Public History Professional Studies Track
Is your inner historian guiding you toward a career in a museum, archive, publishing house, historic site, or similar venue that serves the public? Employers in these areas are looking for people trained as effective communicators and researchers with a passion for the public face of history.
This track provides students with such marketable skills as
- writing and editing for the public
- artifact research and preservation
- podcast production
- community engagement
- collaborative research
- museum or archives management
- conducting oral histories
- utilizing digital resources
The Public History track prepares students for rewarding careers that combine a love of history and culture with a sense of responsibility for exploring and explaining the past to the world at large. Career opportunities in this track include
- Museums (curation, administration, interpretation)
- Archives (processing, public service, administration)
- Public policy research
- Historical editing (professional journals and academic presses)
- Corporate history (in-house historian for large corporations)
- Non-profit administration
- Historical preservation (public and private sector)
- Historical consulting (research, archival processing, exhibit design, and more)
- Library services
- Positions with federal agencies including the National Park Service
- Writing popular history (magazines, newspapers, blogs)
Affiliated Faculty
- Adela Cedillo
- Mark Goldberg
- Debbie Harwell
- Kairn Klieman
- Kristina Neumann
- Monica Perales
- Josiah Rector
- Todd Romero
- Nancy Young (track director)
- Leandra Zarnow
Requirements
Students pursuing the Public History track must take HIST 3315: Introduction to Public History.
Two additional 3000 or 4000 level courses relating to Public History are required. See the list below for recommended courses. Relevant Special Problems courses in History at the 3000 or 4000 level may count towards this track if approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Ideally, students pursuing the Public History Track will take a capstone that is designated as Public History in focus.
Relevant graduate courses in History may count for the second or third courses in the track if approved by the course instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Current Courses
(from 2022-23 Undergraduate Catalog)
- HIST 2348 - U.S. Latino/a Histories
- HIST 2349 - Latina/o Jewish History
- HIST 3307 - Houston: Migration and Immigration
- HIST 3313 - Introduction to Digital History
- HIST 3321 - Introduction to Museum Studies
- HIST 3323 - Writing and Editing for a History Magazine
- HIST 3324 - Oral History Methods and Practice
- HIST 3327 - Houston Since 1836
- HIST 3336 - History of U.S. Latinx Music
- HIST 3343 - The Ancient World through FIlm
- HIST 3362 - Rise & Fall of Soviet Union
- HIST 3366 - Europe since 1900
- HIST 4301 - Issues in Feminist Research
- HIST 4314 - American History Through Film
- HIST 4321 - The History of Jewish Food
- HIST 4322 - Environment in U.S. History
- HIST 4325 - Houston Eats!: Research in Food and Public History
- HIST 4337 - US History Through Biography: Methods and Approaches
- HIST 4355 - Topics in the History of Law and Society
- HIST 4390 - Capstone in Public History
- HIST 4391 - Public History Internship
- HIST 4398 - Independent Study