Public History | Student Handbook

Program Overview

Students may choose a concentration in public history in conjunction with the MA in History or as an outside field for the PhD in History. The public history concentration for the MA requires 9 hours of core course work plus elective courses. A two-course seminar-practicum series is taken in the first year of study (6 hours). The graduate seminar gives students a historical and theoretical context for their work and covers some of the dominant paradigms in the field public history. The graduate practicum meets in a seminar format and builds professional knowledge and skills in governance, development and grant writing, public outreach, and various interpretive tools. This course requires students to complete class projects at public institutions. Please see complete MA degree requirements.

Jobs

While the Washington D.C. area has enormous amount of job and internship opportunities, current and incoming public history students might consider seeking employment at AU. AU's Human Resources department has created a Student Jobs Portal. The History Department's own Careers in History page also offers a number of useful links to other, long-term job opportunities. Finally, the public history's program's own Facebook page serves as community forum where students, alumni, and faculty can post and share new job and internship opportunities.

Internships

All public history students must complete as least one internship as part of their degree. Students can find instructions and the necessary forms for internships here.

Consortium

American University's consortium system gives students the opportunity to pursue coursework at a number of other universities in the Washington D.C. area. Learn about the consortium system and its requirements here.

Courses

Regular rotating public history courses include:

HIST 367/667: Oral History, offered every fall. Sample Syllabus.

HIST 368/668: History and Public Policy, offered alternating falls. Sample Syllabus.

HIST 368/668: Historic Site Management, offered alternating springs. Sample Syllabus.

HIST 370/670: Material and Visual Culture, alternating springs. Sample Syllabus.

HIST 377/677: History in the Digital Age, offered every spring. Sample Syllabus.

HIST 500: Memory and History

HIST 688: Audience Evaluation for Public Historians, offered in the summer. Syllabi under construction.

HIST 688: Collections Management, offered in the summer. Syllabi under construction.

HIST 729: Public History Seminar, required, offered every fall. Sample Syllabus.

HIST XXX: Community History, coming in 2012. Under construction.