
2014-10-04
Andréa Livi Smith, associate professor of historic preservation, presented at the Association of Preservation Technology International’s annual conference in Québec City on Oct. 29. She discussed the use of technology for cultural resource data collection in preservation. Her peer reviewed talk, translated live into French and Spanish, highlighted the survey site developed on the UMWBlogs platform with Martha Burtis of DTLT, and its application for the capstone preservation course.
Honors Students Explore Washington, D.C., Architecture
Eagle Eye online
In August 2014, incoming UMW Honors Scholars participated in a common reading experience, reading the book “The Devil in the White City” by Eric Larson. To expand on the theme of the planning and architecture of the Chicago’s World’s Fair, Andrea Smith, Department of Historic Preservation, led the fall field for the honors program on Oct. 4, 2014.
Event Appearances (1)
Guerilla Art and Historic Resources
Urban Affairs Association Conference Toronto, Canada
2018-04-05
Articles (5)
A Practical Cultural Resource Survey Tool for Preservation
APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation TechnologyAndréa Livi Smith and Martha Burtis
2017-01-01
Background Data collection in historic preservation is crucial. No intervention should take place without thorough documentation. In cases where a resource will be demolished, documentation is not just a step but the outcome. While not as obviously important, data …
A DIY campus preservation plan: lessons learned at the University of Mary Washington
Planning for Higher EducationAndréa Livi Smith and Michael Spencer
2012-01-01
The University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, was founded in 1908. This article describes the process that led to the UMW preservation plan. Unlike most preservation plans, the UMW plan was developed in-house with limited funds. Furthermore, the catalyst for the plan was a grassroots effort on the part of students and alumni to prevent widespread demolition on campus as laid out in a proposed campus master plan. The article will recount the events that led to the preservation plan; describe its integration with the campus master plan; and discuss the opportunities, challenges, and luck that can make a collaborative process fruitful or futile.
Neither a Toddler Nor a Stick-in-the-Mud
Journal of Museum EducationAndréa Livi Smith
2011-01-01
The goal of this paper is to express the views from the “outside,” from laypeople who want to go to museums, but perhaps find themselves not going very often. Adult visitors to history museums are often treated as either toddlers or sticks-in-the-mud, where they are assumed to break anything they touch, or enjoy didactic lectures. As a result, many have come to expect little interactivity, or worse, “edutainment.” Yet it does not have to be this way; interactivity can be encouraged without resorting to dumbing-down content. This requires both inventiveness and motivation to go beyond the status quo, but it is a worthwhile goal in order to attract the new generations of museum-goers.
Contribution of Perceptions in Analysis of Walking Behavior
Transportation Research RecordAndréa Smith
2009-01-01
Researchers have recently begun to include psychosocial factors such as mental maps, social supports, and perceptions in analyses of travel behavior. Indeed, these subjective factors are distinct from the environment as measured objectively and might provide more insight regarding travel decisions. This study investigates the relationships between residents' perceptions of their neighborhood environment and corresponding objective measures of the same attributes and ultimately tests their influence on walking behavior. This cross-sectional, disaggregate research design incorporates three major categories of data: (a) objective measures of the environment, (b) residents' perceptions and attitudes about the environment, and (c) walking behavior data. Six indices representing major features of the environment are constructed from both the objective and perceptual measures. The analysis, which consists of models of walking behavior, reveals that walking behavior is associated with the environment both when measured through perceptions and objectively but that different aspects of the environment are significant from either perspective. These findings point to the need for more research into the influence that psychosocial factors have on travel behavior.
The development and testing of an audit for the pedestrian environment
Landscape and Urban PlanningKelly J. Clifton, Andréa D. Livi Smith, Daniel A. Rodriguez
2007-03-01
Recognizing the need for consistent, reliable, and efficient methods to collect information about the walking environment, the authors have developed and tested a complete environmental audit methodology—the Pedestrian Environmental Data Scan (PEDS). In this paper, the development of the audit methodology is presented, including the design of the instrument, the creation of training and supporting materials, administration, and integration with handheld technology. Various tests of inter- and intra-rater reliability of our instrument have been conducted, including individual audit measures and various approaches to administering the audit. The results indicate high reliability for most measures and confirmed administration procedures. The PEDS audit methodology provides a comprehensive method to evaluate pedestrian environments for academics involved with transportation and physical activity research as well as practitioners seeking to an assessment tool for prioritizing investments.
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