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Public History Curriculum

Taught by a faculty that is superior in its vocational and academic training, the Public History program requires twelve hours of core courses, nine hours each in Public History and traditional history requirements, and six hours in appropriate electives. Students who arrive in the program with practical experience in Public History may need more grounding in traditional historical content and methodologies. Those who arrive at NCSU absent of all practical Public History skills will be able to pursue more experiential opportunities to complement their historical knowledge. During the first semester of course work, students design their personal curricula in consultation with the director of Public History. In all instances, the curriculum is composed of five sections:

  1. Core requirements (12 hrs.):
    • HI 596: Introduction to Public History
    • HI 597: Historiography
    • HI 598: Historical Writing
    • HI 642: Practicum: course paperwork
  2. Public History Field (9 hrs.):
    • Archival Management:
      • HI 586:  History and Principles of the Administration of Archives & Manuscripts
      • HI 587: Application of Principles of the Administration of Archives & Manuscripts
      • HI 589: Automation and Public History
    • Museum Studies:
      • HI 591: Introduction to Museology
      • HI 592: Advanced Museology
      • HI 593: Material Culture
  3. Traditional History Field (9 hrs.)
  4. Electives (6 hrs.):
    a combination of:
    • a course from the other Public History field;
    • a fourth course in the traditional history field;
    • any of the following Public History electives:
      • HI 533 Oral History
      • HI 534 History and Digital Media
      • HI 563: History and Memory,
      • HI 588: Conservation of Archival and Library Materials,
      • HI 590: Documentary Editing,
    • one of the following from another discipline at NCSU:
      • ANT 533: Anthropology of Ecotourism and Heritage Conservation
      • ARC 544: Architectural Conservation,
      • ARC 548: Vernacular Architecture,
      • NR 531: Introduction to Geographic Information Science
      • NR 548: Historical Environments
      • PA 531: Human Resources Management in Public & Nonprofit Organizations,
      • PA 536: Management of Nonprofit Organizations,
      • PA 538: Budgeting and Financial Management,
      • PA 539: Fund Development  WITH  PA 640: Grant Writing,
      • PRT 520: Concepts of Travel and Tourism;
    • or a course offered interinstitutionally at Duke University or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This option is only valid when similar courses are not available at NCSU. 
    • Archives Management students may also choose up to two courses from the following available at the North Carolina Central University School of  Library and Information Sciences:
      • LSIS 5550: Information Systems Policy
      • LSIS 5115: Information Technology and Intellectual Property
      • LSIS 5120: Managment and Systems Analysis
      • LSIS 5160: The Academic Library
      • LSIS 5190: The African American Collection
      • LSIS 5210: Administration of Law Libraries
      • LSIS 5430: Indexing and Abstracting
      • LSIS 5580: Government Publications
  5. V. Oral Exam
    • based upon coursework and portfolio developed in practicum and extracurricular projects.

NCSU Graduate courses are numbered in the 500 and 600 range.  For history course descriptions in the NCSU course catalog, click here.