History - Public History Emphasis
Start your journey toward becoming a public historian with a bachelor's degree in public history.
Share Your Love of History with the World
Rooted in real-world learning, the growing major offers countless opportunities to expand your perspective and build your resume. Explore museums and historical sites in England and Central Europe during study abroad. Gain professional experience alongside public historians during an internship. And pursue a passion project during a seminar in public history course.
Classes throughout the major will provide you with a strong and diverse background in world history and will introduce you to the theories, concepts, methodologies, research methods, and historiographic traditions used by historians. Electives within the degree allow you to study the topics that most interest you and best align with your career goals. As part of a required capstone experience, you'll complete a major research project for presentation, enhancing your writing, reading, communication, and analytical skills.
Graduates of UW-Eau Claire's public history major are prepared for a wide range of career options, including work in historic preservation, museums, archives, cultural resource management, and contract history, as well as other occupations in the private sector or for government agencies. Whether your dream job is working as a small-exhibit coordinator at a museum or as an executive at a historical society or private company — our program will help you launch an interesting, rewarding, and successful career.
Program Details
A required internship will allow you to gain professional experience in the field, make valuable professional connections and build your historical knowledge — all while earning course credit. The Wisconsin Historical Society's Northern Field Services Office, which is located in the UWEC history department, helps students find placements in Wisconsin, while other partners help place interns across the nation. Internship sites range from local museums to archives, historical sites, public agencies, and private businesses.
Public history majors have a unique opportunity to learn about preservation and interpretation in Great Britain during a month-long, faculty led immersion experience that travels around the island. They can also choose to participate in a buddy program with the University of Winchester during the school year. These programs allow students to explore the history of another culture and its impact on the rest of the world while helping shape them into culturally competent historians.
Annual on-campus Career Conferences and a Non-Profit and Government Career Fair bring potential employers right to you. These events are excellent opportunities to network and submit your resume for current and future job openings.
All history majors at UWEC complete an independent research project as part of their senior capstone thesis. Many Blugolds also choose to participate in research collaborations with department faculty on both national and international topics. This work may lead to research presentations at local, state, and national conferences. It also will set you apart, especially when applying to graduate school or when pursuing careers requiring research skills and independent initiative.
Blugold Stories
I didn't really realize how much I liked history until I was out of high school. In high school, it is all about memorizing dates and events for tests, but the discipline is much more than that. I am drawn to people and their stories and experiences. Everyone sees events from a different perspective and understands it differently. Each variation and experience allows for something new to be understood.
First-generation college student Crystalina Peterson, a public history major, gained a number of unique experiences in her time at UWEC, including undergraduate research as a McNair scholar and peer diversity educator, to prepare her for graduate school and the professional industry. As a single parent and transfer student from UW-Eau Claire-Barron County, Crystalina knows firsthand the importance of having a solid support system and seeking campus resources in order to fully experience her undergraduate career and successfully obtain her bachelor's degree.
The best part of my major is that I had the opportunity to study history beyond the classroom. Studying abroad in Europe has allowed me to see history firsthand rather than only getting to read about it.
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Where can the public history program lead me after graduation?
The skills public history majors gain in research, analysis and writing are valued by a variety of businesses and public sector employers. Our graduates go on to work for government agencies as researchers, analysts or information processors. They also are employed at museums, libraries, historic preservation agencies or historic parks.
You may also choose to expand your career options by pursuing a master's degree in public history, a degree UW-Eau Claire is proud to offer.
Example Careers
- Public historian
- Museum curator
- Researcher
- Analyst
- Information processor
- Park ranger
- State records archivist
- Consultant
- Coordinator of library development
The curriculum within the public history emphasis bachelor's degree program at UW-Eau Claire will introduce you to the theory and practice of a variety of history-related pursuits, as well as career options available to public historians. Prior to graduation, you'll complete a seminar in public history, a capstone thesis and an internship in the field. These experiences provide you with professional real-world experience and will prepare you well for your chosen career path.
Here are a few courses in History - Public History Emphasis at UW-Eau Claire.
HIST 124
World History to 1500
How global processes such as the spread of agriculture, the growth of long-distance commerce, the rise of cities, the establishment of empires, and the development of religions shaped the lives of men and women from 10,000 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E.
HIST 386
Introduction to Public History
This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of a variety of history-related pursuits known collectively as public history because they are primarily aimed at audiences outside the university. Students will learn about a range of career options available to public historians, as well as the special challenges that they confront.
HIST 370
History of the Family in America
Evolution of the American family from colonial times to the present. Emphasis on child raising, gender roles, the economic function of the family, the emergence of adolescence, the importance of kinship, and marriage practices.
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