Certificate in Public History
Develops skills in museum studies, oral history, digital history, historic preservation, archival management, and more
This graduate-level certificate program combines the strength of the University's history faculty and professional staff at nearby historical institutions offers graduate students an excellent environment for public history training.
Available to any MA or PhD student on the UMass Amherst campus, the graduate certificate in Public History develops skills in museum studies, oral history, digital history, historic preservation, archival management, and other fields within the larger scope of public history.
A graduate certificate in Public History is granted to students who complete the public history foundation seminar (History 659), two courses in a defined area of practice (ideally including at least one course in another department or discipline, to strengthen interdisciplinary knowledge), and an internship or internships reflecting 300 hours of hands-on experience. These three seminars count toward the overall degree requirements of students pursuing either the MA or the PhD in history; put another way, public history students concentrate their 600-level electives in three courses related to public history practice.