SYLLABUS: Introduction to Public History
Description
This upper level undergraduate course serves as an introduction to the field of public history. Public history is a profession, a set of methodologies and skills, and a way of engaging the past in which the historian is in direct dialogue and partnership with the public. Public historians work in museums, historical societies, state and federal government, businesses, archives, preservation offices, cultural resource management firms, universities, and other settings in which the public encounters the past. In the course, students complete readings, participate in discussions, and undertake hands-on work that begins their engagement with the field of public history. Students become familiar with major debates that engage public historians; the professional workplaces of public historians; and the ways in which practitioners accomplish their goals of making the past accessible to public audiences and working in partnership with the stakeholders they serve.
