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The specialization or minor in Public History is an ideal way to combine liberal arts majors with the professional background needed to pursue a rewarding life-long career.

Goals of the Program

  • To equip students with the tools they need for a career in the many professional fields that present the past to a general audience.
  • To prepare for careers in museums, historical sites, archives, film making, Internet design, or anywhere that preserves and presents history to the public.
  • To train students for placements in institutions that need personnel who have grasped the complex issues related to the role of history in the public arena.

Majors and Courses

  • Students may come from History or other major fields like Art History, Museum Studies, Communications, English, Political Science, Education, or Film Studies.
  • Students choosing a minor in public history are required to take five courses — one at the introductory level, one elective at any level, and HIST 252, HIST 253,and HIST 370.
  • Internships may take place in film or television studios, or in some of the Greater Boston Area's museums, archives, historic buildings, and other historical sites.
  • Recent internships have been at Plimouth Plantation, the Paul Revere House, the Simmons College Archives, the African Meeting House, and the Mary Baker Eddy Library.

Career Opportunities for Graduates

  • Researcher, interpreter, or publicist at an historic house.
  • Public relations work for a museum or historic site such as the Old South Meeting House, the Black Heritage Trail, or the Women's Heritage Trail in Boston.
  • Developing websites or films about sites such as the sloop Adventure in Gloucester and Lowell Industrial Park.

Faculty in the Program

  • Laurie Crumpacker, Specialist in Women's History, consultant, Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
  • Donna Curtin, Teaches Historic Preservation and Museum Management.
  • Stephen Berry, Specialist in Early American History, teaches Public History, the Atlantic World.
  • Laura Prieto, Teaches seminars on WW II, and Collective Memory.
  • Stephen Ortega, Teaches courses on Environmental History, Novels & Films, and 9/11 Narratives.

More information at: www.simmons.edu/academics/undergraduate/history