Public History Program Director
Dr. Lynn Denton
Phone: 512.245.6196
E-mail: pd16@txstate.edu

The Department of History at Texas State offers graduate students a master of arts degree in history with an emphasis in public history. This program prepares students for public history careers in historic preservation, heritage tourism, historic site interpretation, and museum and archives management.

Public history students learn to apply skills and methods to the study, documentation, preservation, and management of cultural resources. Practicums and internships provide students with the opportunity to work with community members, resource managers, and regulatory agency staffs on collaborative projects.

The program combines traditional historical study and training for a variety of history-related professions. The curriculum takes full advantage of established scholars in the Department of History, experienced professionals on campus and region-wide, and cooperating institutions throughout Texas.

Program
Texas State's Public History Program provides students a foundation of both graduate-level training in history and experience in applying historical skills to a public beyond the classroom. The 36-hour master of arts degree program consists of 18 hours in public history course work and 18 hours in traditional history courses, and can be completed in two years

Area Resources
Within a 100-hundred mile radius of San Marcus there are more than 50 history museums, archives, and historic sites. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, The Alamo, and Witte Museum in San Antonio; National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg; The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin History Center, Center for American History, and O. Henry House in Austin; Katherine Ann Porter House in Kyle; Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State.

The National Park Service operates several parks in the vicinity. And a statewide system of historic and recreational parks, some built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, are managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Many state parks and historic sites are within easy driving distance.

Nearby, students can study the landscapes of Texas' early Hispanic and German settlers, as well as those of the state's ranching heritage. San Marcos' own Aquarena Springs alone provides an opportunity to study historic architecture, heritage tourism, environmental history, and community history.

In Austin, the state capital, numerous public agencies are charged with historic preservation, cultural resource management, and archives and collections management of resources for the entire state. They include the Texas State Archives and Library, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, State Preservation Board, and Texas Historical Commission.

On the Texas State campus students can take courses and engage in public history projects with the Center for Texas Music History or study heritage tourism and environmental history at the Texas Rivers Center, located on campus at the headwaters of the spring-fed San Marcos River.

Master of Arts Degree with specialization in Public History :
36 hours of graduate history, or 30 hours of graduate history with an optional 6 hour cognate in a discipline approved by the director of graduate studies and the director of the Public History program.
3 hours United States historiography [5360]
3 hours The Practice of Public History [5371]
3 hours Internship [5374]
3 hours Public History Project [5377] (if possible)
9 - 12 hours of elective Public History courses
9 - 15 hours of United States history seminars
6 hours outside cognate (optional, on approval, as indicated above)
Written or oral comprehensive examination


Public History Courses :
Normally, the program requires 18 hours in public history, including 15 hours of course work and three hours of internship. Among the course available are the following:
* Introduction to Public History
* Local and Community History
* Museum Studies and Material Culture
* Historic Preservation and Cultural Resource Management
* Topics in Public History (Topics vary: archives and records management, documentary film, historical editing, and oral history)
* Internship


Traditional History Courses :
The remaining 18 hours include course work in American history. Three hours in historiography are required, and the other 15 hours may be selected from a variety of courses-among them are topics in 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century American history. These include women's history, African American history, Texas history, history of the American west, military history, cultural history, and history of Mexico.

A student may opt to have a six-hour outside minor apply to 18 hours required in traditional history courses.

In lieu of a thesis, students will author or contribute project reports for their portfolios. Students may, however, choose to write a thesis after consultation with the director of Graduate Studies and the director of the Public History program.

The degree program concludes with an oral comprehensive exam.