Public history-history presented not in classrooms, but in museums, heritage tours, civic celebrations, documentary films, podcasts, and other venues-is where the vast majority of people confront our collective past. As history majors, public history concentrators will develop foundational knowledge of history and of the methods that today’s historians use to interpret the past. In this concentration, however, students will also grapple with questions that animate the field of public history: why do communities and nations publically remember some historical events and not others? How do exhibits, monuments, and heritage tours shape our understanding of history? By examining case studies and by interning at area museums, historical societies, libraries & archives, national parks, and heritage tourism sites, public history concentrators will learn about the complicated relationship between history and memory, and the range of career paths open to history majors beyond teaching in schools, practicing law, and working in government, journalism, and other fields.
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