HIST 350 Contemporary Issues in Public History (2025)

Our class undertook to survey the current state of public history. History-related careers in libraries, archives, museums, living history sites, historic preservation, genealogy, oral history, and podcasting engage the public at large. Public history flourishes because it explores a myriad of topics, not just official or academic history; it champions learning outside the classroom; it’s accessible, innovative, and open to interpretation; and it frequently seeks to empower marginalized people and communities. Graduate study is often required for careers in the field, although some people become public historians “by accident.” It’s also a field in flux. New technologies, including AI, multispectral imaging, digitization, and social media, are disrupting established practices, for good and ill. Public history is also in turmoil because it’s buffeted by funding challenges and increasingly beset by partisan critics, in and out of government, who resent its challenges to conventional patriotic narratives.