Building Narratives in Public History

Catalog description

Who decides what narratives we craft at public history sites? What shapes these narratives? How do narratives change over time? What is the relationship between narratives and neutrality? How does technology affect narrative and its construction? Building Narratives in Public History is a course exploring the theory and methodology of how narratives have been formulated at public history sites in the past as well as current narrative debates in the field. In addition to weekly readings and reflections, students will be required to create a substantial professional non-academic writing sample based on historiography and primary source material. These written products will be part of an individual or group project coordinated with a community stakeholder or benefiting the community at large. Non-academic writing includes but is not limited to an online or physical site tour, podcast, documentary, or other form of narrative writing for the public.