Public Humanities Across the Disciplines

Catalog description

This course is the required introductory course for the Public Humanities Fellowship in The Humanities Institute and The Graduate Certificate in Public Humanities. The course introduces students to central theories, methods, and practices in public humanities with a focus on creating publicly engaged digital media projects. Students will develop an understanding of theoretical frameworks for conceptualizing public humanities as well as how public humanities work can address present-day problems and foster shared knowledge production between universities and communities. The course offers hands-on training in three forms of digital media production: documentary film, podcasting, and web publishing. Students will apply humanities knowledge and research through experiential learning in community engagement, documentary storytelling, oral history, and project development. In addition to readings and case studies, students learn from practitioners and community experts across a range of humanities disciplines. Through respectful engagement with diverse ideas, perspectives, and experiences, students will develop publicly engaged projects in collaboration with community partners that reflect the importance of humanities knowledge to civic life.