Public History
Public historians present, interpret, and help to preserve history in a variety of venues and diverse formats. Specifically, public historians strive to apply their historical skills, knowledge, and insights in public settings and for public audiences not often associated with history in an academic setting, such as archives, museums, historic sites, public and private agencies and corporations, and non-profit organizations, to name only a few.
Public History Opportunities
At Stephen F. Austin State University students have the opportunity to develop these public history skills in a number of ways. Located southeast of Dallas and northeast of Houston in deep East Texas, Nacogdoches is ripe with many internship opportunities. As the only university in the area with a public history program, students commonly find positions or opportunities to work with museums, archives, and historic sites, as well as to find work on preservation grants and with historical societies, among other things. Our professors are intimately associated with the public history program and students are able to benefit from diverse classes and faculty expertise, ranging from memory, to the material world, to preservation, to commemoration, to cultural resources management, to public policy, to museums, to archives, to collections management, to oral history, to local history, and more. Put differently, our faculty members here at SFA are as diverse as the students they work with and are well qualified and eager to serve.
Public History Training
Stephen F. Austin State University's Public History Program strives to train students as historians - historians who deal with a passionate, engaged, and extremely diverse public audience. We offer broad training for practicing, presenting, and preserving history outside the traditional university or classroom setting. Students are trained in historical methods, with an emphasis on delivering historical scholarship in a variety of forms. Besides the many unique courses offered in the public history program, students are also trained in courses designed to enhance their history skills and knowledge, such as historiography and seminars. Students trained in public history often find jobs in such varying fields as archives and libraries, government agencies, National Parks, historic houses, living history sites, corporate consulting and history, historic preservation, urban planning, cultural resources management, museums, historical societies, documentary editing and film, and journalism. We are listed in the NCPH's Guide to Public History Programs. Here is the one-page pdf description of our program. In our academic program we strive to exceed the best practices as outlined by the National Council on Public History in its 2015 guide to public history education, the Public History Navigator.
Highlighted Jobs/Internships/Opportunities/Conferences
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Here is a timely article reminding us of why to keep your CV up-to-date and think creatively about the job search process: Caroline Klibanoff writes "Getting Set Up for Your Museum Job Search" (Feb. 1, 2019) for the National Emerging Museum Professional Network.
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The Inclusive Historian's Handbook (by NCPH and AASLH) will be a free digital resource publicly available in August 2019.
- WE WENT ON THE ROAD IN MAY 2019: 20+ historic sites, 10 days, 2 vans, and unmeasurable learning opportunities - Interpreting and Preserving Texas History.
- The Nantucket Historical Association regularly offers the paid opportunities that also include housing each semester so if you can't do it this semester, consider it in the future.
- The Texas Historical Commission is looking for qualified persons to help staff and lead programs and preservation at its historic sites in East Texas. In other words, they've put the word out they would like to interview SFASU graduates! http://www.thc.texas.gov/about-us/job-opportunities
- The Hispanic Association of Colleges and University offers a National Internship Program (HNIP) with federal agencies each spring, summer, and fall semesters. The sponsoring agencies include the Library of Congress. These positions are open to all students regardless of ethnicity, race, etc. as long as you have completed your freshman year, have a 3.0 or higher GPA, and are enrolled in a degree seeking program.
- The Smithsonian Gardens is accepting applications for its Summer and Fall Internships with February 1 and May 15 deadlines respectively. This is a great opportunity for students "studying horticulture, landscape architecture, museum studies, or other related fields," as well as an opportunity to work for one of the nation's premier institutions. For more details and how to apply, visit the Smithsonian Gardens' Internship website.
- Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site, Texas Historical Commission, Internships. Option I/Collections: Interns may work on one or more of the following projects: packing and storing artifacts; cataloging and researching the museum collection; taking digital photographs of artifacts; re-housing and cleaning artifacts; data entry of collections records; and organizing site resources. Option II/Interpretation: Interns may work on one or more of the following projects: develop themed tours of historic house; develop engaging programming and events for the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site; develop off-site programming and outreach for schools and other community organizations; and develop multi-sensory tours and/or accessible tours for groups with various abilities. This is an unpaid position. Submit resume, official transcript and the completed Texas Historical Commission internship application, found here: http://www.thc.state.tx.us/about-us/job-openings/internship-program to: Texas Historical Commission Staff Services, Attn: Internship Program P.O. Box 12276 Austin, TX 78711. Deadline is January 1st for spring semester, May 1st for summer semester, and September 1st for fall semester.