HIST 505 Public History

This course is a graduate level introduction to the different types of public history. The course also focuses on the role and theories of public history and the challenges public historians face in today’s world.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

This course will provide an tntroduction to public history, answering the question: what is public history? For the purpose of this course, we will define public history by the following guidelines:

1. History that is conducted in public settings.
2. History that engages with public audiences or communities.
3. History that addresses contemporary public issues or problems.
4. History that mediates between the specialized knowledge of professional historians and the interests, desires, needs, and expectations of different publics.

Weekly readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Article Review Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit a 2-page, single-spaced review in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins, analyzing and evaluating the arguments of all of the assigned articles in the Learn material for Module 1: Week 1. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

Archival Website Review Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit a 1-page, single-spaced review in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins, analyzing and evaluating one of the listed archival websites or an archival website that has been approved in advance by the instructor. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

Quiz: Site Approval

During this course, the student will submit a historical site for the Historical Tourism: Project through the Quiz: Site Approval for approval by the instructor.

Oral History Interview Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit a transcript of an oral history interview of a friend or family member along with a 1-paragraph reflection and analysis. The student must also submit the signed release form. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

National Register of Historic Places Mock Nomination Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit the nomination for historic preservation form with all of the highlighted sections completed. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

Exhibit Review Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit a 1-page, single-spaced exhibit review in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins, analyzing and evaluating a current museum exhibit. The student must also submit a picture of the dated museum ticket. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

Historical Website or Application Review Assignment

For this assignment, the student must submit a 1-page, single-spaced review in Times New Roman 12-point font with 1-inch margins, analyzing and evaluating a website or application. Additional details can be found in the assignment instructions.

Historical Tourism: Project Assignment

For this assignment, the student will identify a local historical site of their own choice to develop a tour for visitors to that historic site. The student may not use the same site that they chose for your National Register of Historic Places Mock Nomination Assignment earlier in the course and it may not be a museum. Also, the site must be large enough with enough related source material to allow the student to complete the assignment successfully. 

For this assignment, the student will create a video to accompany the Historical Tourism: Project Assignment. The student will choose one of the five stops on their tour and record a video of themselves delivering the transcript they created in part one of the assignment. The video should be professional and effectively communicate the information the student compiled in the first part of the assignment.