Public history is a vibrant area of historical practice concerned with popular interest in the past and the ways that history is presented to public audiences at historic sites, museums, and in other public forums. Public historians care for historical materials, create and deliver interpretive programs, and help lay audiences explore the past and understand its lessons for the present.

The Graduate Certificate in Public History introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of public history; surveys careers in the field; and examines methods of engaging public audiences in the context of contemporary challenges.

Students who complete the certificate will develop marketable skills, be competitive for entry-level public history positions, and have greater versatility as history professionals.

Internships: 
Students in the program will receive hands-on experience and training during a one-semester internship with a museum, historic site, historical society, or historic preservation organization in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. These community partners include: 

• American Saddlebred Museum
• Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate
• Blue Grass Trust Kentucky Historical Society
• Camp Nelson National Monument (NPS)
• Faulkner Morgan Archive
• Kentucky Historical Society
• Lexington History Museum
• Mary Todd Lincoln House
• Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
• Filson Historical Society
• Waveland State Historic Site

Curriculum & Requirements: 
The Graduate Certificate in Public History builds on UK’s strengths in oral history, archives, historic preservation, memory studies, and digital history to offer a specialized, interdisciplinary program of study that students can pursue in combination with an M.A. or Ph.D. in history, a Master of Historic Preservation, or, with the approval of the certificate director, any other graduate program.

The program requires 12 credit hours of courses that blend classroom and applied learning: 

• HIS 583/HP 583: Introduction to Public History (3 credit hours) 
• 600 or 700-level HIS reading or research seminar (3 credit hours) that focuses on the history of race, gender, and/or the history of underrepresented communities 
• HP 699: Internship (3 credit hours) 

1 course in public history practice (3 credit hours), choose from: 

• HIS 670: Digital History 
• HIS 669: Oral History 
• 500 or 600-level HP courses

Questions? 
Contact: 
Amy Murrell Taylor
Director of Public History Certificate
amtaylor1@uky.edu