HYM5010

Issues in public history

Coordinator to be advised

8 points
* One 2-hour seminar each week (held in the evening)
* All year
* City location
* Prohibitions: Only available in the MA in public history

Objectives Students successfully completing this subject should develop an understanding of the methods and practices of public historians in such fields as heritage assessment, cultural resource management, commissioned history, oral history, cultural tourism, Aboriginal heritage, museums and aspects of the presentation of history in the media. Students will critically examine historical practices in the public sphere and explore some dilemmas and conflicts between policy and practice.

Synopsis This subject raises critical questions about the uses of history in Australia and overseas. What is public history? Why has it emerged as a field of enquiry and practice? What distinct issues does it address? What are the practical applications of historical knowledge? Readings and case studies examine the relationships between learned and popular understandings of the past, representations of the past in various media and the means, processes and forms by which our understandings of heritage and history are generated and sustained. Topics of seminars include environmental history, community and commissioned histories, the heritage movement, oral history, material culture, Aboriginal heritage, museums, theme parks, cultural tourism and aspects of the media including film, radio, television and the internet.

Assessment Written and oral work, fieldwork exercises (6000 words): 100%

Preliminary reading

Bolton G Spoils and spoilers Allen and Unwin,1992
Davison G and McConville C A heritage handbook Allen and Unwin 1991
Griffiths T Hunters and collectors OUP, 1996

Recommended texts

Bennett T The birth of the museum Routledge, 1995
Lowenthal D The past is a foreign country CUP, 1985
Rickard J and Spearritt P (eds) Packaging the past MUP, 1991
Schlereth T Victorian America: Transformations in everyday life Harper-Collins, 1991
Worster D The wealth of nature: Environmental history and the ecological imagination OUP, 1993