Monash University: University Handbooks: Postgraduate Handbook 2001: Subjects indexed by faculty
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Public history


The discipline

History provides both research supervision and coursework for students interested in pursuing topics in public history, heritage conservation and management, museums and community or local history. Debates about the nature of official commemoration, new directions in museum exhibitions and the movement to conserve and interpret historic buildings, material culture and landscapes all suggest a broadening public interest in history and especially in the relationship between place, history and local identity. Specific research strengths include historic conservation, the heritage movement in Australia and urban history; indigenous and colonial histories, especially of landscape and environment; and oral history, life stories and memory. The Master of Arts in Public History aims to prepare students for careers in relevant fields and encourages them to participate in public debates and professional activities, including a period of supervised work experience. Further information can be found at http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/prospective/postgraduate/disciplines/
Mid-year entry is available for all of the courses and programs listed below.

Master of Arts in Public History

General information

Course code: 0017 * Course fees: Local students - HECS; international students (full-time) - $A13,000 * pa * Course director: Seamus O'Hanlon
This course, which is offered full-time over one year or part-time over two years, offers a vocational program for historians and related professionals. Graduates may go on to work in the fields of commissioned history, heritage conservation and management, oral history, community history, museums and related areas. The program has excellent links with the heritage industry and with professional historians working in these fields. The course includes a period of work experience, a commissioned research project and a range of elective subjects from which students choose a specialised program of study. The public history program draws on teaching strengths across the faculty, and students have a number of opportunities to build professional networks through assessment tasks, and a lively guest speaker program.

Entry requirements

The completion of a BA honours degree in history (results of H2B or better) or the Masters Qualifying in History with a research component (results of credit average or above) or the Postgraduate Diploma of Arts (History) (results of credit average or above). Candidates with a BA honours degree or a masters qualifying in visual arts, geography, English, Australian studies or other approved disciplines (with results of H2B or better) may be admitted to the course at the discretion of the course director and with the approval of the faculty. Candidates with a BA degree with a credit average in a major sequence in an approved discipline and with at least three years of appropriate professional experience at a senior level may be admitted at the discretion of the course director and with the approval of the faculty. Such experience may include:

Students seeking admission on the basis of a BA plus professional experience must provide the following information:

Credit provision

Students who have successfully completed relevant subjects at fifth-year level, which have not been credited towards another degree or award, can apply for a maximum of 50 per cent credit.

Course structure

The course requires completion of two 12-point core subjects and two 12-point elective subjects (a total of 48 points).

Core subjects
Elective subjects

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