HIST 2811A: Public History, From Museums to Memory
Fall 2024
Instructor: Kira Smith
Introduction: This course introduces you to public history, a new relatively new field that explores the ways in which the past is represented in sites such as museums, archives, films, theatre performances, walking tours, monuments and memorials, historical novels, graphic novels, video games, family photograph albums, and digital platforms. Public historians do not only study historical representations but actively create history in the present, usually in collaboration with others. To study public history is to come to terms with the contested nature of history itself, and to situate narratives of history within contexts such as public memory, identity, and politics.
Class Format: We will meet twice a week in-person for an hour and twenty minutes. Classes will vary between lecture, discussion, activities, and project time.
Aims and Goals: You will leave this course with: 1) an understanding of what public history is; 2) a familiarity with the methods, theories, and approaches of public history; and 3) an awareness of the many ways in which the past has a presence in our everyday lives.
Assessment: To be determined. However, all assessments will have you engage with the practice of public history. There will be no examinations nor traditional essays.
Text: All texts will be available online.
Questions? Please email me at kirasmith@cunet.carleton.ca