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Graduate Certificate in Public History

About the Graduate Certificate in Public History

The Graduate Public History Certificate is designed to prepare graduate students for a range of careers in public history institutions. The program combines rigorous training in historical methods and theory with practical, real world experience.

The Graduate Certificate in Public History provides students with theoretical and methodological grounding to prepare them for a range of careers in the public arena, including museums, historical consulting, historic preservation and cultural resource management, archives, and government agencies. The certificate balances rigorous academic classroom work with hands-on experience at partner institutions both on and off campus.

What is the Graduate Certificate in Public History?

The focus of the certificate is to train scholars who are firmly grounded in the most universal methods of archival historical research and who also possess the interdisciplinary and alternative methods, interpretive skills, and intellectual self-confidence to work in the public arena.

The required foundational courses of Tier 1 provide students with broad foundational knowledge of research and interpretive methods employed by public historians. The electives in Tier 2 help students to identify current debates over methodology in public history.

Students will construct a portfolio of work that illustrates advanced public history methodologies and interpretive practices. 

Why would I want the Graduate Certificate in Public History?

The Graduate Certificate in Public History provides students with theoretical and methodological grounding to prepare them for a range of careers in the public arena, including museums, historical consulting, historic preservation and cultural resource management, archives, and government agencies. The certificate balances rigorous academic classroom work with hands-on experience at partner institutions both on and off campus.

Careers

This "Tips for Getting a Job in the Public History Field" video was produced by NCPH, UTEP, & AASLH.

NCPH maintains a jobs listing page, which is a free service their organization provides to the public history profession. Job seekers can search by field, position type, and location. Jobs are updated weekly.

Careers for Students of History - American Historical Assocation

How do I pursue the Graduate Certificate in Public History?

Students who are interested in pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Public History should review the requirements for the certificate (listed below) and begin pursuing courses.

Questions can be directed to Professor Matt Basso, matt.basso@utah.edu, or our Academic Advisor Amarilys Scott, amarilys.scott@utah.edu 

The certificate requires a total of 18 credit hours and includes a core course in Public History methodology and two required internships along with elective courses drawn from across the University.

Course Catalog

Students MUST submit the certificate completion form. This form must be completed no later tha two months prior to the students anticipated graduation date.

Certificate Completion Form

The certificate will consist of 18 units divided into 3 tiers, as follow:

Tier 1
Complete NINE credit hours:

HIST 5100 - Internship in Public History

***TWO internships required.

HIST 6360 - Careers in Public History

Tier 2
Complete ONE of the following courses:

HIST 5080 - American History and Its Publics

HIST 5090 - Methods and Topics in Material Culture Studies

HIST 5110 - Archeological Field School

HIST 6000 - Archaeology as History

HIST 7010 - Oral History

HIST 7020 - Archival Principles and Methods

 

Tier 3
Complete TWO of the following:

ANTH 6169 - Ethnographic Methods 

ANTH 6345 - Cultural Resources Management 

ANTH 6381 - Archaeological Practice 

ANTH 6611 - Preparation of Grant Proposals in Anthropology

ARCH 6239 - Topics in Architectural History 

ARCH 6500 - Preservation Theory and Practice 

ARCH 6535 - Field Methods in Historic Architecture 

ARCH 6570 - Building Condition Assessment and Preservation Technology 

ARCH 6581 - Main Street” Revitalization” 

ARCH 6840 - Utah Architecture and Cities 

ARCH 6852 - History and Theory of Architectural Preservation since the 19th Century 

ARTH 4310 - Art and the Public Sphere 

ARTH 4740 - Museum Practices 

ARTH 6810 - Visual Intersections: Critical Approaches to Art and Visual Culture 

CMP 4030 - Leadership and Community Engagement 

CMP 4260 - Land, Law & Culture 

COMM 3100 - Introduction to Documentary Studies 

COMM 3170 - Introduction to Organizational Communication 

COMM 3770 - Cross Cultural Documentary 

COMM 5380 - Interdisciplinary Applications in Community Engagement 

COMM 5555 - Documentary Photography 

COMM 6555 - Documentary Photography 

COMM 6490 - Communication and Social Justice 

EHUM 6102 - Field Methods in Environmental Humanities 

EHUM 6120 - Environmental Humanities Internship 

ENGL 4991 - Internship 

ENGL 4992 - Service-Learning 

ENGL 5995 - Digital Humanities 

ENGL 7850 - Seminar in Digital Humanities 

GEOG 6139 - GIS Fundamentals and Applications 

GEOG 6140 - Methods in Geographic Information Systems 

GNDR 3695 - Community Engagement and Service Learning 

POLS 3300 - Introduction to Public Administration 

POLS 3320 - Introduction to Public Policy and Analysis

POLS 3601 - Community Engaged Learning 

POLS 4900 - Internship: Local 

POLS 4901 - Internship: Utah State Legislature 

POLS 4902 - Internship: Washington, D.C. National 

POLS 4903 - Internship: International 

POLS 4904 - Senator Bennett Seminar 

POLS 4905 - Resident Scholar Think Tank with John Price 

POLS 6004 - Qualitative-Interpretive Research Methods 

POLS 6320 - Public Policy Theories and Applications 

POLS 6322 - Environmental & Sustainability Policy 

POLS 6525 - Engaging Volunteers in Public & Nonprofit Organizations 

POLS 6550 - Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations 

POLS 6570 - Management of Nonprofit Organizations 

WRTG 3040 - Digital Storytelling 

WRTG 5830 - Digital Publishing and Editing 

WRTG 6610 - Internship 

WRTG 7001 - Grant Proposal Writing 

The primary faculty for the Graduate Certificate in Public History is Dr. Matt Basso.

If you have any questions, reach out to the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Elizabeth Clement.

Last Updated: 9/7/23