Course Syllabus – Fall 2007

Course Number and Title:           HIST 3340 (Survey of Public History)

11 a.m. MWF; OLD MAIN 101    

Instructor

Information

Name:  Donald S. Frazier, Ph.D. 

Contact Information: 

• Office: Old Maine 203 
• Ph:  (325) 793-3861 (o) / 670-0848 (h) / 572-3974 Texas Frontier Heritage & Cultural Center
• Email:  dfrazier@mcm.edu / donfrazier6@suddenlink.net

Office Hours: 

• Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: 8:30-9:00; 10-11 a.m.
• Thursdays: 8:30-9:30; 10:30-Noon
• Tuesdays:  no office hours

Course Overview

Catalog Description:  Introduction to the discipline of public history, including its methodology and literature. Students will be introduced to the theoretical background of public history and its principal disciplines: historic preservation, museum studies, archives and records management, historical interpretation, oral history, and documentary editing.

Course Overview:  This course serves as an advanced introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of Public History.  Students will gain a broad, yet sophisticated, understanding of Public History that will enable them to identify and pursue specialized areas of interest.  This will be achieved primarily by examining the American public history process and developing some of the necessary skills to practice Public History.  The main topics to be addressed in this course include:

-- The philosophy and history of public history.
-- The role of the historian in the myriad fields of Public History.
-- Methodologies and practices of Public History. 

A special effort will be made to set aside time each week for discussion.  Students are encouraged to take this opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, offer impressions related to the course.  Also, if schedules can be arranged, several guest speakers and field trips will allow students to view the activities of Public Historians as they are practiced in the field.

Pre-requisites:   None

Course Objectives/Student Learning Outcomes:  

• Students will demonstrate familiarity with a variety of historic sites and records repositories

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of the different public sector roles played by historians

• Students will be able to identify opportunities for historians to contribute to public life

• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the economics of historic preservation and the role of history and heritage based non-profits in the community

• Students will gain an understanding of the interplay of publishing, museums, libraries, archives, tourism, capital, fund raising, and economic realities in the success of public history ventures

Course Materials and Resources: 

Required Course Materials:

• None

Optional or Recommended Course Materials:

• Internet Connection

AEC and Other Educational Support Resources: 

• You have the entire range of McWhiney Foundation programs and assets at your disposal

Course Policies:

Attendance:  Attendance is Mandatory. Only official University absences are recognized as excused. Unexcused students missing tests can not take a make-up. IT IS THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL DOCUMENTATION OF EXCUSED ABSENCES AND TO BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THEM FOR THE INSTRUCTOR UPON REQUEST.  Every unexcused absence over 2 will lower your final grade 10%, unexcused students missing tests can not take a make-up.

A reminder:

• If you are sick, a doctor's note is required

• If there is a death in the family, an obit is required

• If there are other circumstances, a note in writing is required

• Makeup exams will not be administered except under the above conditions      

Grade Determination:  Your final grade in the course will be determined as follows:

Discussions (20%)

Mid-term (20%)

Research Assignment (40%)

Final Exam (20%)

Make-up Work:  By arrangement with clear evidence of appropriateness on the part of the student

+/- Grade System: 

The following grading scale will be observed: 

A:  93-100; A-: 90-92;

B+: 88-89; B=83-87; B-=80-82;

C+: 78-79; C: 73-77; C-:70-72;

D+: 68-69; D: 63-67; D-: 60-62;

F: less than 60.

Academic Dishonesty:  Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Students must turn in their own work and if ANY evidence of plagiarism exists, the student will receive a "0" on the assignment, and may be asked to withdraw from the class (at the instructor's discretion). Plagiarism is defined as either writing the words on another author (whether a fellow student or a published author) as one's own, OR using the ideas of another author without giving the proper credit (citing your source). If you have any doubts or questions, come see me.

Special Needs:     McMurry University abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which stipulates that no otherwise qualified student shall be denied the benefits of an education “solely by reason of a handicap”.  If you have a documented disability that may impact your performance in this class and for which you may be requesting accommodation, you must be registered with and provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office, located in Old Main Room 102.   Arrangements will be made for students needing special accommodations.

Major Projects, Required Activities, and Assignments:  

In Class Discussions

As part of their on-going education, students will conduct internet-based research on different aspects of public history and present these findings in class.  Based on this research, students will build a portfolio of resources and site information that will then be used to answer questions on their final exams.  This portfolio will be divided into the relevant sections covered in class. 

• Conduct a SWOT Analysis and Locate a Form 990 on-line;
• Locate websites of different kinds of history museums and present findings in class;
• prepare questions for the museum practitioners;
• Locate websites of Archives and Libraries and present findings in class;
• prepare questions for the museum and archive practitioners;
• Find websites of historic preservation projects, discuss them in class;
• prepare questions for the historic preservation practitioners;
• Find websites of heritage tourism projects, discuss them in class;
• prepare questions for the heritage tourism practitioners;
• Find Examples of site-based publishing efforts and present them in class;
• prepare a brief survey to use to interview historic site book store managers;
• Find Examples of historic sites using living history interpreters and present them in class;
• Find Examples of other interpretive techniques and present them in class;
• Develop questions for fund raising practitioners;
• Develop questions for non-profit board members.

Research Assignment:

Students will then write a professional proposal for a McWhiney Foundation supervised public history project that includes:

·       A brief narrative identifying the need for the project and justifying its implementation;

·       A SWOT analysis or other relevant analytical technique;

·        a budget for development and implementation;

·       Vendor bids;

·       Community benefit analysis and narrative;

·        a project development and implementation timeline;

·       Sources for potential funding;

Mid-term

 Students will answer 50 multiple choice questions over public history concepts as presented in class

Final Exam

Students will answer 50 multiple choice questions over public history concepts as presented in class