HST570: Public History Theory and Practice
Thursdays, 3:30-6:15
Fall 2007
Instructor: Tammy S. Gordon
E-mail: stonegordont@uncw.edu
Class website: http://people.uncw.edu/stonegordont/HST570.html
Office Hours: Mondays 12:00-2:00, Tuesdays 1:30-4:30, Wednesdays 12:00-2:00 and other times by appointment
Purpose
This class is an introduction to the major concepts, scholarship, and research methods shaping the public history field.
Readings and Other Requirements
HST570 is a reading intensive, seminar style course. You must complete the required readings on time and discuss them in class. Additional readings are on reserve at the library.
You will also be responsible for museum admission fees.
Ames, Franco, and Frye, Ideas and Images: Developing Interpretive History Exhibits (AltaMira, 1997)
Cohen and Rosenzweig, Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Preserving, and Presenting the Past on the Web (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006)
Frisch, A Shared Authority: Essays on the Craft and Meaning of Oral and Public History (State University of New York, 1989)
Hayden, The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History (The MIT Press, 1997)
Henderson and Kaeppler, Exhibiting Dilemmas: Issues of Representation at the Smithsonian (Smithsonian, 1999)
Horton and Horton, Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory (New Press, 2006)
Loewen, Lies Across America: What Our Historical Sites Get Wrong (Touchstone, 1999)
Prown and Haltman, American Artifacts: Essays in Material Culture (Michigan State University Press, 2000)
Rosenzweig and Thelen, The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life (Columbia University Press, 1998)
Tyler, Historic Preservation: An Introduction to its History, Principles, and Practice (Norton, 1999)
Upton, Architecture in the United States (Oxford UP, 1999)
Assignments and Grading
Reading Response Papers (20 points)
For every required reading, you will write a 2-3 page response paper. This paper should include the work’s thesis statement (in your own words), a description of the method, a brief summary of major arguments, and comments on that argument. Response papers will help you prepare for discussion. The lowest response paper grade will be dropped.
Discussion (15 points)
The success of a graduate seminar depends on ALL participants. Be prepared to discuss the readings fully and analytically. In addition, we will often have in-class group work that requires small groups to present findings or lead discussion.
Bibliographic Essay (65 points)
The final project for the class will be a 15-page paper assessing the major issues and scholarship on a topic in public history. In order to turn in the final assignment, you must submit a 3-page proposal to the instructor for approval. A fuller description of this assignment is attached.
Schedule
Introduction: “What is Public History?”
August 23: Read “Capturing the Public Imagination: The Social and Professional Place of Public History” Journal article by Denise D. Meringolo; American Studies International, Vol. 42, 2004: ON LIBRARY RESERVE
Unit I: Society and Collective Memory
August 30: Read Presence of the Past; response paper due
September 6: Read Shared Authority; response paper due
September 13: Read Lies Across America; response paper due
September 20: Read Slavery and Public History; response paper due
Unit II: History Museums and Material Culture
September 27: Visit Cape Fear Museum history exhibits before class meets; Read Ideas and Images: response paper due
October 4: Read Exhibiting Dilemmas: response paper due
October 11: Read American Artifacts: response paper due
Unit III: Historic Preservation
October 25: Read Historic Preservation; response paper due; meet at Randall Library
November 1: Read The Power of Place: response paper due; 3-page proposal due; meet at Williston Middle School
November 8: Visit Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts before class meets; read Architecture in the United States: response paper due
Unit IV: The History Web
November 15: Digital History; response paper due
Unit V: Research
November 22: Thanksgiving Holiday: no class
November 29: No class—work on essays
DECEMBER 10, 5:00PM: FINAL ESSAY DUE in instructor’s mailbox in History Department