The Undergraduate Certificate in Public History trains students to work in the field of public history. Our program includes instruction in planning and administering public history projects and applying historical methods to public organizations, government agencies, cultural organizations, and other settings. Students complete internships in a variety of public history settings, gaining knowledge, hands-on experience, and professional contacts that further prepare them for a dynamic career in the twenty-first-century workforce. 

Course of Study

The undergraduate certificate in public history consists of a total of 12 credits.

Core Courses

Students must take six credts of Core Courses. These credits must include:

• 3 credits selected from HSTA 275: Making History Public -or- HSTA 374: Doing Local History
• 3 credits selected from HSTR 398: Public History Internship -or- HSTR 370: Practicing Oral History

Elective Courses

Students must take six credits of elective coursework in addition to the six credits of core courses. At least three of these electives must be taken within the History Department. With the approval of the Director of the Public History Program, students may apply up to three credits taken outside of the History Department toward their certificate. Substitutions, including independent studies or special offerings in public history, require approval from the Director of the Public History Program.

See below for a list of some of the public history elective courses. For a full, up-to-date, list of public history electives, visit the UM Catalog page for the Public History Certificate.

Public history elective courses from the History Department: 

• HSTA 275: Making History Public
• HSTA 370: Women in America: Colonial to Civil War
• HSTA 371: Women in America: Civil War to Present
• HSTA 374: Doing Local History
• HSTA 377: Intoxication Nation: Alcohol in American History
• HSTA 391: Digital Worlds of Early America
• HSTR 370: Practicing Oral History
• HSTR 398: Internship
• HSTR 435: Latin America Human Rights & Memory

Public history elective courses from outside the History Department:

• ARTH 334: Architectural History II, 1850-Present
• ANTY 403: Public Anthropology
• ANTY 456: Historical Archaeology
• ANTY 455: Artifact Analysis
• ANTY 466: Archaeological Survey
• ANTY 476: Archaeological Field School
• ANTY 495: Anthropological Field Experience
• ANTY 398: Internship
• HPRV 400: Historic Preservation
• JRNL 100H: Media History and Literacy
• JRNL 300: First Amendment and Journalism Law
• JRNL 429: Documentary Photojournalism
• JRNL 472: Opinion Writing
• NASX 260: Indians of North America
• NASX 280: Native American Studies Research and Writing Methods
• NASX 398: Internship

Core Courses

HSTA 275: Making History Public  ~  Instructor: Professor Claire Arcenas

Our core public history course introduces students to the methods, theories, and ethics that guide how public historians exhibit history in museums, engage the public with digital projects, provide historical context in public places, work with local communities, and use historical expertise in government and the courts. Students discuss current and past controversies in public history (such as Confederate monuments) and survey how the digital age has transformed aspects of public history. With faculty guidance, students work on a class project that provides hands-on experience with a real public history project.