HISTORY-327-elyssa.ford-2026-08-31-11-19-52
Below is a syllabus template that includes WSU's required syllabus elements. Please complete all items highlighted in yellow.
Title of Course Introduction to Public History
Prefix and Number HISTORY 327
Semester and Year [tbd]
Number of Credit Hours 3
Prerequisites none
Course Details
Day and Time: [tbd]
Meeting Location: [tbd]
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor Name: [tbd]
Instructor Contact Information: [office location, phone, email] [tbd]
Instructor Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
TA Name: [tbd]
TA Contact Information: [office location, phone, email]: [tbd]
TA Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
Course Description
An introduction to the field of public history through the study of museums, libraries, archives, historic preservation, and other areas where historians can work.
Course Materials
Books: James Gardner and Peter LaPaglia, editors, Public History: Essays from the Field (Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 2004). [Available at for free on Internet Archive; ISBN 9781575240213]
Other Materials: You also are required to read (and sometimes to print and bring to class) other assigned readings and activities; these are available at no cost to the student. These are posted on the course’s Canvas site and are clearly identified in the Course Schedule.
Fees: none
|
Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:) |
Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes | Assessment of the Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Explain the various disciplines within the public history field and | classroom discussion and discussion question responses about the readings | participation & preparedness portion of the grade |
| Identify the similarities and differences within the work across public history disciplines | classroom discussion and discussion question responses about the readings | participation & preparedness portion of the grade |
| Demonstrate competency in hands-on professional practice in the public history field |
engage in a series of hands-on, profession-based activities |
exhibit evaluation paper, newspaper project, small projects, final project - all of these portions of the grade |
| Dates | Lesson Topic | Assignment | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Week 1 |
intro to PH and museums |
Lyon, Nix, and Shrum, Ch.1 intro to public history Cameron, Museum as Temple or Forum |
Q1-2 |
| Week 2 [dates] |
Curation |
Braden, Ch.1 the history museum curator Braden, Ch.3 shaping and developing collections G&L, pg.233-356 |
Q3-4 |
| Week 3 [dates] |
Collections & Spaces |
Fruth, primer on museum collection mgt Sample collections Walshaw, an architect's guide to museum planning Barrett, orchestrating visitor flow in modern museum design |
Q5-7 |
| Week 4 [dates] |
Exhibit planning |
Lord & Lord, Ch.3 where do exhibit ideas come from Lord & Lord, Ch10 curatorship in exhibit planning Serrell, Ch.1 the big idea |
Q8-10 |
| Week 5 [dates] |
Gory & Gruesome |
Mancuso, the finger saga Newspaper excerpts on Talbott & Gunn murders |
Q11-13 exhibit evaluation paper |
| Week 6 [dates] |
Intro to Libraries & Archives | G&L, pg.57-74, 87-101, 117-128, 157-167, 169-185 |
Q14-15 small projects: art label |
| Week 7 [dates] |
Intro to Conservation | Gaylord, Guide to Collections Care: chapters on paper and textiles |
Q16-18 small projects: conservation plan |
| Week 8 [dates] |
Project Work | no reading |
newspaper project small projects: archives project |
| Week 9 [dates] |
Historic Preservation |
Hardesty & Little, Ch.1 determining national register eligibility Sample nomination forms |
Q19-21 |
| Week 10 [dates] |
Preservation in Pullman |
Images of America: Whitman County excerpts Clio tours of downtown Pullman |
Q22-24 |
| Week 11 [dates] |
Preserving Controversial History |
Selection of Civil War monument news articles Foote, Shadowed Ground excerpts |
Q25 small projects: civil war monument response |
| Week 12 [dates] |
Legal & Ethical Issues |
Gulliford, bones of contention article selected news articles about repatriation internationally |
Q26-28 |
| Week 13 [dates] |
Government control over history | Selection of news articles and federal guidelines for NPS and Smithsonian museums | Q29 |
| Week 14 [dates] |
Tourism |
Hillyer, relics of reconciliaion Miller, mapping the boosterist imaginary Auerbach, commemorating in place |
Q30-32 |
| Week 15 [dates] |
Project work | no reading | Final project due in finals week |
Expectations for Student Effort
For each hour of lecture equivalent, students should expect to have a minimum of two hours of work outside class.
