| Unit name | Public History in Theory and Practice |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM0023 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Tim Cole |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to the field of Public History through a multi-layered approach that integrates theoretical reflection with practical engagement (through the medium of external partnerships) to examine various influential areas of public history:popular history magazines, heritage sites, documentary film and museums. Meetings alternate between in-house seminars - during which critical concepts and central debates in public history are studied with academic staff - and external sessions with various Bristol-based practioners of public history: currently, BBC History Magazine, Arnos Vale Cemetary, Icon Films and SS Great Britain. With the editor of Britain's best selling popular history magazine, students contemplate the challenges of presenting history for a broad readership. With the public enagagement manager at Arnos Vale, students learn about the issues involved in interpreting a distinguished Victorian cemetary and managing a large, multiple value and multi-use site. With the creative director of Icon Films, students find out how a programme is conceived, from proposal writing and pitching to commissioning (one of the unit's assignments is the preparation of a proposal for a history documentary based on Icon's guidelines). And with the director of conservation and education at the SS Great Britain, students consider the challenges and opportunities involved in running one of Bristol's most popular visitor attractions, which is also attached to a major research facility, the Brunel Institute.
On successful completion of this unit, students will have an understanding of theoretical issues in PH, and will have examined case studies of controversial films, exhibitions etc. Students will also have gained an understanding of the concerns that shape the selection and presentation of history in TV documentaries, museum exhibition, heritage site and magazine formats (audience, budgets, narrative and visual requirements, educational and political issues). They will understand how these pressures shape the portrayal of a specific historical topic/theme/event in the context of research and the preparation of a TV ‘treatment’.
10 seminars, some of these led by external partners
This unit is assessed by a 3,000 word essay (worth 100% of the unit mark) and a 2,000 word TV proposal (marked on a pass/fail basis).
