Why study Public History at Carleton?

Carleton is one of the best places in North America to study public history. In part, this is because our MA program draws on twenty years of collaboration between public historians at the university and public historians employed outside academia. Being located in the nation’s capital allows us to benefit from collaborations with key institutions such as national and local museums and archives, research firms, government departments and non-profit organizations.

With eight core faculty currently, and double that number as adjuncts and associates, not to mention over a dozen colleagues in other disciplines working on key issues in the field, we have the largest number of academic public historians at any university in Canada and more than most programs in the United States, Europe, Australia and elsewhere.

Three particular features distinguish our program:

• We are committed to international public history. Although most of our core faculty research and teach Canadian public history, others focus their work on European, African and Caribbean history and we have strong connections with public historians internationally.
• We are committed to combining applied history with historical theory. Our paid internships and course project work are complemented by a compulsory seminar in historical theory and all our seminars require students to think theoretically and reflexively about their work.
• We are committed to helping our students make original contributions to knowledge in both traditional and non-traditional formats. The culmination of our two-year degree is the Masters Research Essay (MRE). The MRE most often takes the form of an essay, but we encourage, and have the resources to support alternatives. Students have produced MREs that have taken forms such as films, staged performances, graphic novels, digital soundscapes, podcasts, and exhibits.

Our program has been designed to equip students with an enhanced awareness of the specific challenges of applying historical knowledge and methodologies in the public sphere. It allows flexibility to meet the needs of those seeking employment in the field of public history, as well as providing a solid interdisciplinary grounding for those who wish to pursue further graduate studies in history or other disciplines.