Grading
| Type of Assignment (tests, papers, etc) | Points | Percent of Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Participation & Preparedness | 350 pts | 35% |
| Exhibit Evaluation Paper | 100 pts | 10% |
| Small Projects | 150 pts | 15% |
| Final Project | 200 pts | 20% |
| Grade | Percent | Grade | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A |
94-100% |
C | 74-77.99% |
| A- | 90-93.99% | C- | 70-73.99% |
| B+ | 88-89.99% | D+ | 68-69.99% |
| B | 84-87.99% | D | 60-67.99% |
| B- | 80-83.99% | F | 0-59.99% |
| C+ | 78-79.99% |
Grades will NOT automatically be rounded up, meaning if you earn an 899, you will receive a B, not an A. Consideration for rounding will be based on the following criteria: (1) excellent attendance (less than 3 absences) and (2) evidence of strong work and improvement on assignments, and (3) active participation during class. Examples of borderline include: 59.0-59.9, 69.0-69.9, 79.0-79.9, 89.0-89.9.
Attendance and Make-Up Policy
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all classes as specified in the course syllabi for each course. It is the responsibility of the student to promptly notify his or her instructor when unable to attend class. Please refer to WSU Academic Regulation 72 for more specifics.
- Attendance is expected in this class, and attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class period. Repeated absences will lead to deductions at the end of the semester. However, you are permitted 2 absences without any questions asked (ex: feeling sick, bummer of a period, mental health day, sick pet), and you may have 3 absences for documented reasons (ex: university excused absence, documented excuse).
Class work you may miss because of an absence:
- To avoid losing P&P assignment points, you may ask the professor to be able to complete some additional work, such as responding to discussion questions from class. This will be required for any absence to be "excused" (meaning no point deductions).
If you have absences beyond those that are permitted, your final grade in the course will be lowered up to 1 letter grade per additional absence.
Please be aware that arriving late to class and leaving early also can be counted towards absences.
If you are going to miss a class - excused or unexcused - think carefully about how you phrase an email you send or a discussion you have with the professor regarding that absence. For some direction, please see the poem "Did I Miss Anything?"
Administrative drop: An instructor may request the Office of the Registrar delete a student from a course roster if the student has not met the prerequisite for the course as stated in the catalog, or as a result of non-attendance in the course.
Makeup Policy
Late work will not be accepted under any circumstances without previous arrangement with the professor. In most circumstances, to be permitted to make up missed class work, a student must present the required documentation (university letter, etc.). All make-up work must be completed within one week of the student’s return to the classroom. There also are assignments in this class that simply cannot be submitted late if you are in class, such as the pre-reflections, because they are the focus of that day's discussion. Assignments are officially late once collection in class is made or after the deadline for online submission. That means if you are 15 minutes late to class and the assignment has already been collected, it is officially late and will not be accepted. Likewise, if the assessment is due online at 11:00, and you post it at 11:02, it is late and will not be graded. Please note that ALL due date times are set at the WSU campus time, which is the Pacific time zone. This does NOT adjust based on your current location.
WSU Academic Regulation 90 states that a grade of Incomplete (I) may be entered only if “the student is unable to complete their work on time due to circumstances beyond their control.”
Academic Integrity Statement
You are responsible for reading Academic Integrity Policy, which is based on Washington State law, as well as the as the expectations for this course, which are outlined in brief on the syllabus and in more detail on some of the individual assignments on Canvas. If you violate this policy in this class you will:
- Meet with the professor to discuss your assignment. The admission of policy violation, the inability to discuss the assignment that demonstrates an equal mastery of the material as displayed in the assignment, or the failure to re(produce) research or citations or assignment preparation/results may result in a reduction in the grade on an assignment, a 0 on an assignment, or a 0 in the course.
- Be reported to the Center for Center for Community Standards.
- Have the right to appeal my decision.
- Not be able to drop the course of withdraw from the course until the appeals process is finished.
If you have any questions about what you can and cannot do in this course, ask the professor!
If you want to ask for a change in the professor's decision about academic integrity, use the form at the Center for Community Standards website. You must submit this request within 21 calendar days of the decision.
AI Use in This Course:
- Using AI (ex: ChatGPT) to do your assignments for you, even in part, without express permission from the professor is prohibited and, thus, is in violation of the academic integrity policy. In this course, the professor wants to know YOUR thoughts, not the reaction of AI.
- The very limited acceptable uses of AI technology for this course include:
- (1) the limited use of Grammarly after an assignment is complete for help improving your writing style, punctuation, and sentence structure (NOT to write answers and responses for you);
- (2) the use of Google searches and AI programming for help with definitions, synonyms, and word choice (but NOT to write answers and responses for you); and
- (3) the use of Google searches and AI to help you conduct searches and identify sources, documents, songs, etc. that you then cite properly and will analyze on your own (NOT with answers or responses created with the help or complete reliance on AI).