TRENT UNIVERSITY
Department of History
HIST-CAST 3072H — Public History II
Instructor: Michael Eamon
E-mail: michaeleamon@trentu.ca
Location: Traill College, Scott House, Room 102
Office Hours: Thursdays, 4 to 5 PM, by appointment.
Tuesdays and Thursdays
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
22 June to 30 July
Course Catalogue Description: “Confronting history in real life. Issues in the practice
of history outside the academy: archives, film, the courts, business, public policy,
heritage tourism, the schools. The Canadian experience in wider context.”
Goals:
 To acquire an understanding of the multiple facets of public history including
television, Internet and other media;
 To gain an awareness of the internal tensions amongst public historians as well as
external conflicts with “academic” history;
 To obtain an awareness of the Cultural Resource Management and develop skills
to evaluate historical/cultural significance;
 To attain an understanding of the political and social construction requisite to
public history;
 To gain an appreciation for the current and future challenges of public history.
Expectations and Evaluation:
 Participation
15% of Final Mark (Includes attending classes and field trips, making
meaningful contributions to class discussions and presentation of readings
and first assignment).
 Assignment #1: Evaluating Historical Significance
20% of Final Mark
 Assignment #2: Challenges in Public History
35% of Final Mark
 In Class Exam
30% of Final Mark
Assignment Summaries
Assignment #1: Evaluating Historical Significance
Choose an historical resource. Briefly describe the resource (i.e. built heritage,
archaeological artifact, site of a past event, etc.). Evaluate the resource from multiple
points of view, i.e. past/present use, historical significance, aesthetic or other lasting
value. In no more than 1000 words write a recommendation why or why not your
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resource should be deemed significant and of lasting historical and cultural value. The
report shall be written according to the style and methods discussed in class.
Assignment #2: Challenges in Public History
Select a facet of public history (i.e. public commemoration; museums and historic sites,
history and law, historical interpretation, movie and documentaries, historical websites,
etc.). Using no less than four examples (from different historic sites, movies etc.) discuss
current trends in your chosen facet of public history. Each example shall be
contextualized with a brief summary, description of location and primary activities and
linked thematically with the greater challenge(s) being faced. Write a 1500- to 2000word research paper which shall be written according to the style and methods discussed
in class.
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Readings: All of the course readings can be found online through the Trent University
Library website, or on reserve at the Bata Library. This has been done for your
convenience both to make the course materials more accessible and less expensive.
Readings are a requirement for the course. Please ensure that you read, or download
these articles well in advance of class. If you have any problems in accessing the
readings please contact me now. Being unable to access the readings the night before
class will not be seen as valid excuse for not doing the required work.
Deadline Policy: To be counted as meeting the deadline, assignments must be handed in
in person to the instructor at the beginning of class on the stipulated due date. No first
term assignments will be accepted after 30 July. No extensions will be granted. No
make up will be allowed for assignments or exams missed.
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is
an extremely serious academic offense and carries penalties varying from failure in an
assignment to suspension from the University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for
dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out in Trent University’s Academic
Dishonesty Policy which is printed in the University Calendar.
Access to Instruction: It is Trent University’s intent to create an inclusive learning
environment. If a student has a disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she
may need accommodations to succeed in this course, the student should contact the
Disability Services Office (BL Suite 109, 748-1281, disabilityservices@trentu.ca) as
soon as possible. Complete text can be found under Access to Instruction in the
Academic Calendar.
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CLASS SCHEDULE 22 JUNE TO 29 JULY 2010
1) The World of Public History: A Review
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Topics to be Covered: Commemoration; Historic Sites and Museums, Interpretation,
Archives, Public Historians.
Readings:
Veronica Strong-Boag, “Experts on Our Own Lives: Commemorating Canada at the
Beginning of the 21st Century,” The Public Historian 31,1 (2009): 46–68.
