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Public History
Spring 2001
(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division) Course Description: This course will examine how Americans conceptualize, utilize, and argue over the past. When history becomes a topic of public debate, one gets a complex picture of American society. Who controls how visions and interpretations of the past are presented? Is it historians? Politicians? Powerful interest groups? Does it depend on what is being presented? Has this debate changed over time? Expressions of collective memory, or public history, such as museums, historic sites, memorials, and monuments will provide case studies for us to examine how presenting history is often more contentious than usually assumed. The main objectives of this course are to study the malleable and elusive nature of historical study and analyze the links between contemporary life and our perception of the past. General Considerations: -Prerequisites for this course are AHST 108 and AHST 107. If you have not taken these courses please see me as soon as possible. -Check the course web page often for updates and changes. Especially check the announcements page for news pertaining to the course. -Please arrive to class on time; consistently late arrivals disturb the class. -Please bring assigned readings to class. -All assignments will be due on the date specified; late assignments will be severely penalized. -Become familiar with the various forms of plagiarism. Using others' ideas without giving full credit will not be tolerated in your assignments. If you are unsure with what constitutes plagiarism, please click here for a helpful introduction with examples from the Indiana University Writing Resource page: Students' Guide to Plagiarism. -Keeping up with the reading is imperative in this class. If you find you are falling behind, or find the reading load difficult, please contact me so that we can find the appropriate help. -I greatly encourage all of you to come by and see me during office hours or by appointment to discuss your progress in the class or other relevant issues. Special Needs: Any student with documented special needs should meet with me during office hours. All efforts will be made to facilitate your presence and successful completion of the course.
Evaluation Procedures: 1. Attendance and participation: 10%. This means showing up for class and actively participating in discussions and demonstrating engagement with assigned materials. 2. Presentation: 25%. Presentations will be made at the end of the semester. Each presentation will be between 20 and 30 minutes. The presentation will consist of an analysis of a public history site of your own choosing (museum, memorial, historic neighborhood, etc.). 3. Midterm Examination: 25% 4. Film Review: 15% 5. Final Essay: 25%
Required Reading (Available at the Ramapo College Bookstore): 1. Mike Wallace. Mickey Mouse History: The Politics of Public Memory. Temple University Press (1996). 2. Susan Benson, Stephen Brier, Roy Rosenzweig. Presenting the Past: Essays on History & the Public. Temple University Press (1986). 3. Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen. The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life. Columbia University Press (2000). *Additional required readings will be handed out in class or put on reserve in the library* *It is assumed that students are very familiar with the basic narrative history of the United States in the 20th Century (i.e, U.S. History II). For those of you who are a little rusty on the basic facts, I have put a very short survey text on reserve: Alan Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation, Volume II.*
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