Public History Courses
Introduction to Public History
This introductory course looks at non-teaching career options for historians and related humanities majors. Students learn the professional terminology and responsibilities of these fields and participate in class projects to do the actual work of public historians. Leaving this course, students will have a clearer understanding of what they can do with their degree and a sample of work for their professional portfolios. The fall 2008 class worked with youth leaders in a local community to create a mobile local history exhibit. This course is a prerequisite for HIS 596 Public History Internship.
Historical Editing
This course is designed to allow students to learn what goes into editing and annotating the primary sources all historians use. In addition to studying the editing and annotation processes and major edited collections from a variety of historical disciplines, the students in the course will edit and annotate a collection of Civil War era diaries for a local museum. Once edited and annotated, the collection will be published.
Local and Regional Research Methods
This course introduces students to the research resources and methodology used by historians of local history. The most frequent form of contract work is in local history. Short term projects where historians are hired to research and/or write books, brochures and the content of a variety of other history products. The spring 2008 class researched, designed and created a downloadable cultural heritage tour for a Covington neighborhood.
Museum Administration
This course introduces students to the issues and challenges of museum operations. Among the topics explored are budgets and fundraising, daily operations, strategic planning, staff and board relations and the challenges facing museums of all sizes in the 21st century. Students who have not taken Introduction to Public History or ANT 307 should talk with the public history coordinator before taking this course.
Museum Collections Management
This course introduces students to the primary challenges of collections care, including accession, arranging, and cataloguing. Students will learn industry standards and practice their application. Students who have not taken Introduction to Public History or ANT 307 should talk with the public history coordinator before taking this course.
Museum Education
This course introduces students to the role of education in the modern museum. Students will study and apply the principles of educational programming and activities design. Students who have not taken Introduction to Public History or ANT 307 should talk with the public history coordinator before taking this course.
Museum Exhibits
This course introduces students to the challenges of exhibit development and design. Students will study and apply the principles of exhibit construction, signage and interpretation. Students who have not taken Introduction to Public History or ANT 307 should talk with the public history coordinator before taking this course.
Public History Internship
This course offers the individual student the opportunity to expand the knowledge and experience gained in other public history courses at an institution of their choice. Introduction to Public History is a standard prerequisite for this course, but students who have already had some experience in museums or other public history fields may take the course with the permission of the public history coordinator.
Theory and Practice of Oral History
This course introduces students to the theoretical and practical application of professional oral history. Students will discover the discipline’s origins, evolution and uses as a research method and resource. In the fall of 2008, the class worked with the youth leaders of a local community to gather interviews with community elders. The interviews will be used to write biographical narratives and to create a mobile local history exhibit.