 Introduction and Discussion of Final Assignment: Challenges in Public History
2) Cultural Resource Management
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Topics to be Covered: What is a Cultural Resource?; Evaluating CRs; Protection of CRs;
Conservation; Preservation and Presentation.
Readings:
Parks Canada, Cultural Resource Management Policy,
http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/pc/poli/princip/sec3.aspx
 Introduction and Discussion of Assignment #1: Evaluating Historical
Significance
3) Whose History? Multiculturalism and Public History
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Topics to be Covered: What History is Commemorated and at What Level; Purposes of
Multicultural Commemoration; Questions Over Who is Doing the Commemorations;
First Nations History.
Readings:
Ruth B. Phillips, “Disrupting Past Paradigms: The National Museum of the American
Indian and the First Peoples Hall at the Canadian Museum of Civilization,” The
Public Historian 28,2 (2006): 75-80.
Margaret, Conrad, Jocelyn Létourneau and David Northrup, “Canadians and Their Pasts:
An Exploration in Historical Consciousness,” The Public Historian 31, 1 (2009):
15–34.
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Project Naming Website: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/inuit/index-e.html
4) CANADA DAY
Thursday, 1 July 2010
 Peterborough Multicultural Festival, Del Crary Park
(Attendance Optional)
5) Movies, T.V. and Public History
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Topics to be Covered: Historical Fact and Fiction; The History and Legacy of the
Heritage Minute; Documentaries; History’s Portrayal in Popular Culture.
Readings:
Andrée Gendreau, “Museums and Media: A View from Canada,” The Public Historian
31,1 (2009): 35–45.
Simon Schama, “Fine-Cutting Clio,” The Public Historian 25,3 (2003): 15-25.
Natalie Zemon Davis, “Movie or Monograph? A Historian/Filmaker’s Perspective,” The
Public Historian 25,3 (2003): 45-48.
Historica-Dominion Institute Minutes: http://www.histori.ca/minutes
6) Public History in the Digital Age
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Topics to be Covered: Virtual Exhibitions: Pros and Cons; Web 2.0 and History;
Museums and the Web; PDAs and Podcasts in the Museum.
Readings:
Michael Eamon, “A ‘Genuine Relationship with the Actual:’ New Perspectives on
Primary Sources, History and the Internet in the Classroom,” The History Teacher
39,3 (2006): http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ht/39.3/eamon.html
Jim Wilson, “The Best Guide May Be In Your Purse,” New York Times 13 March 2010.
– on reserve.
A Real Companion and Friend: The Diary of William Lyon Mackenzie King Website:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/king/index-e.html
The Digital Vaults Website: http://www.digitalvaults.org/
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7) FIELD TRIP (Parks Canada)
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
8) Who is Doing Public History? And Why?
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Topics to be Covered: Journalists as Historians; Local Historians and Academics; Law,
Truth and Reconciliation; Historica and the Dominion Institute
Readings:
Robert R. Wyeneth, “The Power of Apology and the Process of Historical
Reconciliation,” The Public Historian 23,3 (2001): 9-38.
Historica-Dominion Institute (read about merger of two organizations)
http://www.historica-dominion.ca/en/about#mandate
Biography of Pierre Berton:
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA00
00707
Biography of Charlotte Gray: http://www.charlottegray.ca/about.html
9) CLASS PRESENTATIONS: Assignment #1 Due
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
10) Future of Public History
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Topics to be Covered: Future of Museums; Web and Other Media; Rise of Infotainment.
Readings:
Patrick W. O’Bannon, “Nothing Succeeds Like Succession: Ponderings on the Future of
Public History,” The Public Historian 24,3 (2002): 9-16.
Cary Carson, “The End of History Museums: What’s Plan B?,” The Public Historian
30,4 (2008): 9-27.
11) Guest Speakers TBA
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
12) FINAL CLASS
Thursday, 29 July 2010
 Final Assignment Due
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** FINAL EXAM **
Friday, 30 June 2010
Time and Place: TBA