HIST 525 - Introduction to Public History

Credit Hours: 3

This course is designed to explore the history, theory, and current issues of public history practice in the United States. Public history is about recognizing the public as history makers and “doing” history for a public audience. As such, public history can take numerous forms-including, but not limited to, oral history, folklore, museum curating, historical preservation, cultural conservation, and community activism. As an interdisciplinary field, public history incorporates methodologies from such disciplines as history, art history, architectural history, archeology, anthropology, folklore, and cultural geography. This course will therefore provide an introduction to different forms of public history, particularly by examining the theoretical underpinnings and methodologies that have shaped each one.