History 7 Archives and Public History Spring 2009 Professor Mark Traugott |
What can I do with a degree in history?
This course tries to answer that question by exposing students to the world of archives, museums, and specialized institutionalized settings where "public history" is practiced. In the process, it highlights a few of the ways in which the skills and perspectives of the historian can be applied in everyday life. History 7 alternates between in-class discussions and field trips. Five weeks of the course will focus on readings, some substantive and others methodological, concerning local history and its practical applications. During the other five weeks, we will visit sites where that history is recorded, archived, disseminated, or commemorated. Students will be asked to produce written work, including 1) an analysis of a public history or a living history event that they have personally witnessed; and 2) a proposal for a project that could be carried out as part of an internship in a local public history venue. The course is intended to expand students' ideas of what history is about and make them aware of the diversity of practical uses and career opportunities for which a bachelor's degree in our discipline is an ideal preparation.
Among the sites the class will visit are the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, the UCSC Historica District (at the base of campus), the San Lorenzo Valley Historical Museum in Boulder Creek, the Department of Special Collections in McHenry Library, and the Offices of the County Recorder and County Surveyor.
Please note: History 7 has been designed as a lower-division course, but it remains open to students at any level who are prepared to take it seriously and work hard. In general, students appreciate the opportunity -- unusual in a history course -- to take field trips to interesting locations, but they have the same obligation to stay current with class readings and to invest effort into class papers, as in any other course. |