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PUBLIC HISTORY SEMINAR History 587 Spring 2006
Dr. Jon Hunner Office hours: Wednesday 1-3 pm
Breland Hall 242 646-2490 jhunner@nmsu.edu
The Public History Seminar is an introduction to the various ways we collect, preserve, interpret, and present our nation’s history, culture, and heritage. Over the course of the semester, you will have an opportunity to explore various fields in public history and work on specific projects in those fields. We also will examine historical research methodology. This seminar will give you a broad exposure to public history as well as a foundation in traditional historical research.
Weekly Schedule Topics, Readings, and Assignments
Jan. 25-- Introduction to the seminar. Explanation of syllabus and discussion of traditional and public history.
Feb. 1—The Audience for Public History. Readings: Presence of the Past, vii-114. Due: Goals for you as a public historian.
Feb. 8 – Historical Methodology and Historiography. Readings: Presence of the Past, 115-231. Due: Curriculum vita and response to the Request for Proposals (RFPs).
Feb. 15— Making Nearby History. Readings: Public History (PH), xiii-40; Preserving Western History, (PWH), 3-10, 97-116, 195-233. Due: Book review (3-5 pages) of Presence of the Past.
Feb. 22—Archives and Historical Editing. Readings: PH, 57-74, 87-124, 157-185.
March 1 – Museums and Historical Exhibits. Readings: P.H., 187-202, 257-278, 295-324; PWH, 45-65, 89-96. Due: budget and schedule for your semester project.
March 8-- Historic Preservation and the National Park Service. Readings: P.H., 129-140, 279-294; PWH, 66-73, 117-158, 283-297, 310-340. Due: review of a local historical museum exhibit.
March 15 – Oral History. Readings: P.H., 203-216; “Preserving Community/ Cuentos del Varrio Oral History Manual” on Public History website, PWH, 74-88. Due: Physical description and short history of a significant building on campus.
March 20—Spring Break
March 29 – Historical Archeology. Readings: P.H., 233-255; PWH¸17-43, 159-194, 348-365. Due: Written progress report on semester project.
April 5 – Public History and Educational Programs. Readings: PH, 141-155; PWH, 11-16; Time traveling guide on Public History web site.
April 12– Public history for businesses and governments. Readings: P.H., 43-56, 75-86, 217-228, 325-396. Due: reaction paper to one of the fields of public history discussed since 3/8.
April 19– Environmental History and Heritage Tourism. Readings: PWH, 235-281, 298-309, 341-347, 366-380. Due: paper on strategy about job hunting.
April 26– The Web, the Power of Place, and the power of Powerpoint. Class held at Zuhl Library Web Classroom. Readings: articles on reserve at Zuhl Library. Due: bibliography of web sites relating to your semester project.
May 3— Future of public history. Readings: Website list to be distributed; PWH, 389-395. Due: an itemized bill for the time spent doing your semester project. Due: 3-5 page reaction paper discussing culture and what public historians should do with culture.
May 8—6 pm – 8 pm. Final Exam. Powerpoint Presentations of semester projects. Due: the deliverable for your semester project.
Required Readings
James B. Gardner and Peter S. La Paglia, eds., Public History: Essays for the Field (Malabar, Florida: Kreiger Publishing, 1999).
Andrew Gulliford, Preserving Western History (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005).
Roy Rosenzweig and David Thelen, Presence of the Past (New York: Coumbia University Press, 1998).
All assignments (except the final powerpoint presentation) need to be sent to
me by e-mail on noon of that day. Please attach the assignment as a Word or
Wordperfect file and name the file “your last name.month.date”. For example, if I sent in
an assignment on April 19, the file’s name would read: “Hunner.4.19”
Each of you will lead the classroom discussion once. Let me know which week you want.
You will need to meet with me before the classroom session to discuss the discussion.
Grading
Participation in all classroom discussions 20%
Leading one week’s discussion. 5%
Written assignments in bold type (5% each) 30%
Book review of Presence of the Past 10%
Semester Project 30%
Powerpoint Presentation 5%
Course Guidelines
Attendance will be noted and lack of attendance will affect your final grade.
Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade for each day they are late.
Incomplete grades will be given only if the student has passed the first half of the
semester and can not complete the semester due to documented illness or family crisis.
Students with disabilities are encouraged to identify their status by providing
documentation to the Office of Disabled Students which will then provide
recommendations to me.
Academic misconduct in this course will cause the student to fail the course. The Student
Code of Conduct in the NMSU Student Handbook details academic misconduct.
Plagiarism in particular is a vile form of academic misconduct. Plagiarism is the
turning in of assignments that you did not produce without acknowledging who really
produced them. Penalties are severe including a grade of “F” for the semester.
Request for Proposals (RFP) --Public History Program, Spring 2006
Please hand in a response to the RFP that states which project you want to work on. You should briefly describe why you want to work on that project and why you are the best person in the class to do the work. Responses to the RFP are due on Feb. 8th by noon. Also, please list in your response which project is your second choice. Your semester project will entail approximately three hours per week of work.
