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Though most students in the Public History Program are students pursuing an MA or PhD in History, students in any graduate program on campus can pursue the graduate certificate in Public History, making for a rich interdisciplinary environment. Below is a list of students who are currently working toward the Certificate in Public History.

Also below are PhD affiliates. On occasion, students who come to UMass to complete an MA in History with the Graduate Certificate in Public History elect to remain at UMass for the PhD. Students also come to UMass for their PhD after having studied public history elsewhere. Some of these students commit one of their three doctoral fields to Public History, and/or pursue dissertations that relate to the history of public history practice; others keep a hand in by participating in projects or contract work, and still others simply remain a resource in public history to their fellow students. Some of these PhD students are completing traditional dissertations while launching careers as public historians. Whatever direction their work takes after completing their certificates, we enjoy ongoing relationships with these students, and consider them part of our larger community of public historians on the UMass campus.

This page is intended to give a sense of the range and focus of work and career objectives among students in the Public History program. You may write to current students via email or care of the Department of History, Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts,161 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA 01003.

Curious about what kind of careers you can have with training from UMass public history? Check out our public history alumni profiles.

Certificate Students

Masters Student, Public History Student | Public History Assistant 

Headshot of Master's student Jillian Gochinski
Jillian Gochinski is a graduate student in the History Department at UMass Amherst.
Headshot of Master's student Jillian Gochinski

Masters Student, Public History Student

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Taylor Hayes is a graduate student in the History Department at UMass Amherst.
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Ph.D. Student, Public History Student

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Rebecca McClung is a graduate student in the Department of History at UMass Amherst.
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Masters Student, Public History Student

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Laura McCullagh is a Graduate Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Masters Student, Public History Student

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Melina Olivas is a graduate student in the Department of History at UMass Amherst.
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Masters Student, Public History Student | Communications Coordinator

Emma O'Neill-Dietel in a bright floral shirt in front of a blurred city street background
Emma O'Neill-Dietel is a graduate student in the History Department at UMass Amherst.
Emma O'Neill-Dietel in a bright floral shirt in front of a blurred city street background

Ph.D. Student, Public History Student

Headshot of Ph.D. student Becca Lo Presti
Becca Lo Presti is a current Ph.D. student.
Headshot of Ph.D. student Becca Lo Presti

Masters Student, Public History Student

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Liliana Rodriguez is a graduate student in the History Department at UMass Amherst.
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PhD Affiliates

Ph.D. Candidate (ABD), Public History Student

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Ross Caputi is a Ph.D. student in Modern U.S. and Italian history, with special interests in the U.S. wars in Iraq and the social and cultural history of southern Italy.
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Ph.D. Student

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Katlyn Durand is a Ph.D. Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Public History Student

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reid ellefson-frank
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Ph.D. Student

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Maya González (she/they) is a PhD student studying the history of the Yiddish language, radical Jewish politics, and genocide memory in the United States. She holds an MA in History and a certificate in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BA in History and Jewish History from the University of California Santa Cruz. Maya has worked at the Yiddish Book Center, the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the JFCS Holocaust Center in San Francisco, and the Institute of Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at UMass Amherst.
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Ph.D. Candidate (ABD)

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Cheryl Harned's research focuses on material culture and the practice of collecting, especially in regards to the relationship between objects, memory, emotions, and display at the birth of the modern museum movement.
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Public History Student

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Olivia Haynes is a Graduate Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Public History Student

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stacie klinowski
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Public History Student

Headshot of Ph.D. candidate Nicole O'Connell
Nicole O'Connell is a Graduate Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
Headshot of Ph.D. candidate Nicole O'Connell

Ph.D. Student, Public History Student

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Elizabeth Pangburn is a Ph.D. Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) | Internships and Career Advisor

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Alison Russell is a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in history.
A color photograph of Alison Russell wearing a blazer and smiling against a neutral background

Ph.D. Student, Public History Student

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Jessica Scott is a Ph.D. Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Ph.D. Candidate (ABD), Public History Student

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Jaehee Seol is a PhD student studying modern Chinese history.
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Ph.D. Candidate (ABD), Public History Student

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Guanhua Tan is a Ph.D. Student in the History Department at UMass Amherst
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Public History Student

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abby thomsen
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Ph.D. Candidate (ABD), Public History Student

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Emily Whitted (she/her) is a doctoral candidate studying early American history, material culture, and the history of technology.
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