Welcome!
This class will introduce undergraduates to some of the many ways to bring history to non-historians. Students will learn how our ideas about “heritage” and “the past” have changed over time, and how historians contribute to and shape public conversation. Students will also diversify their writing skills through assignments that challenge them to compose meaningful work for different audiences. Lastly, we will work cooperatively on community projects which directly benefit the public.
This class will engage with two public history projects with community partners: an oral history project about health and water in West Virginia, and an interpretive guide women on Smithfield Plantation.
Texts for this class:
Your readings come not just from public historians, but also from journalists, archaeologists, preservationists, architects, and other professionals who influence the field.
Besides the two books we will read in full, readings are posted in Canvas under “Files.” So is the syllabus, in case you need it. If you need a printed copy of anything, let me know. All readings are due the Wednesday of the week they are assigned.
I reserve the right to change these readings a week in advance. I usually only do this to better match the interests of students in the class, or if public history news arises that we should discuss.
Ramp Hollow: the Ordeal of Appalachia
Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present
Policies
This class adheres to university policies on academic honesty, plagiarism, and accommodation:
Virginia Tech welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. The University promotes efforts to provide equal access and a culture of inclusion without altering the essential elements of coursework. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers that may be due to disability, including but not limited to ADHD, chronic or temporary medical conditions, deaf or hard of hearing, learning disability, mental health, or vision impairment, please contact the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office (540-231-3788, ssd@vt.edu, or visit www.ssd.vt.edu). If you have an SSD accommodation letter, please meet with me privately during office hours as early in the semester as possible to deliver your letter and discuss your accommodations. You must give me reasonable notice to implement your accommodations, which is generally 5 business days and 10 business days for final exams.
The Undergraduate Honor Code pledge that each member of the university community agrees to abide by states:
“As a Hokie, I will conduct myself with honor and integrity at all times. I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor will I accept the actions of those who do.”
Students enrolled in this course are responsible for abiding by the Honor Code. A student who has doubts about how the Honor Code applies to any assignment is responsible for obtaining specific guidance from the course instructor before submitting the assignment for evaluation. Ignorance of the rules does not exclude any member of the University community from the requirements and expectations of the Honor Code.
For additional information about the Honor Code, please visit: https://www.honorsystem.vt.edu/
Honor Code Pledge for Assignments:
The Virginia Tech honor code pledge for assignments is as follows: “I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this assignment.”
The pledge is to be written out on all graded assignments at the university and signed by the student. The honor pledge represents both an expression of the student’s support of the honor code and an unambiguous acknowledgment that the student has, on the assignment in question, abided by the obligation that the Honor Code entails. In the absence of a written honor pledge, the Honor Code still applies to an assignment.
If you have questions or are unclear about what constitutes academic misconduct on an assignment, please speak with me. I take the Honor Code very seriously in this course. The normal sanction I will recommend for a violation of the Honor Code is an F* sanction as your final course grade. The F represents failure in the course. The “*” is intended to identify a student who has failed to uphold the values of academic integrity at Virginia Tech. A student who receives a sanction of F* as their final course grade shall have it documented on their transcript with the notation “FAILURE DUE TO ACADEMIC HONOR CODE VIOLATION.” You would be required to complete an education program administered by the Honor System in order to have the “*” and notation “FAILURE DUE TO ACADEMIC HONOR CODE VIOLATION” removed from your transcript. The “F” however would be permanently on your transcript.
Grades
Book papers (30%): Students will write about the two books we will read and discuss together. We will decide a few prompts during class discussion at least two weeks before the paper is due. The first paper on Ramp Hollow is worth 10%, and the second set about The Lost Museum are worth 5% each.
Transcribing Assignment (15%): Students will complete a transcription of either a World War II-era servicemen’s forms or an oral history and write a one-page reflection on it. We will discuss this more in class.
Class Participation (15%): This is a small class, so participation from everyone is necessary for successful discussion periods. This grade also includes your effort and consistency in dealing with community partners, if applicable to you. Admittedly, this grade is subjective and it is not an easy A component of your grade. Therefore, the most important thing you can do is be supportive, respectful and thoughtful of other students with your comments. Your contributions to discussion should demonstrate that you read for class and that you take the points of your colleagues into account. You are encouraged to come to office hours for further discussion or with any questions or concerns.