Kent Hall, NMSU University Museum— The Kent Hall Museum is working on an
exhibit on the artifacts that they curate on El Camino Real. They would like someone to
do preliminary research in the documents and photos that they have for inclusion into the
exhibit. You will be working with staff of the University Museum and graduate students
from the Soc/Anthro Department. Contact: Prof. Ed Staski, 646-4536. Deliverable: a
report on your work and a letter from Prof. Staski.
The New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum is in the process of creating a variety of new educational programming. This project would allow one or more students to get involved in designing new thematic tours of museum exhibits for school age children. Students will work directly with the education department and other museum curators to develop innovative activities and themes that will actively engage young visitors. Contact Leslie Bergloff -- 522-4100. Deliverable-- a written thematic tour, related hands-on materials and classroom activities that have been created with the New Mexico Department of Educations Benchmarks and Standards in mind. Additionally, students will conduct the actual tour for museum staff and volunteers.
National History Day is an exciting educational program dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of history in secondary schools. The N.M. Humanities Council sponsors NHD in New Mexico. The event is sponsored locally through the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, the NMSU History Department, and the NMSU Library. College students can get involved by providing research assistance to participating students and teachers. This involves spending time in a local classroom, providing your contact information to students and helping them as needed, and attending all scheduled meetings including the regional contests on April 18th & 19th. Leslie Bergloff, 522-4100, the regional coordinator, will supervise research assistants. A list of specific requirements is available. Deliverable—a letter from Leslie Bergloff evaluating your participation.
Farm and Ranch Museum. Public History students can come to the museum and be trained as interpreters and participate in leading tours. Interpreters interact with visitors by presenting and demonstrating accurate historical and scientific information and activities that connect the present generation to the history of farming, ranching and rural life in New Mexico. Interpreters communicate excitement for museum resources and design presentations that inform, entertain and enlighten visitors. Duties include conducting tours of museum exhibits, teaching, public presentations, assisting with educational activities, engaging visitors in informal conversation about museum exhibits, answering questions, helping ensure the dignity, comfort, and safety of visitors, communicating with visitors of all ages and diverse cultures, and helping visitors have a positive experience in the museum. There is also an opportunity to participate in our Living History program as a costumed interpreter. Students should plan on being in the museum two mornings a week. Contact Leslie Bergloff, 522-4100. Deliverable—a letter from Leslie Bergloff evaluating your participation.
NMSU Historic Preservation. NMSU received a grant from the Getty Foundation to promote historic preservation on campus. The NMSU Architect’s Office needs the architectural drawings of NMSU buildings to be compiled. These drawings are located at the Architect’s Office, The Rio Grande Historical Collection, and the El Paso Public Library- Special Collections. Contact Greg Walke, 636-1016. Deliverable—the report for the Architect’s Office and a letter from Mr. Walke evaluating your participation.
Silver Spike in Deming. The city of Deming and the NM Historic Preservation Division would like research done on the history of the Silver Spike that marked the completion of the second transcontinental railroad in 1881. They are interested in where the spike was, when it was driven, and text for a historical marker. Contact—Rick Gutierrez, CLG coordinator for Deming, 546-8848. Deliverable—the report that you prepare for Deming and letter from Mr. Gutierrez evaluating your participation.
Las Cruces Downtown Revitalizaiton. To nominate buildings in downtown Las Cruces that were surveyed by the Public History Program in 2002 and deemed eligible for listing on the State Register of Historic Places. Contact: Heather Pollard, Executive Director or Susan Lowell, Assistant Director. Phone/Email/Address: 525-1955, lcdt@zianet.com. Deliverable—the nominations and a letter from LCDR evaluating your work.
Las Esperanzas projects
1) For the new park at Spruce and Mesquite Streets, we would like to make a CD of oral interviews which go with each mural. The goal would be something like those museum tours where you rent a CD player to talk about the current exhibit. Alma D'Arte conducted oral interviews to get to the material that formed the basis for the panel, so they would have names and contacts for each mural.
2) Professor Weisiger's survey data includes information on each property in the Mesquite Historic District. It would be wonderful to have this information on either a new or the existing Las Esperanzas website in database format so people could search a property and see a picture and information on the house. We'd like to start there and eventually give property owners a chance to add notations about their own personal recollections and historical information about the house on the website.
3) We would like to create a walking tour in the Mesquite District similar to the one that the city does, with numbered signs and a pamphlet (or perhaps a CD like the one mentioned in proposal #1) which would let folks do a self-guided tour of the district. There is some source material from the historical society on homes in the district and a very outdated brochure, but nothing current. We could also arrange oral interviews with residents for this project. For the Las Esperanzas projects, contact Jeanne Abkes, 524-3836. Deliverable—the report or text that you prepare for Las Esperanzas and a letter from Ms. Abkers evaluating your participation.