Managing History: An Introduction to Public History: July 2009

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Welcome to Managing History!

This course introduces the practical considerations and theoretical issues concerning the public management, ownership, and interpretation of historical resources. Emphasis is placed on resource management policy, museum practice, historical preservation, historical society governance, digital history, and other elements related to the dissemination of public memory. We will find out who manages our shared heritage and determine how historians can best contribute to the formulation and preservation of a shared past.

Team Project

Fall 2013
Students will compile oral histories and produce digital content supporting a public funeral for a north Philadelphia home slated for demolition. A Funeral for a Home is sponsored by Tyler Contemporary Gallery.

Fall 2011
You are charged with proposing a public exhibit on the subject of public history controversies that is compelling enough to win a major interpretive planning grant from the PEW Center for Arts and Heritage’s Heritage Philadelphia Program (HPP). See HPP’s 2011 guidelines.

Fall 2009
This semester, Managing History students will partner with the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia to devise an effective image management policy.