Reading Responses to Ramp Hollow and project packet (15%): Because the reading can be dense, these “quizzes” help you get the main ideas. You have infinite chances to reach the score you want on these, as long as you turn them in on time. Each is worth around 2 points.
Group project (25%): Students will build firsthand public history experience by working either with Smithfield Plantation on an antebellum history project, and Special Collections on an oral history project. This is a chance to learn or refine digital humanities skills, dive deeper into a research agenda, or try out fieldwork.
Schedule
All readings are due the Wednesday of the week for which they are listed.
Part 1: Understanding Public and Appalachian History
1.23/Week 1: Why does history matter? What roles do historians play in public life?
Some questions to think about while you’re reading:
What methods and technologies do public historians use?
What should be the responsibilities and priorities of a public history professional?
“Historians as Expert Witnesses,” AHA Today https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2017/historians-as-expert-witnesses-can-scholars-help-save-the-voting-rights-act
“One Man’s Epic Quest to Visit Every Former Slave Dwelling in the United States,” Smithsonian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/one-mans-epic-quest-to-visit-every-former-slave-dwelling-in-the-united-states-12080/
“Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration and Complicity in the Holocaust,” USHMM http://somewereneighbors.ushmm.org/#/exhibitions
1.28/Week 2: How does the public create and consume history?
How do public preconceptions about American history shape public history?
How does the pursuit of funding or profit change how history is interpreted?
Ramp Hollow, Preface and “Contemporary Ancestors”
Reading Response Due at 1 PM on February 1 (under Quizzes on Canvas)
2.4/Week 3: How do we talk about the tough stuff?
What should public historians do about omissions or lies in the historical record?
How should public historians address major divisions in current American society? Should we?
Ramp Hollow, “Mountaineers are Always Free”
Reading Response Due at 1 PM on February 8
Email me by February 8 to let me know which project you want to do.
2.11/Week 4: Who interprets history, besides public historians?
Who controls how history is told, how, and why?
How do organizations legitimize their historical arguments?
How can we democratize commemoration and history-telling?
Background Reading Project Packet Due at 1 PM on February 15 (under Quizzes in Canvas)
2.18/Week 5: How do we make boring/lame/hard/niche/complicated history meaningful?
What’s the relationship between tangible resources and intangible meanings?
How do people see exhibits or historic sites differently based on their background?
What’s the role of technology in making history more accessible?
Can members of the public become historical advocates?
Ramp Hollow, “Interlude: American Twilight”
Reading Response Due at 1 PM on February 23
2.25/Week 6: Where in the real world can we find public history ideas and principles? (Material Culture)
How do people in these industries influence their communities differently from museum professionals?
How can we communicate and cooperate between fields?
Transcribing Assignment Due March 1 at Midnight
3.4/Week 7: Where else in the real world can we find public history? (Oral History and Community Activism)
Ramp Hollow, “The Captured Garden,” “Negotiated Settlements”
Reading Response Due 1 PM on March 11
3.18 – Week 8: What have public historians been doing this whole time?
How do preexisting power relationships (gender, colonialism, race) determine what ends up on display?
What were the missions of the first museums in the United States?
What was the visitor experience like? What would they learn?
Paper Due March 23 at Midnight
3.25/Week 9: How do you choose what to say, and what to display, to the public?
How do collections define the museums that hold them?
What kind of people started the first American museums?
How do current museums resemble or differ from museums of the past?
Steven Lubar, Inside the Lost Museum, 1-59
4.1/Week 10: What can we learn from public history’s past?
How do museums fit into their surroundings as a community space?
Does this make them any more necessary?
Inside the Lost Museum, 60-109
4.8/Week 11: How do we (and should we) broaden public history’s role?
How has technology changed what public historians do?
How has increasing political polarization changed the public historian’s responsibilities?
Inside the Lost Museum, 110-146; 239-268
4.15/Week 12: How do we talk about the tough stuff, with each other?
“What Should We Do With Confederate Monuments?” AHA Today, https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2017/what-should-we-do-with-confederate-monuments
“Confronting the Past,” Gilder Lehrman Institute, https://glc.yale.edu/news/confronting-past-aha-forum
“The Manhattan Project: Interpreting Controversial History,” National Trust for Historic Preservation
PAPER DUE
Weeks 14-16, Project work